The Evian babies are back! In a new spot, which has received more than 41 million views on YouTube, adults find themselves face-to-face with their younger selves in a large mirrored window–and the dancing ensues. It’s adorable–but does it sell water? Where’s the relevance?
Contrast this spot to an equally creative–and far more out-of-the-box–spot Continue reading “Dancing Babies, Talk About Ship and Dads in Briefs: Creativity With Relevance Gets Results!”
I love a new year. Although I realize that, technically, every day is the beginning of a new year, there’s something about the New Year that makes me both reflective and optimistic about what lies ahead. As a pretty goal-oriented person, I enjoy the process of looking back, learning, and looking forward. It’s the basis of strategic planning, after all, a personal passion of mine. Each year I spend time to commit my goals to writing and I track my progress throughout the year. I don’t achieve every goal, but I do belief that I’m more effective than I would be if I didn’t take the time to plan. I had some great successes in 2012 and a lot of very rewarding experiences–both personally and professionally. But there’s always room for improvement and, regardless of what I achieve, I always want to achieve more. So, in 2013, there are a number of things I’d like to do better: Continue reading “What I’d Like To Do Better in 2013: New Year’s Resolutions”
As the New Year approaches it’s time to begin thinking about New Year’s resolutions, which might also be referred to as “strategic planning” — although those words tend to strike fear into the hearts of even the most focused of business professionals. I don’t know why, but I’m coming to accept it as a given. One of my resolutions for the New Year is to come up with a way of making planning less intimidating. “Good luck” say my business colleagues. But, I digress…
As you look forward to 2013, what are the fundamental issues that most impact your organization? What are the opportunities you hope to take advantage of? What are the challenges you hope to overcome? Here are a few tips to get you started: Continue reading “Marketing Resolutions for the New Year”
I work regularly with businesses, and independent consultants, on their marketing communication strategies, including social media strategies. The first two key points I address with my clients (whether for traditional or online media) are: Continue reading “Are Your Social Media Efforts Addressing the Right Questions?”
A recent survey by VerticalResponse, a marketing software company indicates that while 90 percent of small businesses are on Facebook and 70 percent on Twitter, they’re not as eager to embrace social media sites like LinkedIn (only 4 percent!), Google+ (3 percent) or Pinterest (1 percent). Wow! (An infographic provides more detail.)
Personally, I’m a huge fan of LinkedIn, find Pinterest to be a very interesting concept (and have an article coming out soon in EContent about some unique ways content providers are using Pinterest), and don’t really “get” Google+, but my personal opinions really don’t matter here and, IMO, neither do these survey results. Continue reading “Small Businesses Avoiding LinkedIn, Google+ and Pinterest: Are They Missing Out?”
A journalist asked me last week what I thought the key elements of a successful strategic plan should be. That’s not an easy question to answer and there are, in fact, a wide range of inputs and elements that go into ensuring strategic plan success. But it was a legitimate question and one that I know many strategic planning consultants–and their clients–are deeply concerned about. Continue reading “What Every Strategic Plan Should Include”
In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll reveal a personal “pet peeve” right up front. I have a strong negative reaction any time I’m approached by someone – colleague, client, prospective client, etc. – who says: “Let’s do…” without having taken the time to develop a plan (even a very quick and abbreviated plan) to help them determine whether the thing they wish to do makes sense within some larger context.
Here’s a 10-step process to developing communication/marketing plans that will provide you with the direction you need.
Having been involved in corporate communications and public relations for a number of years I’m well aware of the concerns that organizations often have about too much information being shared with too many audiences. Transparency, I believe, is under-rated! While there are obviously “trade secrets” or “inside insights” that organizations wisely protect, too often information that does not really present any real risk is kept close hindering the ability of the organization to actually achieve its goals.
One big example of this is Continue reading “Don’t Keep Your Strategic Plan a Secret!”
Working in large organizations I became very familiar with “leading” and “lagging” indicators and, admittedly, sometimes I found what I thought was the “complexity” of the concepts to be a bit overwhelming. But, I’m very data-driven and very committed to measuring the impacts of my efforts whether working in an organization, for a client or for myself. The premise is really quite basic: if you are looking for Continue reading “The Value — and Limitations — of Leading Indicators”