THINKing

Brands Need A Home

Photo credit: clarita from morguefile.com

Many brands are investing a lot of time and money into social networks, almost to the point of ceding control to another entity. It’s time to rethink this.

Tap The Crowd

Photo credit: Piresco from morguefile.com

We talk a lot about listening, and some companies are beginning to give it a try. But, too often, the company doesn’t really hear because it is too focused on what it wants, not what the customer is asking for. At other times, companies get customer input but don’t ferret out what a customer really wants.

You Have A Problem? I Have A Product!

If you have a business headache, do you really care about someone’s products and services? I know I don’t. Give me a solution, then we will talk.

A Silent Message From Your Customer

Your customers are telling you something, but aren’t saying a word. Most businesses will never get the message because they are too focused on what they want, not what the customer is asking for.

Brands Out Of Control

Are you taking charge of your brand or placing its control in the hands of others? In light of recent crowdsourced ads at the Superbowl, that’s the question Beau Fraser contemplates in a MarketingDaily article.

Customer Surprise

When is the last time you had a customer surprise that was also pleasant? Mine was just today.

I’ve been looking for a black turtleneck to complete my Halloween costume. Unable to find one anywhere. Went to Belk, the recently rebranded Charlotte, NC-based department store, to see if they had one. Lo and behold, there it was.

Stop Listening To Your Customers

According to Mark Cuban, you should never listen to your customers. Does he really mean this?

No,  what he is saying is that marketers must take matters into their own hands when it comes to creating a new product or improving an old one. Says Cuban,

Put Away The Diamond Ring

It seems to me that many marketers are like the guy overeager to get married. That guy walks up to the first pretty girl he sees and immediately whips out the diamond ring, asking for the order, so to speak.

Marketers who ask for too much information from prospects the first time they meet is guilty of this, too.

Smart Customers

Your customers are smart, but as marketers, we often misconstrue what they are telling us. We’ve written about this before but thought about it again today when I read a piece by Valeria Maltoni entitled “Your Customers Don’t Know What They Want.” Maltoni says,

Face Time

Some social media proponents would have you believe that the digital world is the new Nirvana. Guess what? Humans – the users of social media – haven’t really changed their behavior in 75,000 years. Although, we do dress better now, and we’re not all cavorting naked on the plains of the Serengeti.