But my product is so COOL!

Have you ever thought about why customers buy your product? Is it because of your brand name or the product features and benefits, or maybe the persuasive copy written in the catalog? Or is it price? 

Who is at the wheel in your company?

Take a close look at your company’s product and service portfolio.  Does your portfolio reflect your company’s business strategy, or is your portfolio loaded with a mismatch of products or services with little potential for growth?

New products and services set the future direction of your company.  If your portfolio does not support your company’s business strategy, then who is driving your organization?

A company without a new product/service strategy can easily be directed by its most vocal salesperson(s) or its largest customers.  Sure, we all have times when we have to add a small program to satisfy critical customers.  But if you do not have an innovation charter, these incremental projects can drain your development resources and alter the future direction of your company.

Are you anticipating roadblocks?

So it looks like the economy just might be turning around, albeit slowly. (And who knows what news today’s stock market may bring.) With this tentative optimism, most companies are furiously looking for ways to improve sales. But we would issue this warning: be sure you are anticipating potential roadblocks.

Get the Big Picture at the Big Apple–Literally

Effectively grabbing the attention of their target market, American Eagle executed a well-thought marketing plan to help launch their new flagship store in Times Square: give customers 15 seconds of fame.

“Look out for that Droid!” – product launch marketing that bombs?

You’ve probably heard that Motorola, Verizon and Google have introduced the Droid phone. By all accounts, it’s a very strong smartphone, with great integration with other Google products (e.g., Gmail, Google contacts, etc.). (Here’s a 16-minute podcast review by local technology expert Phil Yanov.) But the advertising? Well, it’s been all over the map.