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Publications from the themanager.org-team
Understanding and Managing
Customer Perception
By Dagmar Recklies
In today’s
globalising economy competition is getting more and more fierce.
That means it becomes more difficult to differentiate a product or
service by traditional categories like price, quality, functionality
etc. In this situation the development of a strong relationship
between customers and a company could likely prove to be a
significant opportunity for competitive advantage. This relationship
is not longer based on features like price and quality alone. Today
it is more the perceived experience a customer makes in his various
interactions with a company (e.g. how fast, easy, efficient and
reliable the process is) that can make or break the relationship. |
Why
Segmentation?
by Dagmar Recklies
When it comes to marketing strategies, most people spontaneously
think about the 4P (Product, Price, Place, Promotion) – maybe
extended by three more Ps for marketing services (People, Processes,
Physical Evidence). Market segmentation and the identification of
target markets, however, are an important element of each marketing
strategy. They are the basis for determining any particular marketing
mix. This article starts with steps and criteria for market
segmentation. Following, it discusses way market segmentation is an
important element of any marketing planning activity.
July 2001 |
Positioning
as a Strategic Marketing Decision
by Dagmar Recklies
This article discusses the relevance of positioning for marketing
planning. First, it describes, how positioning relates to
segmentation and targeting. Than it explains what to keep in mind
when planning positioning.
July 2001 |
Branding
Services
by Dagmar Recklies
This report will
initially give a short overview of some general concepts of
branding, especially definitions, benefits and types of brands.
Whilst most literature relates to branding for goods, the second
part of this report focuses on issues for branding professional
services, especially the accounting and consulting industry. The
author will relate the approaches this industry currently takes to
the relevant theory.
October 1999 |
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Publications from our valued partners
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The Difficulties of Promotion in an International Economy
Richard Martinez
Marketers find it challenging to effectively reach potential customers
around the globe and to position their products and services
appropriately in the context of different cultures.
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The Imperative of Internal
Marketing
Prof.S.Durga Rao, Dept of Management Studies, S.V.University, Tirupati.
Praveen Kumar.S, Research Scholar, Dept of Management Studies,
S.V.University, Tirupati.
Despite the rapidly growing
literature on Internal Marketing, relatively few organizations actually
apply the concept in practice. One of the main problems contributing to
this is that there does not exist, a single unified concept of what is
meant by Internal Marketing. However, Internal Marketing can be
holistically defined as “Internal marketing is a planned effort using a
marketing-like approach directed at motivating employees, for
implementing and integrating organizational strategies towards customer
orientation”.
Literature review and need for further research
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Brand Vanity
By Jean-Claude Saade
“Vanity is my favorite sin” – says John Milton – the “Devil
played by Al Pacino – in the Devil’s Advocate. To put this in a
branding perspective, we need to examine the role of Brand
Vanity in the current economic crisis. Taking the necessary
learning and corrections will be necessary for the recovery. Is
Vanity the worst sin a brand or a company can make? Is this
related to the very high prices that many brands and businesses
have already paid during the groundbreaking events of the past
year? More importantly; how to recognize Brand Vanity and deal
with it?
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Advertising Next Challenges
By Jean-Claude Saade
The current economic downturn is putting additional pressure on
Advertising Agencies and triggering some existentialist discussions, but
advertising has always been a very dynamic and an ever-changing
profession. We currently have a long list of elements that advertising
can easily loose and another list of new additions that is waiting to be
adopted. What are the key future challenges of advertising?
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Before & After
By Jean-Claude Saade
The proof is in the Brand Experience. Have you ever compared the image
you had about a brand, a company or a person Before and After dealing
with them, believing their promises and buying their products? – Will
they keep their positive aura?
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Recession Marketing
By Martin Thoma
A series of three articles addressing recession marketing.
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Real Estate Branding
By Jean-Claude Saade
Although the core underlying principles are always the same, branding in
the real estate business is facing its own challenges and has found
special creative ways to deal with them. In certain markets where this
sector is now developing in an unprecedented way due to a number of
economic and conjuncture reasons, being aware of certain concepts and
dynamics about real estate branding might be priceless to real estate
developers.
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Brand Driving School
By Jean-Claude Saade
Size does really matter for brands and businesses from different aspects
especially when it comes to areas like global reach, financial clout,
and large pool of talent. However, we have strong reasons to believe
that at the core nerve center and driving seat of the brand things would
look very much the same.
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The Seven Doors
by Jean-Claude Saade
Brands entering the consumers’ world are exactly like building human
relationships – let’s take friendship as a positive example. To become
friend with other people, certain similarities and common grounds will
come to play a bonding role; in the absence of these common grounds or
doors, the relationship will be difficult and eventually nonexistent. In
building relationships with consumers, brands need to enter from the 7
doors of common interest. Knock, knock…!
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Needs Well Met
by Jean-Claude Saade
Like any
discipline, marketing has revisited and focused its core concepts over
time for more relevance. But for those who still believe that one of the
roles of marketing disciplines is to “create needs,” let me tell you
about an interesting marketing phenomenon.
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The
Eternal Principles for Creating Luxury Brands
By Dr. Dan Herman
This article is about the time proven principles for creating
luxury brands in order to attract affluents. Attracting wealthy
customers is potentially very profitable. After all, they have
more money to spend, that can turn into your income. However,
succeeding in this task involves a deep understanding of their
psychological need, of their lifestyle, of the role of brands in
their world and in their relationships as well as of their
purchasing behavior and spending patterns. Some of these are
truly counter-intuitive and surprising. |
Create Enticing
Brands, not "Lovemarks"
By Dr. Dan Herman
Dan discusses the concept of "Lovemarks", created by Kevin
Roberts, the worldwide CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising, and
explains how to build loved brands. |
The
Marketing Hits' Formula
By Dr. Dan Herman
From time to time the marketing world is stunned by huge, quick,
unpredictable and seemingly inexplicable successes. These hits are
products or services, entertainment locales or vacation spots,
shopping malls or specialty stores that enjoy a puzzling immediate
popularity. |
Creating
brand instrumentality beyond the product
By Dr. Dan Herman
The main reason for the general fascination with brands is their
ability to provide the consumers an extra value in addition to what
the product\service\company themselves can provide a value which
becomes the major motivation for consumers to desire the product.
Everybody agrees about that, but from here on it becomes
foggy.
So what should one do if he wishes to develop a brand? My
recommendation is: read on. In this short article I intend to dispel
the mystery and to suggest a workable approach to creating value added
brands.
pdf-file - 26 KB |
EyeTrack III - Can It
Really SEE Your Visitors Thought Patterns?
By Martin Lemieux
The newest report out on "seeing" what people look at when
they browse through your site and how they react to certain layouts,
headlines, images, and text formats. Do you really want to know what
people see when they visit your site? You think you're ready for the
harsh reality? The project managers of the EYETRACK III team, Steve
Outing and Laura Ruel seem to have done quite a bit of work and I
want to thank them for their findings. So how do we
utilize this new found information? |
Al Ries might
be dangerous to your brand
By Dan Herman, PhD
In the business world's hall of fame a special place is reserved for
Al Ries. He is without any doubt one of the most prominent gurus of
strategic thinking. More than 30 years ago, together with his
partner Jack Trout, Ries coined the term "Positioning" –
a concept which, to these very days, shapes the way of marketing and
branding all over the world. Only very few other concepts come close
in importance. |
The
New Market Segmentation
by Dan Herman, PhD
If you’re trying to segment your market in the traditional way,
what you may be looking for would be groups of consumers sorted out
in such a way that a certain likeness exists within each group, and
a difference exists between them. According to the conventional
segmenting method, people in each segment should differ – to some
extent – from the people in the other segments. Nevertheless,
usually, they do not. If you have been segmenting for many years,
you already know that the problem has just been worsening with time.
The reason why this is so is that there has been a long lasting
consumer trend going on, with numerous implications, because of
which we should change the way by which we segment the market. |
The
Making or Faking of Emotionally Significant Brands
Creating a genuine 'Feel Appeal' for your brand
by Dan Herman, PhD
Brands can be emotionally powerful, but…
The emergence of new phenomenal brands is truly awesome. Do you
remember 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' (1977)? At the
beginning of the movie, an amazing occurrence takes place. Masses of
people from all over the world, dream of a certain place where they
feel compelled to be. Later it transpires that unknowingly, they all
arrived at the alien-landing site. To me, this scene illustrates
what happens in the marketplace at the appearance of an ace brand
such as 'Harry Potter'. Millions of people suddenly feel that they
just have to be there. This paper is about the erudition and the
know-how necessary for the purposeful creation of such emotionally
powerful brands.
June 2003
pdf-file - 999 KB |
eMarketing:
New Millennia
by Cameron Dart
We are quickly moving into a new world – a ‘wireless world’,
sporting trendy Internet-enabled handheld devices and interactive
televisions. New marketing methods are emerging, forcing companies
to change the way they search out and connect with their customers.
The revolutionary element of ‘trackable digital delivery’ is
helping marketers measure their efforts and gain real-time
intelligence about their customer base. This article takes a look at
how to break through the clutter, and drive companies into the 21st
century with new technologies.
January 2002 |
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Naseem Javed's branding column
The Big
Bang of Business Naming
By Naseem Javed
Suddenly some explosively positive and futuristically pragmatic
policies about the Internet and global e-commerce are creating
amazing galaxies of business naming. With already 1.7 billion
online users and 1 billion more on its way the new business
naming capabilities befitting advance and intricate platforms of
global cyber branding provide mega opportunities. Depending on
types and styles of businesses, for a fraction of cost, several
dozens of multiple websites in multilingual formats with right
type of domain names skating worldwide can easily catapult sales
many folds and increase visibility to brand new stratosphere. |
Awaken The
Sleeping Giants & Slay The Dragons
By Naseem Javed
Behind every effort and every move of any company of any size
lies a very simple and a powerful fact. That is, the outside
world responds to the Name identity of a company before they
part money. Customers are influenced by the personality of the
Name identity, what it says, connotes, projects and what kind of
secret or hidden messages it has embedded in its
alpha-structure. |
The Balancing Acts
of National Image
By Naseem Javed
Who are the new champion nations on the global stage delivering
the finest performances and altering the course of branded
imagery of goods and services? Where are the old traditional
nations and what’s happening to them today? The global shifts on
image repositioning are causing minor quakes throughout various
continents as brand new landscapes are erupting, while
previously cherished perceptions are being swept away. |
The Big Green Paint Job
By Naseem Javed
Suddenly, away from the hundreds of available colors, there is a
rush all over the world to paint almost everything green; green
paint, green ribbons, green wrappings and green fabrics becoming
the top choice, causing shortages of the material, while green
logos, green billboards and almost politically-correct green
ties and attires are becoming the most fashionable and trendy
statements.
As if this process will provide that green-mask, creating the
appearance of a fighter, presence of a leader, out fixing the
global environment. Oh Really? |
Lost in
Global Translation?
What are customers around the world saying about the new booming
Middle Eastern brands? What are they reading in the brand-names?
Which ones are they loving and talking about? Which ones can
they pronounce, type and remember easily? Are these new local
brands leading the charge for global mindshare, creating
presence of greatness, or are they seriously lost in global
translation? |
When Will
Google™ Become Generic?
Today, there are hundreds of once highly protected famous name
brands, which were backed by multi-million dollar promotional
budgets, now commonly used in daily lingo as generic names, as
it was their huge popularity that made them lose their trademark
protection. So why is the use of famous trademarked names as
‘verbs’ in our daily language feared by the attorneys
representing that mark? Now this calls for a closer look. |
CIRCULAR
MARKETING: The Number One Issue of 2006
We are being forced to re-design to a new level of
“micro-nization” of business units, a “wireless-izing” of mass
communication and a “voip-izing” of populace conversations in
marketplaces, under a massive globalization with highly
localized customization to fit the demands of consumers. This
subject is very hot and research on these issues is still being
drafted. |
A
Final Word on Branding
By Naseem Javed
Pregnant mothers are being pooled to place ads on their round, shiny
stomachs as part of "tummy branding." Some argue that this
is how news is created. To some, this is "desperate
branding" in action. Welcome to "guaranteed-to-fail
branding," a process that ensures a top spot on the list of
branding failures. These projects are sometimes called "reality
branding." There is no limit to these weird processes. |
Customers
Are Color Blind
By Naseem Javed,
In today's e-commerce age, where everyone is forced to type and to
remember names with absolutely correct spellings, companies with big
branding campaigns only hurt themselves with their old-fashioned,
painted, colorful advice. They must all reconverge and regroup and
realign their thinking to cope with today's name-driven economy. |
Super
Advertising Slogans & Super Costs
By Naseem Javed
Advertising slogans or taglines pushing sales are great for getting
a customer’s attention as they often tangle and hold them hostage
for a second or two. Some taglines catch the user’s attention, but
most are simply confusing, causing them to “escape the trap” and
run away. |
The Forbidden
Fruits & Singing Bananas
A very serious fight between Apple Computers and Apple Records of
The Beatles is now headed for the ninth round.
By Naseem Javed
On this side of the ring is Sir Paul McCartney, with the title of a
legendary musical artist and boyish looks with a cute smile. On the
other side, yet another youthful boy wonder, Steve Job with his
intellect and a legendary title for being the first to lead the
start of the personal computer revolution.
The fight is all about the name and use of the word “Apple”, and
its right owners. |
What’s
Hush-Hush Marketing?
Who are these mysterious and secretive executives behind millions of
corporate websites?
By Naseem Javed
There are millions of very expensive, well-designed websites all
over the globe. Most have a lot of information to offer with
great graphic illustrations, supportive explanations about their
relevant experiences and capabilities with upfront
personalities. But in a very large majority of
cases, what is missing is the proof about who really are the
people behind the site: the owners, the management the staff and
their true particulars. This information is often missing, as
the viewer is only left with one or two e-mail addresses to a
single department. |
Naming that
THING…again?
By Naseem Javed
Most corporations, when giving birth to a new product, behave just
like parents jumping in frenzy in a maternity ward. This typical
hysterical hoopla of the incubation wing is often replaced by a
subtler, cubicle behavior and at times becomes a subdued Dilbertish
style revolution. Objects do fly, even though they are memos or
sometimes, sharp yet harmless, foamy projectiles. Everyone shares
the excitement and all fights are well intentioned. Everyone wants a
successful launch. There is always a good feeling and everyone is
happy. |
Why Not
Brand For An Entire Century?
By Naseem Javed
How corporations must protect their Cyber-Image for E-Commerce
Branding and why marketing, branding, PR and corporate
communications all need a definite long-term strategy |
It’s a good thing…corporate
image is only a house of cards…
By Naseem Javed |
Why Corporate
Images Need More Than A Quick Face Lift
By Naseem Javed
As businesses start to get ready for the next up-cycle, new Names
Identities and Images are underway. Big time branding failures and
silly naming of the recent past taught marketers some key lessons.
Here, is a quick guide to test any Name Identity in use or being
planned for the upswing. |
WHY IS ENRON NOW CALLED PRISMA?
Because a rainbow arches from its HQ all the way to prison.
By Naseem Javed |
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More publications and short writings from our valued
partners
Internal
Marketing - A Conceptual Framework
By Dr.S.Praveen Kumar and Dr.S.Durga Rao – Professor, S.V.University,
Tirupati.
In the knowledge economy of today, more than the material and
capital resources, ideas and knowledge serve as valuable currency.
Firms which have talented, committed and engaged employees enjoy
significant advantages over their rivals. Therefore, companies spend
a great deal of time and effort in building, engaging, motivating
and retaining talent. An important way of accomplishing this task is
by Internal Marketing. |
Why
Customer Service Destroys Salespeople
By Mark Hunter
Article about the impact of customer service orientation of
salespeople on their sales performance |
How to Build
Customer Loyalty Simply By Making & Keeping Credible Promises to the
Marketplace
An introduction of Scott Glatstein's new book Strategy Activation:
How to Turn Your Vision Into Marketplace Success |
Licensing
in the Marketing Mix
By Asim Khan
Licensing is a method of leveraging an organization’s process,
trademark, patent, or other intellectual property for a fee or
royalty.
pdf-file (94 KB) |
A human
"operating system" for your brand
by Jean-Claude Saade
Are consumer behavior techniques and models really bringing brands
and marketers closer to consumers? Are brands missing the basics of
establishing a real and consistent relationship with consumers? –
J-C Saade a Dubai based brand consultant suggests that consumers
follow a well known model for their relationships that needs to be
respected by brands as well. |
It's
time to take 'You Incorporated' to market
By Adriaan Groenewald
Is it necessary to market yourself in order to be successful in your
corporate career? Is just being competent at your job enough
anymore? Is it your responsibility to manage your own career? If you
need to manage your own career and market yourself, what model
should you use and how should you go about it, especially in a
competitive global environment? Moditure Consulting MD ADRIAAN
GROENEWALD finds answers to these questions from people at the top. |
Aligning
the brand license (pdf-file)
Integrating marketing objectives into the license agreement
By Kirk Martensen
Most trademark licensing relationships are defined and evaluated
based upon provisions in a license agreement contract. In the case
of a brand extension license, there can be a lot at stake, including
the health and well being of the licensor's brand. Surprisingly,
many license agreements do not include specific terms or
requirements that reflect key brand and marketing related
objectives. This lack of ‘license alignment’ can be a serious
deficiency in the license agreement that impairs the licensor -
licensee relationship and limits the licensed business. |
CEOs Need To
Embrace Customer Management
By Doug Leather
Although "customer management" is still immature in most
large companies, it remains a board agenda item. |
Keep
your customers, boost your profits
By Doug Leather
In today's economy, it is common knowledge that retaining customers
can be up to 100% more profitable than acquiring new ones. Research
by Gartner, Peppers & Rogers and others shows that it costs five
times as much to find a new customer as it does to keep an old one.
Despite this, customer acquisition still tends to get the lion's
share of most marketing budgets, a reality that belies the customer
management commitments many companies pay lip service to in their
marketing brochures.
html-file |
17 Tips
for Bringing Your Event to Life
by Susan Friedmann
One key to a successful special event is to seek out entertainment
or decorations that are unique and fun to spark conversation among
guests. As you begin envisioning your event, picture the mood you
want the environment to create. |
Ten
Secrets of Super Successful Meeting Planners
By Susan Friedmann
Being a meeting planner isn’t easy! It’s tough and demanding as
well as fun, exciting, exhilarating, stimulating, and never ever
boring. This article focuses on ten skills that can make a meeting
planner super successful.
html-file - 17 KB
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Top
10 Design Issues According To Web Marketing!
By: Martin Lemieux
When it comes to designing your site, there are 2 ways you can
ultimately go. a) Designing for yourself and no one else, b)
Designing to fit web marketing and customer attracting methods.
Here are the top 10 issues you should always consider |
A
Network Of Web Sites Is Not Enough!
By Martin Lemieux |
The
irresistible outbreak of trust
by Michael Sarnefors
Viral marketing is replacing traditional marketing because it allows
low-cost, rapid, highly targeted, personalized, and therefore
extremely effective, communication and propagation of marketing
messages to existing and potential customers, by leveraging
relationships of trust |
The
Brand Called You
By Steven Van Yoder
Every company has a reputation. Everyone you meet will form an
opinion about your company, even if they have not done business with
you yet. The challenge is to manage your reputation so that the
opinion that people have of you is positive. This is what creates a
brand. |
Cause-Related
Marketing
by Steven Van Yoder
Embracing a cause makes good business sense. Nothing builds brand
loyalty among today's increasingly hard-to-please consumers like a
company’s proven commitment to a worthy cause. Other things being
equal, many consumers would rather do business with a company that
stands for something beyond profits. |
Concept
Screening Fundamentals: Developing a brand extension concept
screening model
By Kirk Martensen
Trademark licensing is often segmented into ‘conventional
licensing’ and ‘brand extension licensing’. Brand extension
has become a major focus of many firms in the corporate trademark
licensing business. It is reported that corporate trademark or brand
related licensed products exceed $18 billion in annual retail sales
in the U.S. and Canada. Unfortunately, few licensors have the
resources required to simultaneously evaluate and develop multiple
brand extension licensed product categories. Product concept
screening can help the licensing firm to separate the winners from
the losers. |
The Secrets of
Word-of-Mouth Marketing "How to trigger exponential sales
through runaway word of mouth"
Book Summary by Regine P. Azurin and Yvette Pantilla
Word-of-mouth marketing is the most powerful and persuasive weapon
you can use, and it won't cost you anything! Based on George
Silverman's years of consulting with successful word-of-mouth
campaigns of his own clients, here is one of the first resources on
how to harness the often underestimated power of word-of-mouth, and
be heard above the media noise |
Building
and developing brands in the automotive aftermarket
by Hanns Günther Bollig, Automotive Advisors & Associates
With the fall of block exemption, the automotive aftermarket becomes
more open for OEM suppliers. In order to be successful, OEM supplier
have to improve public awareness of their brands and products. This
article describes some of the issues and opportunities. |
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