During a recent meeting with a partner we were discussing the shifts in media, the rise of social media, our thoughts on a print resurgence and more when I realized – it’s about the story, not the channel. With apologies to Marshall McLuhan, the medium is NOT the message. Yes, the medium influences how you […]
With the tightening economy and increased focus on ROI, we’re seeing a number of folks forget that integrated marketing is a real response to buyer behavior. Potential buyers make a journey from awareness to consideration to purchase. And they use media differently at every stage. So when you’re tempted to shift your entire spend into […]
I was talking to a friend the other day about the importance of feeling appreciated in my decisions on where to spend my money. Consistently, I find I patronize places that show me they value my business. Which got me thinking about how that applies to our business here at PWB. We try to be […]
Just returned from a major industrial trade show in Chicago. It was interesting to see some things surprisingly it seemed a pretty healthy show. One big takeaway was the benefits of two things: 1. Being different. 2. Being simple and direct with your message. Blue and grey are the new business camouflage. What was once […]
LOTS of buzz in marketing about social media – Twitter, Facebook, blogs, YouTube. Seems like everyone wants to talk about these channels lately. For business-to-business marketers, I must admit I’m skeptical about many of these tools. I hear lots about Twitter, but find it rather hard to imagine what it could do for b-to-b branding […]
In the current economic correction/downturn/recession, I see an alarming trend. The biggest organizations seem to be the most effected – GM, CitiGroup, Bank of America. Something I’ve noticed is that bigger organizations seem the most disconnected, both from their customers and from themselves. All the layers and functional roles seem to cloud people’s thinking and […]
The lowly banner has been much-maligned in the trade press in recent years. But like so many things in the marketing equation, banners can have a place if used appropriately. I would concur for mass-market consumer sites. Banners are likely dead. The victims of too many re-finance ads, credit card offers, and mass branding efforts. […]
“Do what you’ve always done and you’ll get what you’ve always got.” I wish this hackneyed quote was even still true. The reality is that in the new economy even this perspective doesn’t work anymore. I’ve heard far too many business people tell me they’re working twice as hard for half as much money. But I’ve […]
I Recently attended a Google presentation and learned more about their free Analytics offering. We’ve had Analytics on our site for a while, but hadn’t really ever utilized it very much. Due to some shifts in hosting and redirects and other IT mysteries, we weren’t even tracking the right pages. But fixing it was really […]
I participated in a panel presentation last night at Ann Arbor SPARK – the Marketing Roundtable, highly recommended – on developing a marketing communications plan. There was some discussion on the elements of a plan, but the real issue focused on having a plan that was aligned to your business objectives. Years ago I worked […]