It’s easy to simply dismiss all branding as a constructed image, no relationship with reality. Most people with power to spend money do know that brands are constructed with an agenda:  influence people to spend money. At least intellectually, we know that brands intend to produce a rather specific outcome, [...]

As I watch the Google Alerts pop up for my brand name, I am struck by two things.
1. Some affiliate marketing writers (who frankly sound half a step short of MLM’ers) have glommed onto the idea of invisible marketing being a terrible thing. Who wouldn’t want their name in lights?
2. Other marketing writers (who sound [...]

I love lead scoring. When done right, it lets you think like a customer.
The problem is that it’s just too easy for marketers to think inside the box, instead of like customers.
Lead scoring programs are rather complex to set up. Certainly more so than a garden-variety email campaign. They require weighted averages, multiple decision criteria, [...]

At one time, the demarcation between sales and marketing was simpler.
Relationships were what sales needed:

One to one, person to person,
company by target account company,
highly situational, mano a mano.

That’s the world of selling.
Markets are what marketing tried to influence.

Given enough time and money, you could drive statistically measurable movements of trends and beliefs through populations, groups, [...]

Trained in storytelling and analysis of human communication, I see in managerial circles a great desire for too-pat formulas to predict human behavior. A lot of business people’s assumptions don’t pass a simple BS test — do I actually know anyone who’s done what we think our buyer is going to do in response [...]

Process improvement is a sophisticated science (and art) in the real world where stuff gets moved (logistics), stored (materials management), built (JIT, Six Sigma, Lean, Agile), and so on.
Most marketing people don’t think about what they do in terms of process improvement.
These two disciplines should talk to each other.
If you’re a B2B [...]

You won’t find a foolproof, set-it-and-forget-it solution to marketing automation, salesforce automation, revenue generation. Make better processes by understanding the limits of process.

Amid seismic shifts in technology and the macro economy, at least 3 gaps are emerging between marketing leaders.