Saturday afternoon. Yes we’re open. (Just not here).

When a company rushes to redefine its branding in the marketplace, an interesting thing can happen. They forget to deliver on their promise. A classic example of that occurred in my own back yard. (While I would normally change the name to protect the innocent, I’ll just put this out there. Maybe they’ll see it and fix the glitch in their process).

A branding misstep

Bank Midwest is a community bank headquartered in Kansas City. They were purchased in mid-2010 by a holding company in Boston. Big plans were put in motion with further acquisitions and consolidation under ...

The Financial Focused Agency

Financial services marketers face critical challenges in today’s rapidly changing environment. Building trust, reducing complexity, communicating true differentiation and delivering a consistent brand experience across customer interactions. Not to mention the shifting landscape of regulation, keeping pace with technology-driven change, and responding to shifting customer needs.

So too have the demands changed for marketing services providers, and a key reason why a firm focused on financial services can give marketers a critical advantage.  Mark Shrout, Managing Director at Salva O’Renick, says the perspective his firm has gained through experience is key to solving the problems clients face. “We ...

Yes But "We Care More"

Early in my financial services career, I had the opportunity to lead a pitch for a large 401k plan.  It was a Fortune 500 company, so the decision makers had been around the block a time or two.  The presentation went well.  To wrap up the meeting, the client asked the million-dollar question, “Why should we choose you.”  My boss answered, “Because we care.”  To which the client quickly responded, “I’m sure the other companies care too. They’ve flown a full team in for this pitch.  So seriously, why should we choose you?”  Sticking to his strong belief ...

Leading the Way for Today's Entrepreneurs

Dr. Teng-Kee Tan, Dean of the Henry W. Bloch School of Management at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, joined the Go To Market Show. He discussed his vision for business education focused on entrepreneurship and innovation and the role UMKC is playing in helping Kansas City build its reputation as a leader in the creating an environment where entrepreneurial enterprises can succeed.

Questions about the effectiveness of our education system abound. Rising college costs and stubbornly high levels of unemployment have led people to question the return on investment. Add to that the challenges of educators keeping pace with the ...

The ABC's of CMS

The content management system (CMS) space is crowded with options.  Really crowded.  These range from micro platforms for blogging to enterprise-level content management systems that help organize, publish and promote content across the Internet. It's a space that is constantly changing, as new software enters the picture and existing systems add new features on a regular basis.  

To help make sense of the current landscape we asked Barb Mosher, Managing Editor of CMS Wire, to join the conversation on the Go To Market Show.  She verified the wide range of solutions available, running the gamut from basic web publishing ...

Happy Birthday, Here’s a Coupon

Today is my birthday.   I’ve never been one to make a big deal out of birthdays – being just another day in our planet’s annual journey around the sun.  My friends have expressed their well wishes on Facebook, which is nice.   A few companies have even gotten into the game of wishing me happy birthday. That part I could do without.

In my email box first thing this morning, I had birthday wishes from a couple of companies.  The first is an online bank with a penchant for orange (which also happens to be one of my favorite colors ...

The Measure of Success

An interesting exchange this week at a local fast food restaurant pointed out the critical need to link marketing and sales in delivering a valued customer experience.

The exchange went down like this.  My daughter and I pulled into a drive through to get breakfast on the way to school.  Luckily, as we were pressed for time,  there was no in front of us.  There was also no on behind us.  We ordered and pulled forward to the window as directed.  There, I happily traded a pleasant ‘good morning’, paid with a bigger bill than the total and received the ...

What Page Are We On?

The debate over health care reform is dominating the airwaves.  It’s a tough issue that seems to have no clear-cut answer.  At its core, health care reform is a classic case of organizational alignment as our government tries to find the proper role to play.  As such, the solution would seem to lie in leveraging the process of alignment that organizations in the private sector utilize to drive success.

Alignment is defined as the state of cooperation among persons or groups with a common cause or viewpoint.  For a minute let’s assume that everyone shares the common cause ...

A Focus for the Rest of Your Life

I wish more people would do what my coworker Dave Gilbertson is doing.  Dave has taken it upon himself to organize a blood drive.

Most of us get busy with our daily lives and forget about the critical need for blood donations.  It’s a need that grows every year – driven by ongoing advancements in medical treatments that help us live longer lives (while at the same time increasing transfusions as part of the patient care).  Giving blood is not something we normally think about, but I’m glad Dave is.

To say Dave’s actions to organize the blood ...

What wows customers

For some time now, our agency has focused on the critical integration of marketing and sales and helping clients create the ideal selling environment.  We’ve developed a methodology that focuses on what we call the ‘most critical interaction’ – which is the point at which the marketing and sales functions intersect.  For both retail and B2B companies alike, this is typically defined as the point at which customers move from brand preference to purchase intent.  In simple terms, marketing works to create brand preference – sales enters into the picture to advance purchase intent and then close the deal.

For many ...

Get Away

It’s summer time, and like many folks it’s time to head out for a few days of family vacation.  Yet in a pressure-packed world, where every day is a struggle to prove value (especially in a tough economy) taking a vacation seems downright irresponsible.  And if we care about our families, working hard to help provide for them is an important thing right?  In reality, though, getting away from the rat race once in a while is the best thing you can do for your business and your family.

An article by ad-agency focused Grant Consulting, quotes a ...

A Bankruptcy of Vision

It’s official, General Motors has declared bankruptcy.  In traditional terms, bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability to pay creditors.  In General Motor’s case, one could argue that financial bankruptcy was preceded by a bankruptcy of vision that lead to its current situation.

Ten years ago General Motors bought Hummer.  Exciting times.   Hummer was a unique brand.  Big, oversized vehicles.  Wealth on wheels.  John Wayne machismo.  A perfect fit for our ‘look at me’ society.  Sure Hummers used a lot of fuel and they were expensive.  But ten years ago crude oil prices were stable ...

Advancing Critical Interaction

Short and sweet blog post today by Seth Godin on the difference between sales and marketing.  Reads like this:

“Marketing tells a story that spreads.
Sales overcomes the natural resistance to say yes.

If you don’t pay the salesforce (because you go direct, or you go free), then who is going to do that for you? The only answer that occurs to me is, “your users/fans/customers.”

This means that a critical element of any strategy that ditches the salesforce is to figure out how you will empower and encourage your customers to take their place. Easier said ...

Blame me, it’s okay.

We all know that our economy has been going through some tough times. This morning on CNBC, Pennsylvania Congressman Paul Kanjorski described the underlying problem as ‘our tendency to rush to excess.’ Examples of this run the gamut.  From the king of excessive greed Bernie Madhoff to folks on main street getting carried away with their credit cards.  The correction in the markets and a little restraint is certainly a good thing for the long-term health of our economy.

Interestingly enough, a Harris Interactive poll taken in March and April, found that 66% of US Internet users believe advertising agencies ...

Strategy in Uncertain Times

Six Strategies To Keep Your Innovative Fire Power From Fizzling Out

On Friday May 8th, Big Omaha brought entrepreneurs, technologists and creatives together from around the country to celebrate and discuss innovation. Here are six key takeaways from the experts worthy of sharing:

Point #1 – Planning is different now. As Jason Fried of 37signals said, ‘plans are guesses.’ In a rapidly changing and uncertain world, it’s impossible to accurately predict the future. This isn’t to say that you

Jason Fried from 37 Signals, Photo by Malone & Company

shouldn’t plan. it just requires a different approach. Micah Baldwin, Chief Evangelist for Lijit Networks called it ‘microplanning.’ At Salva O ...

Catching the Cluetrain

This months marks the tenth anniversary of the Cluetrain Manifesto, a series of ninety-five theses that issued a call to action for all businesses operating within what was then an emerging and newly-connected marketplace. In the past ten years, the expansion of broadband and mobile connections, combined with rapid innovation in devices and software applications have opened the flood gates providing new ways for people to communicate and share information.

At the core of Cluetrain, is this statement: “A powerful global conversation has begun. Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding ...

It Really Is the People

Including ‘people’ in an organization’s mantra is a practice that has been around for ages.  ‘We the people’.  ‘Power to the people’.  ‘People make the difference’.  Anytime folks come together to work for something larger than themselves it really is about people.  But getting people to move in the same direction is hard – whether you’re courting the masses to become loyal customers, or just trying to get the folks within your company on the same page to bring about effective change.  Harnessing the power of people takes time, commitment and a structure process focused on bringing the desired ...