Market-share vs. Profit Strategies

• August 14, 2009
• Posted by Kylie Grimshaw Hughes
• filed in Bang for the Buck

1 comments

The joys of dating…

We all know a friend who, at some stage in their single life, has dated anything with a heartbeat.  (Let’s be totally honest, some of us are those friends).  Dating anything with a heartbeat is essentially a market-share strategy—getting your brand out there any way you can, learning from experience, polishing your image while honing your products and services.  The strategy serves a purpose—you discover what you do want by exploring what you don’t want, you work out who you are and what matters.  And eventually, for most us, we outgrow it.  It serves its purpose and we move on.  Why? Because a marketshare strategy is exhausting.  It demands a lot of resources—it requires us to spend time with people who we aren’t really compatible with, to invest money in programs and events that aren’t always our cup of tea, and to constantly make exceptions in our system to accommodate an endless array of idiosyncrasies.  Most of us only endure this because we intend for it to lead to that one special account where, having found it, we can invest all of our energy and resources while enjoying the mutual benefits of genuine compatibility. (Wistful sigh).

Business is very much like dating, especially so in the B2B service sector.  A market-share strategy will serve its purpose as long as you have a clearly defined notion of what that purpose is and for how long you plan to sustain the effort and investment.

marketing lessons, market-share, strategy

But WAIT! (Maybe) There’s More ... to the Infomercial

• July 21, 2009
• Posted by Bob Shaw
• filed in Bang for the Buck

4 comments

While the infomercial is crass and limited in many cases or categories, sometimes our vantage point is so elitist that we give this type of marketing no credit. The death of Billy Mays should give us all pause in the advertising world, and an opportunity to see what we can learn from the Infomercial King.

marketing lessons, infomercial, billy mays, advertising gimmicks

Blast for the Buck!

• July 13, 2009
• Posted by Laura Culp
• filed in Bang for the Buck

Word on the street? Domino's logo and campaign tagline have been power washed out of street grime using a stencil on the sidewalks of Los Angeles, Philadelphia and New York City. They used a company called GreenGraffiti in Europe. Domino's claims they are the first American company to get GreenGraffiti’s help. Sure, there are mixed reactions, but whatever the reaction is at least a conversation. Break away for a second from the traditional routes to advertise your name. Out-of-the-box ideas, like this one, do not cost much at all (in fact, it's merely a fraction of the price of traditional outdoor media) and create that breakout moment that gets you noticed and people talking. Obviously "everything" has not been done before.

Check out the Brandweek article and get inspired: Domino's Ads Pop Up on City Sidewalks

green, outdoor media

Marketing That Makes You Go OOH

• February 24, 2009
• Posted by Alicia Gozycki
• filed in Bang for the Buck

1 comments

In the world of traditional media, the breakout brand faces two major questions.  How can a brand rise above the clutter of messaging that surrounds consumers on a daily basis? And the second question, which begs the first, can my brand afford this?

out-of-home