Do you research high-end products thoroughly before you purchase? Does it take lots of pressure to get you to move from one trusted brand or consumer product to another?
Never before have we been subjected to some much information and marketing on food packages. Heck, even vegetables are now packaged in plastic and cardboard that are oozing with subtle and not so subtle messages.
The thing that *really* gets me. . in a recession. . is this. People go by the hoards to a place where the finest marketing minds in the world (from the most talented ad agencies known to man) are working their magic. Everything from the display windows and signage, to the cashier talk and uniforms, to the music and temperature, to the promos and tagging… is designed by the best of the best.
Your marketing documents should act as natural extensions of your sales efforts. They need to be good enough to pay for themselves by consistently generating leads, appointments and closed business.
The tagline captures the benefits of CRM and sales/prospect/customer management — essentially “success.” That’s the bottom line for sales people. You need software to stay out of the way so you can continue to develop relationships with people and solve their problems. “Not software” captures the cloud computing angle and this desire to have things work without hassles.
Army Strong, Fan Strong, Live Strong… Does anyone have an original thought? Or is there some science behind this cowardly mimicking?
Year after year, I come back to this philosophical kernel: sales is where the rubber meets the road. We often get so distracted with the fun, new-fangled Facebook, Twitter and Friend Feed tools. Yet, marketing and advertising are ultimately about sales…
Ask people to join you in a meeting about social media, and you’ll find a lot of takers. But you’ll soon find out that most people don’t know what the heck they’re talking about or what the heck they want to accomplish with social media.
The Washington Post ran an article this past Monday about a musician who showed up to play violin at the entrance to one of the D.C. Metro stops. In a nutshell, most of the passers-by that morning ignored or were annoyed by the man playing some of history’s most complex masterpieces on a $3.5 million Stradivarius violin. The man was Joshua Bell, the Avery Fisher honoree as best classical musician in America. Only one woman recognized him.
“Phil – part of your talent lies in your ability to work with a host of personalities and corporate cultures..not an easy thing to do. Global Crossing looks forward to continuing our relationship with you. The only way you could get a “10″ on Response Time would be to become a full-time Global Crossing employee – which doesn’t’ appear to be in the cards. I put a 9 down only to manage my own expectations that I may need to wait a few days for you to be available…. 
”
Michelle Soltesz
Senior Marketing Communications Manager
Global Crossing
