Five Things In Marketing

5 Areas to Consider Mapping Strategy to Tactics

Robert — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 12:55:19 +0000

Recently I was accused of being too strategic. I’m not sure if I am upset with that statement but it did get me thinking about mapping Strategy to Tactics. I have seen many times in my career a misstep where the strategy may be spot-on but the tactics taken are wrong. A strategist must take into account the core competency of the company and decide if the strategy is in line with the company’s core competency. If there isn’t alignment, the strategist must determine the investments and tactics that must be made to argument the company’s core competencies. In a situation where the objective includes such requirements as increasing revenue growth above market growth (taking market share), a response to economic pressures, and/or responding to changes in the competitive landscape, augmenting core competency is most definitely required. The misstep happens when the change required is either unknown or not articulated properly or the company is unable to change or the company is unwilling to change. For example, a small business unit is formed whose target goal is not aligned with the company’s DNA. Let’s say this business is targeting a small set of top tier customers within a company whose core competency is marketing to a [...]

Five things about living in the gray.

Robert — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 14:16:01 +0000

I recently posted this blog at the Technology Marketing Center Five things about living in the gray. When I was younger, I saw things very much in Black and White. Two things happened in my life that changed that perspective. One was the birth of my son; the other was learning Japanese culture. For anyone who has become a parent, I think you can emphasize that bringing a child in the world really changes your worldly perspective. I remember prior to parenthood, how I lived a very structured world, then after the introduction of our son, well, our world turned upside down. I would like to say that after 21 years, the world righted itself, but that is not how it is. Later, as I prepared to do business in Japan, I immersed myself in understanding the Japanese culture.There was on item I learnt that amazed me at the time. In Japan it considered a normal opinion that an answer can be yes and no to a question. Getting your head around this idea is difficult for a Westerner but once you do, it helps you live even better in the gray. I think living in the gray helps one balance decision-making and also [...]

5 E’s of Leadership and Performance Planning

Robert — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 21:44:00 +0000

This is the time of the year when many corporations implement their performance planning process. Known by many names it is basically the process to provide a manager’s evaluation of their subordinate’s performance in writing. For many years I’ve had an issue with the process. Some companies ask employees to enumerate everything they had done over the year based on goals set a year prior. A manager would then judge how well the employee performed to those goals. There are a couple of flaws in this kind of thinking. One is that this is a once a year process and the other is expecting it is possible to set annual goals for any employee in an ever-changing work environment. On the once a year issue, I think it is good to document once a year a conversation about a person’s successes and areas to grow. But if anything documented is a surprise during this conversation, the manager is failing to do their job the rest of the year. Any member of a team should always know how they are performing. Continuous feedback is necessary. No I don’t mean nagging or praising continuously. What I mean is having deep conversations about each team member’s career aspirations, [...]

5 directions to look as you plan for 2012

Robert — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 12:38:55 +0000

5 directions to look as you plan for 2012. 1) Look Backward First assess where you are. What worked this year? Where were the successes? Where did things go astray? What safe guards have you put in place to make sure you don’t repeat mistakes and what steps have you taken to continue on with those successes? 2) Look Left Take a deep look at the competition. What are they saying about themselves? How are they positioning themselves and their products? What were their attack vectors? Are the competitors defining the market or are you? http://www.technologymarketingcenter.com/resourcearchive/how-to-attack-with-competitive-positioning.php 3) Look Right Look at your team. How have they grown? What strengths do you build upon and what skills do you build into the team? Make sure every member from the best to the weakest are growing, learning and enjoying their roles. Have forward discussions and define plans to help your team achieve not only the company’s goals but their own personal goals. 4) Look Forward One year from now, where do you want to be? What do you want customers thinking when they consider your company, your products and your team? Put yourself in the position of the “future you” and look [...]

5 Questions to consider in defining your marketing strategy

Robert — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 13:00:07 +0000

For 13 years I drove by a store whose motto was “Good Stuff Cheap”. The sign made me cringe every time I looked at it. But there it sat, and there it still sits bragging you can get good stuff cheap there. I’ve since changed the direction I travel to work, not because of the store but of other reasons. So why did I cringe when I saw that sign, it’s because I have spent my career trying to market on value and “Good Stuff Cheap” is the antithesis of such a claim. My focus on marketing on value began after I read the HBS paper “Marketing Success Through Differentiation of Anything” by Theodore Levitt. This paper was required reading in a “Strategic Marketing” class I was taking at the AT&T school of business. The professor for this class, a Robert Parkett, was an entrepreneur who found ways to differentiate any product… including pizza. The class was how to think differently to do just that. Anyway, the impact of the class and paper was substantial and has driven me to always look at ways to sell for value. The Technology Marketing Center embodies selling to value. This graphic which I borrowed with [...]

5 Bloggers to Follow

Robert — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 01:36:19 +0000

5 Bloggers to Follow. I’m a big follower of blogs. To keep up with them and scan for interesting titles, I use iGoogle. iGoogle has a facility that allows you to add RSS feed gadgets to a tab on you own personal Google homepage. I’ve set up a number of tabs based on my differing interests. If you are an iGoogle user and wish to include all the marketing RSS feeds I follow, log into iGoogle and follow this link. See Rob’s “Marketing Sites” on your Google homepage » If not, here are 5 bloggers I find myself reading often. Image Thief a very interesting perspective inside of China from a PR specialist in technology. Greenley’s Ghost a business to business / engineer to engineer communication perspective by Brian Fuller. Dam I wish I though of that A great marketing blog by Andy Sernovitz, always unique and interesting. Seth’s Blog Seth’s Godin, the marketer’s marketer. Author and blogger and general marketing prophet. Confessions of an eBiz Junkie EMC’s Social Strategist, Len Devanna

5 Things I Learnt From My Disney Vacation

Robert — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 01:18:33 +0000

5 Things I Learnt From My Disney Vacation Last week my family and I went on a Disney vacation. A few days at Disney World and a few days on the new Disney Dream cruise ship. Disney cruise ships are not new to us, this is our third cruise. For this blog, I also want to note that last year, we decided to try Carnival Cruise lines. There is a stark contrast from this cruise line to Disney. I don’t want to ditch Carnival so let’s just say, I considered this vacation a do-over from last year’s vacation. Talking about contrast, we also spent one day at Universal Studios. One day was enough. Here are 5 Things I learnt from Disney during my vacation. 1) It is about the Customer, Customer, Customer What made these stark contrasts was how customers were handled. Walking onto any of the Disney cruise ships, your family name is announced and you walk onto the ship to applause by the crew. Every person working on the ship met you with a smile, and thanked you and asked “how can I help”. Everyone. At Universal we met with frowns, and were yelled at at least once. Disney [...]

5 Things I learnt at The Marketing Profs B2B Forum

Rob DeRobertis — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 16:14:41 +0000

Last month I attended the Marketing Profs B2B Forum. It was an intense full two days of discussions on the strategy and tactics for business to business marketing. This is the first time since this event that I've had a chance to put down some thoughts. So now, after several weeks of knowledge absorption, here are my thoughts.

You can check out what the forum was about here:
http://www.marketingprofs.com/events/business-to-business-forum-2011/conference
or check the call sign #mpb2b on twitter.

5 Things I learnt at the Marketing ...

5 Things I learnt from my dad.

Robert — Tue, 31 May 2011 03:23:37 +0000

Today the Pocono Record recognized my dad for his service to our country this memorial day. You can read the article here.

My dad taught me so much over the years.Here are just 5 of them.

1) There is always another angle. (Another way to look at things).
2) This is a wonderful country we live in and it is our responsibility to protect and nurture it.
3) Work hard.
4) Love your ...

5 Things about Public Relations

Robert — Sat, 21 May 2011 18:26:20 +0000

5 Things about Public Relations

1) PR is about Story Telling
Think about the times when someone told you a story. Now think about those times when the story teller grabbed your imagination? What were those stories about? It is my bet that those stories weren't about the person speaking but about something else. The person who always talks about themselves are typically labeled as "bores" and unless they are one of the few living legends, the story is not interesting. In B2B, these stories are about the industry, possibilities, innovations, problems, concerns and opportunities. Stories ...