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A Common - Yet Easily Avoidable - Marketing Mistake
Title: A Common - Yet Easily Avoidable - Marketing Mistake Author: Kathleen Gage Email: Kathleen@turningpointpresents.com Word Count: 757 Copyright © 2004 by Kathleen Gage Web address: www.kathleengage.com Publishing Guidelines: You may publish...
Publicity: Marketing-Minded Financial Planners, Never Say These Words to a Reporter
They deal with jargon-filled press releases, poorly-written news advisories, and gimmicky items like pens and mousepads, but reporters consistently and overwhelmingly name one habit of publicity-seekers as their number one peeve. What is it? It's...
The 3 P's Of Internet Marketing!
As an internet marketer and guitar player I have come to realize the similarities beteween the two. Face it, to become good at either it takes dedication. You can learn all you want about how to play guitar or how to market on the internet but if...
What Marketing Can't Do For You
I thought I would clear up some misconceptions about marketing
in this two-part series: What Marketing Can Do For You and What
Marketing Can't Do For You. This issue is about what marketing
can't do.
While there's no question a solid...
Why You Need a Marketing Plan
Being in direct sales can often give the feeling "I don't have to do much, just sell". It's true, you don't have to ship orders or create websites, or even design catalogs (even though we recommend it sometimes). Your job as the rep is to direct...
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Better Marketing Through Modern Mind-Control
There are two kinds of marketing: Direct Marketing and Brand Marketing. Direct marketing targets wallets. Branding is about hearts and minds.
DIFFERENT BY DESIGN
Ads designed for branding are cool. They don't plead and beg and cajole, they just sit there. They may be loud, but in a very smug way because they already got what they want. They may tell you where to click or who to call, but they don't really care if you do. You saw them... that's enough. An impression was made.
Think Absolut Vodka.
Direct sale ads have a real do-or-die attitude that can make them a bit annoying and undignified, especially amid their mellower counterparts. By their directives shall ye know them: Call Now! Order Now! Click Now!
Think infomercials.
You can't track the results of a branding campaign like you can a direct sales campaign, but you don't have to. You don't need to prove that an ad performed its function when its function was to just sit there and look cool.
But where does that leave the accountants who need those stats to further trim the marketing budget?
Who cares?
THE NEW CUSTOMER
Say it's your friend's birthday and you buy her a t-shirt with the logo of the Mikey Running Shoe Company emblazoned across the front. Does that make you a Mikey person?
No. You're just some putz who bought something. As far as the Mikey Running Shoe Company is concerned, you're irrelevant... a statistical aberration.
Frankly, Mikey would rather have their shirt back.
But say you buy ALL your friends gifts with the Mikey logo - plus most of your own wardrobe. You don't even have to think about it, you just do it. Now you're not an aberration, you're a customer, and that's a whole different level of commitment.
You pay money to be a walking billboard for Mikey. You strive to represent the Mikey ideal. You craft your self-image based on the models
and sports stars in Mikey ads (even if you're a pudgy smoker with a lazy eyeball and a ten dollar-a-day twinkie habit).
IMAGE IS
But your adoption of the Mikey image runs far deeper. You're not just a Mikey customer, you're a Mikey PERSON.
If someone bad-mouths Mikey, you set them straight. If someone speaks well of a non-Mikey product, you respond with autonomic contempt. If someone converts to Mikey-hood, you embrace them into the fold.
If it were a cult, it would be called programming.
If it were an ideology, it would be called brainwashing.
If it were a religion, it would be called a conversion.
But it's a shoe. It's called branding.
THE NEW WORLD ORDER
In any field, there are two brands and a bunch of off-brands or wannabes. Democrat and Republican are brands. Reform, Libertarian, Green Party and whoever else are merely Other.
It's a Yin Yang interdependence thing. Note how Democracy is diminished without Communism for counterpoint?
In the new world order, stores and websites are clubs, brands are families, and The New Person is defined simply as the combination of several dozen brand settings, like toggle switches on a motherboard: Coke (not Pepsi). Chevy (not Ford). Burger King (not McDonalds). Shaken (not stirred). Catholic (not Protestant). White Sox (not Cubs).
And is there ever any real difference between the first and second place players in any given category?
Sure. The one I prefer is like ten times better.
Duh.
About the Author
Linda Cox (J.A.M.G.) was born in a speeding stagecoach amid the screams of fellow passengers as insane, wild-eyed horses dragged them all crashing toward the brink of destruction. That stagecoach was the planet Earth, those passengers were the human race, and Linda Cox is Just Another Marketing Guru. (The horses were just regular horses.) http://www.LindaCox.com/
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KnowThis: For Marketing, Market Research, Internet Marketing ... |
KnowThis.com offers a wealth of information, forums, and resources for professionals, academics and students in traditional and internet marketing, ... |
www.knowthis.com |
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Marketing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
Marketers depend on marketing research, both formal and informal, ... The next big thing is a concept in marketing that refers to a product or idea that ... |
en.wikipedia.org |
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Marketing - Marketing Strategy - Marketing Plan - Marketing ... |
Learn about marketing careers, the stages of developing a marketing plan, how to begin marketing research, create a marketing strategy, and how to market ... |
marketing.about.com |
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Marketing.org - Home of the Business Marketing Association |
Serves the professional, educational and career development needs of business-to-business marketers. |
www.marketing.org |
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Welcome - American Marketing Association - www.marketingpower.com |
Dedicated to serving the educational and professional needs of marketing executives. |
www.marketingpower.com |
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Advertising, Marketing, Media and PR News - Brand Republic |
Find the latest Advertising, Marketing, Media and PR news from Brand Republic, the online resource for up to the minute advertising and marketing news and ... |
www.brandrepublic.com |
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Marketing Magazine - Marketing News - Brand Republic |
Marketing Magazine - Marketing News - Brand Republic. |
www.brandrepublic.com |
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Marketing (Canada) |
Offers a Canadian source of news and articles on marketing, advertising and media. |
www.marketingmag.ca |
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BidVertiser - Pay Per Click Advertising On Sites Of Your Choice. |
Pay per click advertising - online advertising directly on sites of your choice, internet marketing solution for online advertisers. |
www.bidvertiser.com |
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Online Behavioral Contextual Advertising and Marketing. |
Promote your business with today's most effective online advertising technology, contextual advertising at a cost effective metric of CPC, PPC, CPM or CPV. |
www.clicksor.com |
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Sales Jobs / Marketing Jobs / Advertising Jobs - MarketingJobs.com |
Employment site for marketing and sales professionals. |
www.marketingjobs.com |
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The Chartered Institute of Marketing |
The Chartered Institute of Marketing is the world's largest international marketing professional body and helps with career support and information ... |
www.cim.co.uk |
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Marketing: See what people are saying right now on Technorati |
See all blog posts tagged with marketing on Technorati. |
www.technorati.com |
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Marketing Profs - Marketing Concepts and Strategies: Expert ... |
Marketing knowhow from professionals. Newsletter, articles and how-to's. |
www.marketingprofs.com |
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Guerrilla Marketing Online - The Official Site |
Guerrilla Marketing Online is anonline magazine for small business, entrepreneurs, sales people and marketers of all kinds. |
www.gmarketing.com |
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Business Marketing - Small Business Marketing |
Business marketing - Read everything your need to know about small business marketing. |
www.entrepreneur.com |
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All About Marketing |
Adapted from Field Guide to Nonprofit Program Design, Marketing and Evaluation ... Inbound Marketing Includes Market Research to Find Out: ... |
www.managementhelp.org |
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Pages tagged with "marketing" on del.icio.us |
USA Network Announces a NASHVILLE STAR Marketing Partnership With ... - Yahoo! ... Direct Marketing Association: Telephone, Mail & Internet Marketing ... |
del.icio.us |
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ClickZ Internet Marketing Solutions for Marketers |
Includes columns with commentary and analysis on a wide variety of internet marketing subjects ranging from B2B marketing to search engine marketing. |
www.clickz.com |
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Direct Marketing Association: Telephone, Mail & Internet Marketing |
Trade association for users and suppliers in the direct, database and interactive marketing fields, offering seminars and resources, and lobbying for ... |
www.the-dma.org |
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