Category Archives: Marketing
With a commodity, innovate big or go home!
For every “Apple” type company in America, there are dozens (hundreds?) of companies that operate in a low-interest, commodity realm. Many of these organizations will work hard to develop new products, but lack the ability or courage to do so … Continue reading
Filed under Business lessons, consumer insight, innovation, Marketing
Give – Don’t Sell
I’ve been reading several business books lately. Two of my favorites are “The Referral Engine”, by John Jantsch, and “Little Red Book of Selling” by Jeffrey Gitomer. The fascinating thing about both of these books is that they are as … Continue reading
Filed under Business lessons, consumer percpetions, Insight2, Marketing
It’s tough selling benefits not features
We all know that it is important to sell our products or services based on the benefits they provide, not on the features they contain. But why is that so hard to do? We just had an internal meeting this … Continue reading
Filed under Business, Business lessons, innovation, Marketing
How do you interpret what you see?
Have you ever noticed how different people can see the same thing but take away such different information? An optimist can read a newspaper article and note that while there are difficulties in the current economy, things are going to … Continue reading
Why Innovation won’t work in your company – Part 4 Misplaced Fear
The problem with embarking on an innovation project is that you can’t know where it’s going to end up (if you did, it wouldn’t really be innovation, now would it?). Many people (and organizations) have a strong need to be … Continue reading
Filed under Business lessons, innovation, Marketing
Why Innovation Won’t Work in Your Company – Part 3 Lack of Champions
An innovative idea without a champion behind it is doomed. I wrote in my last post about risk aversion tendencies of middle management within most organizations. There is an exception to that rule. If an individual in the … Continue reading
Filed under Business lessons, consumer insight, innovation, Marketing, unmet needs
Why Innovation Won’t Work in Your Company – Part 2, Positioning
Who’s in charge of innovation at your company? The odds are, a group of people that fight it every step of the way. Think about it… Top executives at any company are charged with creating the Vision and direction for … Continue reading
Filed under Business lessons, innovation, Marketing
Where are we headed?
Today that has become less of a problem. Because I’m not sure young people even talk anymore. Texting has completely overtaken the culture. Continue reading
Filed under consumer insight, innovation, Marketing, unmet needs
An innovative hotel experience
It’s often been said that innovation is not about invention, but rather the reapplication of a given “technology” from one realm to another. I have just completed a two night stay at a hotel in Portland, Oregon that absolutely meets … Continue reading
Filed under innovation, Marketing
Is what you say what they hear?
My eight year old son was in Sunday School last weekend. The teacher was teaching a lesson on patience. At one point during the lesson, the teacher talked about a situation where the Israelites were frustrated and began to whine. … Continue reading
Filed under Business lessons, Marketing
