Category: Marketing Strategy
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During the Cold War, U.S. Army leaders in Europe faced a disconcerting situation. Their mission was to defend NATO member nations in the event of an attack by the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact. The problem was, U.S./NATO ground forces were greatly outnumbered. During this period, Soviet army doctrine was to throw wave after wave of forces…
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Driving consistent, profitable revenue growth is one of the most persistent challenges that business and marketing leaders face. The key word in that sentence is “consistent.” Many companies can produce substantial revenue growth sporadically or over a short period of time. But it’s exceptionally difficult to consistently generate above-average growth over the long term. In…
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Growth is to a business organization what oxygen is to a living organism. It is the life force of the organization. For decades, sustained profitable growth has been the linchpin of long-term business prosperity. Profitable growth creates a virtuous cycle of forces that supports and drives business success. When a company stops growing, these same…
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The first step to designing an effective marketing strategy and creating compelling marketing content is to understand what your potential customers are trying to accomplish when they purchase products or services like those you provide. In most cases, people don’t buy a product or service because they want that product or service itself. More often,…
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The findings of the August edition of The CMO Survey by Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, the American Marketing Association, and Deloitte were published a few days ago. The latest results are based on responses from 341 marketing leaders at U.S. B2B and B2C companies. Sixty-four percent of the respondents were affiliated with B2B…
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(The following is a post I published more than six years ago. Given the recent focus on marketing’s responsibility for managing customer experiences and driving growth, the topic is as relevant and timely today as it was in the fall of 2012.)The Original PostIn 1960, Theodore Levitt wrote a landmark article for the Harvard Business…
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More than two decades ago, Michael Porter warned about the dangers of relying on benchmarking and “best practices” to produce business success. In a landmark article in the Harvard Business Review, Porter drew a sharp distinction between operational effectiveness – which often involves identifying and implementing best practices – and real business strategy. Porter argued…
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In my previous two posts, I’ve discussed the expanding role of marketing in driving business growth. Recent research shows that many marketing leaders now believe they are primarily responsible for leading growth efforts in their organization, and that CEOs and other senior executives share this belief. The recent research also shows, however that leading growth…