Clik here to view.
PR / Media Pros Should Stand Firm on Requiring Quote Approvals
Quote Approvals Lower the Risk of Media Burn The practice of requiring journalists to submit on-the-record quotes for approval by a source in advance of publication has long been a sore point between...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Finding Elmer in Hurricane Sandy
This is where I found Elmer, the Volunteer Craftsman. One week ago today, my wife and I spent most of the night in total darkness lying on a mattress we had dragged into the front hallway: the location...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tennyson Delivers Skyfall’s British Bulldog Moment
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. In her 7th and final role playing “M” in Skyfall – the latest in a series of 23 James Bond movies produced over the past 50 years – Dame Judi Dench...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Lost Marketing Art of Ink on Paper
Time to temper our love affair with pixels on a screen? In a pre-pixilated world in the not too distant past, Ink on Paper ruled the world of marketing. Capabilities brochures, annual reports and other...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Is Your B2B Firm REALLY Marketing…Or Simply Making Tactical Soup?
Is Your B2B Marketing a Tactical Hodge Podge? B2B firms invest significant dollars and hours maintaining a broad range of marketing tactics that may or may not demonstrate economic value. Often, the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What the US Marines Can Teach Your B2B Firm about Marketing and Sales
Every Marine a Rifleman “Every Marine a Rifleman” is a basic tenet of the US Marine Corps. At boot camp, every marine receives training in marksmanship, hand-to-hand combat and teamwork. Regardless of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Should I Rekindle My Blog Love Affair…Or End It?
Can This Blog Affair Be Saved? Here’s a sad letter from the Marketing Craftsmanship mailbag: Dear Marketing Guy, I’ve fallen out of love with my Blog and I need your advice. My sad story: It was love...
View ArticleClik here to view.
5 Ways You Can Merchandise the “Masthead Value” of Publicity
Not to be confused with “The Wall Street Transcript” Many companies will invest considerable effort seeking positive publicity in influential media sources, and then fail to benefit from the masthead...
View ArticleClik here to view.
An End to B2B Social Media Madness
Rapid, lemming-like adoption of social media tools by small and medium-sized B2B firms – fueled by an army of self-proclaimed social media experts – has resulted in wasted dollars, missed...
View ArticleClik here to view.
White Papers are Not Dead. They’re on Life Support.
Have Marketers Killed This B2B Golden Goose? The original purpose of white papers as a B2B marketing tactic was to produce objective information, packaged as quasi-academic research, that might...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Three Myths and Realities of Client Newsletters
Client newsletters are the most widely used, often abused and hotly debated marketing tactic for professional services firms of any size. Here are three highly subjective myths and realities to help...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Did Reader’s Digest Flunk Its Own Trust Test?
…and I have a highly rated TV show. In an effort to goose newsstand sales, the June issue of Reader’s Digest features a cover story entitled, “The 100 Most Trusted People in America Today.” Although...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Thought Leadership Merchandising: Rising Above the Noise
Thought Leadership Programs Must be Accountable for Business Outcomes Thought Leadership is one of the most widely used terms in B2B marketing. But there’s a range of opinion regarding what Thought...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Make Your Corporate Anniversary Worth Celebrating
B2B firms that have flourished for 20, 30 or 50 years are understandably proud of their longevity, particularly after having endured the most recent decade’s harsh economic conditions. But many of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Client Newsletters: Empty Suit of the B2B Marketing Mix
Most Client Newsletters Deliver No Tangible Business Value Client newsletters are the most widely used, often abused and hotly debated B2B marketing tactic for professional services firms of any size....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Peter Drucker on “The Four Roles of the CFO”
In the early 1990s, Highlander Consulting was engaged by Phibro Energy to help introduce energy derivatives to Chief Financial Officers at corporations with substantial exposure to fluctuations in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Attention Web: What B2B Marketers Need to Know
For B2B marketers who are too busy to keep up-to-date on every marketing trend and buzzword, here are a few thoughts on all the current noise about the Attention Web: Attention as a marketing asset is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How WebMD Has Changed B2B Marketing Forever
Many B2B companies, and professional services firms in particular, do not succeed at marketing for two major reasons: Failure to understand that the vendor selection process has fundamentally changed....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Confucius Say: Your Case Studies are Worthless
The most noteworthy article on B2B selling was published in a 1966 Harvard Business Review article (#66213). In “How to Buy /Sell Professional Services,” author Warren J. Wittreich explains the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Re-Thinking the “Best B2B Advertisement of the 20th Century”
In 1958, Gilbert Morris – an account executive at the Fuller Smith & Ross ad agency – created the, “I don’t know who you are,” business-to-business advertisement for McGraw-Hill Publishing Co. that...
View Article
