THINKing

Holiday For Charity Is Back

Americans spent more in two months on holiday items than they did all year on charitable giving in 2007. Holiday retail sales for November and December 2007 in the general merchandise category were up about 1.7 percent, totaling roughly $469.9 billion, according to the National Retail Federation. Charitable giving for 2007 set a record, topping $306 billion.

Email: It’s Not Dead. It Says It’s Not Dead.

Fans of Monty Python and The Holy Grail will recognize the headline allusion above. According to the latest poll by SubscriberMail, email is not dead. No, really.

Random Links – 7/16/2008

If you are marketing at C-level, you know how hard it is to reach the CEO. Good advice here on how to break through the corporate defenses to reach the CEO.

Is your blog a networking tool? Jennifer Gniadecki from Everyday Networker takes on the topic.

Cheaper To Keep

You’ve heard it all before when it comes to stats about customer retention. Some say that acquiring a customer costs five to 10 times more than retaining one. Repeat customers spend, on average, 67 percent more. After 10 purchases a customer has referred as many as seven other people. I’m not sure about the math, but I am sure that the underlying premise is correct: keeping existing customers is cheaper than getting new ones.

Great Employees = Happy Consumers

Companies spend millions of dollars each year identifying their brand, and then communicating their brand promise through various media. Employees are the primary “media” in the majority of brand contacts. Raise your hand if you think a majority of your employees understand your brand promise well enough to live it and articulate it clearly.

It’s The Relationship, Stupid

I don’t care how you slice it, when it comes down to fundamentals, business is all about relationships. Ignore this truth at your own peril. There’s a Huntersville, NC restaurant that I frequent called Positano. First time I went, my wife and I liked it a lot it. Good food, nice wine list, great desserts, good vibe, but only adequate service.