7.26.2014

The 5 P's of Marketing

Any Marketing 101 class will espouse the values of the 4 P’s of Marketing, or the “Marketing Mix”, consisting of Product, Place, Price and Promotion. However, the most important P may be one that isn’t traditionally included in this list: Perception.

4.22.2014

Creating Breakthrough Innovations

What makes a product a breakthrough innovation? First, a breakthrough product is typically a commercial success. But plenty of products are commercially successful; a breakthrough is much more than that. A true breakthrough changes the market landscape in some significant way. Breakthrough products disrupt markets and business models and change the way people live. They change behaviors and lifestyles. In fact, they often change the world as we know it. Think iPhone, iPad, YouTube, 3D printers, Facebook, etc.

2.19.2014

How "Growth Hacking" Can Help You Rapidly Scale Your Business

"Growth hacking" is a business and marketing concept that has been building momentum, particularly among tech start-ups. Essentially, growth hacking is the concept of scaling a company or product quickly by making data-driven decisions. It also dictates how the product or company is marketed to potential customers. Growth hacking eschews traditional marketing channels for low cost "guerilla" tactics that promote rapid growth. A key tenet of growth hacking is that it encourages businesses to take an outside-the-box approach to marketing, taking all aspects of operations into consideration when identifying growth opportunities.

1.14.2014

Using Data to Optimize Your Marketing Efforts

An ongoing criticism of social media marketing is that it offers an uncertain ROI. However, measuring ROI has always been a central challenge for marketers. Whether you work in marketing or not, you have probably heard some variation of the often quoted adage, "Only half of marketing works. The problem is, we don't know which half." Identifying which marketing efforts are the most effective has long been a significant hurdle for marketers, inhibiting our ability to optimize (or justify) our efforts.