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10
Apr

Should marketing be a regulated profession?

Categories: Branding, Marketing, Public Relations
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What does it mean to be a professional? Stephen Waddington, who used to do public relations for me when I was living and working in Europe, has just written a piece about professionalism and professional status for The Drum, in which he argues that there are five tests for a profession:barrier to entry, community of practice, body of knowledge, ethical framework, and continuous professional development. These are indeed characteristics of the regulated professions, but there is another quite reasonable usage of the word “professional”, which describes a person who is thoroughly versed in, and deeply committed to, the skills and practice of a particular discipline. This usage often implies that it’s your full-time job. For example, we talk of professional athletes, dancers, project managers, programmers, and so on. Read more

22
Jul

Position your Product for Success

Categories: Branding, Differentiation, Product
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Brands occupy space in the mind of the customer. The notion of positioning is a very important concept in product branding. Positioning is really creating a space in the mind of the customer that you can own, and that is not directly under threat from competitors.

The simplest way to think about positioning is to determine the key buyer criteria for your segment. What are the factors that buyers use in comparing products? It could be price, speed, quality, local availability, support, or any one of many possibilities. You need to figure it out. Read more

22
Jul

Brand-Driven Market Research

Categories: Branding, Product
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Brand development requires research. One of the cardinal sins in marketing is to assume that the customer is like you. You don’t know until you ask. In technology, you are probably out of date within six months of leaving the customer’s world and entering marketing or engineering or sales. Sales people probably lose it more slowly than the others, because their job is centered around daily contact with customers and their needs.

We look at these four primary areas in our brand research. Read more

22
Jul

Launching your Product

Categories: Product
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Launching a new product is a complex task, especially if it’s a new product area for your company.

The cost of delays in product launch are legendary. In the electronics business, system revenues range up to $50M per day of delay! How much are you willing to pay to reduce your launch time by one week? Or simply to increase the probability that you will launch on schedule?

Read more

21
Jul

Finding your Unique Value

Categories: Differentiation, Featured
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We are experts at ignoring and tuning out. We especially ignore things that are like other things we’ve seen before. It’s a natural response to the clutter that surrounds us every day. Our brains have learned to look for the new and the different, and to ignore that which is undifferentiated. Most of marketing is about efficiently defeating this built-in, natural reflex, and causing potential customers to see our offering as new and different and valuable. In product and service positioning, it’s vital to stand out. In this article I will talk about some simple ways of setting yourself apart from the pack. First, some preconceptions that we might as well remove right at the beginning.

  • Nothing has to be a commodity
  • Differentiation isn’t always about the product
  • Business is not a war with your customers.

Here’s an instructive story about differentiation in the most difficult of circumstances: Read more

15
Mar

Brand Magic

Categories: Featured
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I have never been branded in the physical sense;+ however millions of farm animals over the centuries would attest to its effectiveness. The original of the word “brand” is in old Norse–the language of ancient Scandinavia. It means “to burn.” It was a good idea in Scandinavia to burn an identifying mark into the rump of your livestock, because the cattle had to roam about to find enough food, and anyhow, building fences was a lot of work. Read more

11
Nov

Customer Relationship Innovation

Categories: Differentiation, Innovation
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There are many ways to innovate, but one of the most reliable is in the customer relationship. It’s reliable because you can quickly measure the impact of changes in the way you manage the relationship with your customers. You don’t even have to have a brilliant idea—your customers will often provide it for you (if you ask!).

Nordstrom’s is a great example of a retailer that has achieved differentiation through a unique approach to their customer relationship. Not only do they establish a customer-centric approach to doing business, but they specifically empower their salespeople to go out of their way to give customers a unique level of support and service. Read more

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Andrea Casotto, CEO, Runtime Design Automation
Tim has the ability to understand complex issues extremely quickly, and to make them understandable to others. His clear thinking and wide experience have been very helpful to us in developing a stronger marketing strategy and message. He is also a fluent and effective writer, helping us to tell our story in a simpler and more compelling way.
Jill Borcherding – Interior / Exterior Design
Tim is a true Renaissance Man. He is gifted in Art and Architecture, Music, Science, History, and Business Acumen. All of his talents coalesce to make him a deeply profound individual with great skills and insight. It is my pleasure to know him.
Ketan Joshi, VP Marketing, Atheer
I had the pleasure to work with Tim on marketing and strategy projects on multiple occasions. Recently, Tim helped our team focus the positioning of a multifaceted product. His facilitation skills were a hit with our team: he was able to rapidly integrate and synthesize the ideas of many people, effectively. I look forward to working with Tim in future projects.
Michael Sanie, Marketing Director, Synopsys, Inc.
“Tim is one of the best people I have seen who can think of long term strategies while not forgetting about the realities of what can be achieved - a rare combination in purely strategic thinkers. He is also a superb communicator and team lead. He can communicate effectively and comfortable at many levels (engineers, middle managers, and executives) and via several media (written, presentation, face-to-face dialog, etc.). Most importantly, Tim is a pleasure to work with. With Tim, even the hardest situations become "fun" challenges to work through.”
Kay Lawton, Marketing Communications Manager, Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
“Tim was the lead on an international event with which my team lent our expertise and assistance. While working onsite during the high-stress weeks preceeding this event, I found Tim to be very supportive of the work his team was responsible for. His strategic and creative sides are most evident, as well as his understanding of the tactical side of marketing programs. The program was a collaborative success. It was a pleasure doing business with him.”
Sandeep Khanna, Co-Founder, Co-Administrator at Champion School
I have had the pleasure of collaborating with Tim on a few corporate initiatives in the past year. Tim is a very positive person. I can't remember being in a meeting with him and not be thoroughly engaged or enjoying myself. Even when we were mostly disagreeing. Additionally, Tim has an innate ability to make even the most complex concepts easy to understand and make people his well wishers. That served us well when a cross-functional team comprising of Cadence's thought leaders, with strong opinions and big egos, was brought together to propose key compenents of a key strategic thrust. That proposal was well received and is in early stages of execution with one huge sales success already, during this past quarter. I look forward to collaborating with Tim again, in the near future.
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