Master Plan columns from Marketing News
Weaving String Into a Lifeline: Don E. Schultz weaves a rope with which marketers can either hang themselves or pull themselves back from the brink of obscurity.
Down With Best Practices: Too-cool-for-school tactics do not a strategy make, argues Don E. Schultz, in his final column for 2009. Marketers may be confused, he says, because of the way the term “strategy” is erroneously bandied about at industry conferences.
Pareto Pared: Like snowflakes, each consumer is unique, so why are marketers still chasing mass? Don E. Schultz ponders this question as he parses the Pareto Principle (aka the 80-20 rule) down to a 21st-century size.
Dropping Shoes: There are now more Internet users in China than in the United States. Don E. Schultz explains how the changing preferences of China’s user base will change integrated marketing in America.
Is This the Death of Data?: Many marketing decisions are based on accumulated customer data and predictions of what that customer will do next. But now that the economy has tanked, leaving that customer to operate in a new economic reality, Don E. Schultz asks what all that data is worth.
Who's in Charge? To win in this customer-centric, word of mouth-driven marketplace, marketers have to leave the old push models behind and harness the power of peer persuasion.
Slaying Marketing's Dragons: Marketers are more concerned about protecting their piece of the budgetary pie than in learning how to market more nimbly within the economy's necessary restraints.
CPO Versus CMO: If marketers can't get their money-and-metrics act together, they may be trumped by a new management position at the behest of the finance folks. It's time for marketers to ante up or fold.
Myth Mania: Don E. Schultz says that myths have a way of creating believers, but commonly held myths — in business and in academia — must be dispelled.
Recession Shines Light on Oft-Ignored Marketing Method: In-store marketing work may be less glamorous than producing that 30-second spot everyone is talking about, but, with times being tough, Don E. Schultz proposes that this pushed-aside marketing method take center stage.
Disrobing the Emperor: Conventional marketing wisdom says marketers should spend more during times of economic crisis because their message will stand out in a less cluttered marketplace. Don E. Schultz studied the numbers and says this seeming truism is bunk.
Clean City Impact: São Paulo used to be a city littered with advertising, but, as Don E. Schultz explains, a new city ordinance has wiped the city clean of overt marketing messages. For some residents this is a relief; but for others, life is more of a struggle without the guidance the ads provide.
Is the Past Past? Don E. Schultz reviews the evolution of consumer-driven marketing and questions whether, in this world of lightning-speed change, the past still has any lessons to teach.
You are Missing the Point: Consumers have shifted their behaviors, so why are marketers sticking to their old tricks? Don E. Schultz says that all the discussion of the global media revolution is, quite often, still falling on deaf ears.
No Experience Necessary: Don E. Schultz ponders whether marketing as a "science" has given way to an approach that requires little training and less innovation.
Will Real Customer Loyalty Please Stand Up? When the economy slows, marketers traditionally begin looking “inside.” They start to think about organic growth, generated by up-selling, cross-selling, customer retention and the like. That’s when customer loyalty rises to the top of the marketing heap.
When 'Free' is No Longer Enough: Don E. Schultz says that just giving entertainment away no longer satisfies consumrs who are increasingly demanding that it not only be free but "for me," and discusses the consequences this has for marketers.
Inside the Box: Don E. Schultz says you need to fix your in-the-box problems before you can justify a reason to get out.