Mental Maps I recently went grocery shopping at a store I’d never been to before, Stew Leonard’s, and, no offense to Stew, I am unlikely to be a repeat customer. While there were some things about the store that were better than most grocery stores, the experience drove me nuts. Here’s why. The store is laid out completely differently from standard grocery stores. Most stores, even unusual ones like Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s, have a nearly identical layout. One side is produce, frozen foods in the middle, meats in the back, dairy around the other side, standard aisles have bread, baking stuff, cans, cereals, drinks and snacks, etc. Go shopping enough, and you can generally find your way around…
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Marketing
New Blog of Note in the Direct Marketing World
New Blog of Note in the Direct Marketing World Gene Raitt, Chairman of the DMA, has launched a new blog today called DM Unplugged. It’s not an official DMA property. Gene won’t be the only contributor — over time, other DMA board members (including me) and thought leaders in the direct and interactive marketing communities at large — will contribute as well. This is one small, though notable, development in a series of things the DMA is working on as it transforms itself. Look for some truly “unplugged” commentary on this blog about both things happening in the industry and transparent views into things happening at the DMA as well as invitations to contribute to the discussion on both.
The Beginning of the DMA’s Next Chapter
The Beginning of the DMA’s Next Chapter As I wrote a few months back, I recently joined the DMA’s Board of Directors and its Executive Committee to try to help the association – one of the largest and highest profile groups representing marketers – advance its agenda in a few specific ways. At the time, I noted that my interests would be on consumer advocacy and engagement, execution around interactive marketing issues and the internet community, and transparency around the organization itself. Yesterday, John Greco, the association’s CEO, announced he is stepping down to make way for the next generation of leadership. John has done some great work the past five years running the DMA and has advanced…
Why I joined the DMA Board, and what you can expect of me in that role
Why I joined the DMA Board, and what you can expect of me in that role I don’t normally think of myself as a rebel. But one outcome of the DMA’s recent proxy fight with Board member Gerry Pike is that I’ve been appointed to the DMA’s Board and its Executive Committee and have been labeled “part of the reform movement” in the trade press. While I wasn’t actively leading the charge on DMA reform with Gerry, I am very enthusiastic about taking up my new role. I gave Gerry my proxy and support for a number of reasons, and those reasons will form the basis of my agenda as a DMA Board member. As a DMA member, and one…
Wanted: Rock Star Marketer
Wanted: Rock Star Marketer Return Path is hiring a VP Marketing. This is a new position – we haven’t had the job filled in a couple years like this, reporting directly to me. The job spec is here. What it’s like to work here is pretty well captured here. Why should you pass this on to a friend who is a good fit? Because you will help a friend find the best job he or she ever had! Oh and because we will pay you a nice referral fee if we hire your friend. Why should you apply? That’s a longer answer: 1. We are inventive market leaders with a really unique business model, at a good scale, in a…
How Deliverability is Like SEO and SEM for Email
How Deliverability is Like SEO and SEM for Email I admit this is an imperfect analogy, and I’m sure many of my colleagues in the email industry are going to blanch at a comparison to search, but the reality is that email deliverability is still not well understood — and search engines are. I hope that I can make a comparison here that will help you better understand what it really means to work on deliverability – they same way you understand what it means to work on search. But before we get to that, let’s start with the language around deliverability which is still muddled. I’d like to encourage everyone in the email industry to rally around more precise…
Book Short: A Marketing-Led Turnaround
Book Short: A Marketing-Led Turnaround Generally, I love books by practitioners even more than those by academics. That’s why Steve McKee’s first (I assume) book, When Growth Stalls: How it Happens, Why You’re Stuck, and What to do About It (book, Kindle edition) appealed to me right out of the gate. The author is CEO of a mid-size agency and a prior Inc. 500 winner who has experienced the problem firsthand – then went out, researched it, and wrote about it. As a two-time Inc. 500 winner ourselves, Return Path has also struggled with keeping the growth flames burning over the years, so I was eager to dig into the research. The title also grabbed my attention, as there are…
Book Short: Be Less Clever
Book Short: Be Less Clever In Search of the Obvious: The Antidote for Today’s Marketing Mess, by Jack Trout, is probably deserving of a read by most CEOs. Trout at this point is a bit old school and curmudgeonly, the book has some sections which are a bit repetitive of other books he and his former partner Al Reis have written over the years, he does go off on some irrelevant rants, and his examples are a bit too focused on TV advertising, BUT his premise is great, and it’s universally applicable. So much so that my colleagues Leah, Anita, and I had “book club” about it one night last week and had a very productive debate about our own…
Less is More
Less is More I have a challenge for the email marketing community in 2009. Let’s make this the Year of “Less is More.” Marketers are turning to email more and more in this down economy. There’s no question about that. My great fear is that just means they’re sending more and more and more emails out without being smart about their programs. That will have positive short term effects and drive revenues, but long term it will have a negative long term impact on inboxes everywhere. And these same marketers will find their short term positive results turning into poor deliverability faster than you can say “complaint rate spike.” I heard a wonderful case study this week from Chip House…
Book Short: A Brand Extension That Works
Book Short: A Brand Extension That Works Usually, brand or line extensions don’t work out well in the end. They dilute and confuse the brand. Companies with them tend to see their total market share shrink, while focused competitors flourish. As the authors of the seminal work from years ago, Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, Jack Trout and Al Reis would be the first people to tell you this. That said, The New Positioning, which I guess you could call a line extension by Jack Trout (without Reis), was a fantastic read. Not quite as good as the original, but well worth it. It’s actually not a new new book – I think it’s 12 years old as opposed…
If You’re Going to Do Something, Do It First Class
If You’re Going to Do Something, Do It First Class I have long made this statement, not just about business, but about life. Why bother doing something big if you’re not going to do it right? Don’t just write a senior thesis, get an A on it. Don’t invite the boss over for dinner and serve chicken nuggets. You get the idea. Our marketing team at Return Path totally nailed this last week with our IN conference on Reputation. They selected a venue, the American Museum of Natural History, that wasn’t just a standard issue hotel conference room. They sought out a killer keynote speaker, Seth Godin, instead of just having Return Path staff and clients talk. They…