You’ve worked tirelessly for weeks and your demand generation and nurturing efforts have paid off. You’ve finally built a relationship with a target customer, you’ve engaged a key sponsor and now he’s coordinating a wider meeting for you to demo your product to his peers and internal decision makers. You can almost see the sales…
Category: Tech
Applying the 70:20:10 innovation rule to your marketing
The 70:20:10 rule is frequently cited as a useful formula for delivering an optimally blended mix of marketing content. For those not familiar with it, it suggests: 70% of your content should be low risk; it talks to the fundaments of your proposition and you know it works. It’s the stuff that keeps the lights on…
A “content marketing” definition for B2B marketers
Something of a debate has opened up at the office around the exact definition of content marketing. It’s a valid debate; marketers play loose and fast with the term and, technically, almost every marketing effort uses “content” of some description. However, it’s not that simple. The value of Content Marketing lies in its ability to…
Brands don’t always own their name on Twitter, and this is what happens…
Once upon a time, connecting your brand across online properties was relatively easy. So long as you had the URL, there was little else to think about. Today, the landscape is very different with organisations having to connect their brand across multiple social sites; each with very different trademark policies and control points. I was…
Uber sneaky: The dirty side of the sharing economy
If press reports are to be believed, ridesharing company Uber has been playing a grown-up version of Knock Down Ginger (Ding Dong Ditch to US readers). Lyft, a competitor to Uber, claims that Uber employees have ordered and cancelled more than 5,000 rides since last October. That’s a huge drain on resources, effectively taking drivers…
Churn & Customer Value Management in Telecoms
I’ll be speaking this month in Prague, chairing the Churn & Customer Value Management in Telecoms conference. Some great speakers have been lined up (O2 UK, Tele2, 3UK, TTNET, Vodafone etc). I’ll be keeping a live blog / Twitter stream throughout the event. If you are planning to attend, feel free to connect with me…
Why PR’s big-data, geek-laden rhetoric makes me cringe
Dear PR Industry. It’s ok, we get it. Times are changing and PR needs to change too. But, please, for the love of god, stop with the “Future of PR rests with Geeks and Big Data” angle. It smacks of desperation, misunderstanding and a genetic desire to associate yourself with the latest zeitgeist. In your…
Customer Journey Mapping
Customer Journey Mapping has become an important exercise for mobile operators looking to improve the customer experience. Here are some best practice guidelines for anyone thinking of running a journey mapping project. The customer journey (how your customer progress through your business from acquisition and beyond) is typically “owned” by several functional groups within a…
Amazon can be a real tease
Amazon can be a right tease sometimes. I signed up for a free 30-day Prime membership over Christmas and decided to keep it. Free next day delivery (I concluded) was absolutely worth paying for so long as I used Amazon for more of my shopping. However, it can be rather a tease. Have a look…
Retailer tactics to make online price comparisons harder
Maybe it’s slightly conspiritorial of me, but it appears that in an attempt to make online price comparison as difficult as possible some online electrical retailers are using web/java script to disable the “highlight / copy” function on parts of their website. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has browsed through a retailer’s…
Marketing: Repaving the Yellow Brick Road
Technology and telecommunications companies have, for too long, relied on three increasingly obsolete business principles. That population expansion will ensure their growth, that R&D investment will protect their futures and that creating uniqueness in their offers will insulate them from competitive forces. However, this apparent [yellow brick] road to success has resulted in some high…
“Disruptive”. Investor-pleasing rhetoric with little substance?
In an interview with the Financial Times this week, HTC CEO Peter Chou talked of the company launching a tablet in the near future. He stated that the product would be disruptive. Disruptive. What a nebulous statement that has become. I’m sure it resonates well among the investment community keen to see HTC’s fortunes reenergized,…
