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Welcome to the Strategy & Planning neighborhood.
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FEATURED BOOK:
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| Kevin Roberts passionately believes that love is the way forward for business. In his second book, Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands, Roberts recounts the journey from Products to Trademarks to Brands - and the urgency of taking the next step up - to Lovemarks. Roberts offers a lively, critical assessment of brands and the problems that face them in an increasingly competitive world. His argument is straightforward. Numbed by the assult of commodification and customer indifference, brands have simply run out of juice. The solution? The creation of products and experiences that will create long-term emotional relationships with consumers. To get there, Roberts advocates infusing brands with three fundamental Lovemark elements: Mystery, Sensuality, and Intimacy. Mystery enters by drawing on the past, present, and future; the value of myths and icons; and the powers of inspiration; and by tapping into dreams. Sensuality and the five senses can be used to locate touch-points with consumers. Intimacy is created through commitment, empathy, and passion. The power of these dynamic forces is captivatingly presented with lively anecdotes, living examples, and graphic illustrations drawn from the world of advertising and beyond. The idea that consumers, not companies, own Lovemarks is fundamental. This book shows that not only business mavens, but the special people that Roberts calls "Inspirational Consumers," can shape the future of commerce. With a foreword by Procter & Gamble's Chairman and President, A.G. Lafley, the book also includes insights from business leaders, ideas people, and artists, including Cambridge University's Sandra Dawson, former rugby All Black captain Sean Fitzpatrick, Visionaire editor Cecilia Dean, author Malcolm Gladwell, Founding Editor of Fast Company magazine Alan Webber, Nike's Clare Hamill, and Toyota Motor Corporation's Yoshio Ishizaka. The book is an entertaining, elucidating, and ultimately inspiring vision of the rejuvenation of brands through the power of love and the responsibility of business to fulfill one of its key functions - to make the world a better place. |
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| From an interactive website to a business card, a brand must be recognizable, differentiated and help build customer loyalty. This indispensable resource presents brand identity fundamentals and a comprehensive dynamic process that help brands succeed. From researching the competition to translating the vision of the CEO to designing and implementing an integrated brand identity program, the meticulous development process is presented through a highly visible step by step approach in five phases: research and analysis, brand and identity strategy, brand identity design, brand identity applications and managing brand assets.
From global corporate mergers through entrepreneurial ventures and nonprofit institutions, twenty-two case studies portray the brand identity process in action. They illustrate a range of challenges and methodologies and represent a select group of branding and multidisciplinary design firms.
The scope of material includes history of identity design up to the latest information about online brand identity standards, naming and trademarking, with practical project management resources about decision making, and creating brand briefs. |
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| Branded Customer Service breaks new ground with an assertion that brand equity is built not just through advertising and public relations, but also through the human exchange of customer service. Customer relations experts Janelle Barlow and Paul Stewart have a passion for branding and explain in practical terms how to take a defined, recognizable brand position and then make it live through delivery of service. Challenges to consistency are discussed, as well as the internal promotion of brands, the reinforcement of brands through staff and customer interactions, and how to link brands to selling styles and messages. |
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| A fresh and original look at the phenomenon of "cult branding" -- how companies cultivate fanatical customer loyalty.
At first glance, companies like Apple and Nike have little in common with organizations like the Hell’s Angels and the Unification Church. But in reality, they all fulfill the main definition of a cult: They attract people who see themselves as different from the masses in some fundamental way. Contrary to stereotypes, most cult members aren’t emotionally unstable—they’re just normal folks searching for a sense of belonging.
Marketing expert Douglas Atkin has spent years researching both full-blown cults and companies that use cult-branding techniques. He interviewed countless cult members to find out what makes them tick. And he explains exactly how brands like Harley- Davidson, Saturn, JetBlue, and Ben & Jerry’s make their customers feel unique, important, and part of an exclusive group—and how that leads to solid, long-term relationships between a company and its customers.
In addition to describing a fascinating phenomenom, The Culting of Brands will be of enormous value to business leaders. It will teach marketers how to align themselves with a specific segment of the population, how to attract and keep new "members," how to establish a mythology about the company, and how to manage a workforce filled with true believers.
Once a brand achieves cult status, it becomes almost impossible for a competitor to dethrone it. The Culting of Brands will reveal the secrets of fierce customer identification and, most important, unbreakable loyalty. |
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| In today's ultra-competitive commercial climate, the businesses that truly succeed are the businesses that really stand out. Nichecraft: Using Your Specialness to Focus Your Business, Corner Your Market, and Make Customers Seek You Out, is author and consultant Dr. Lynda Falkenstein's blueprint for differentiating a product or service from the competition and then parlaying its unique position into long-term success. The practical nine-step guide includes plenty of actual examples along with numerous exercises and worksheets.
About the Author:
Dr. Lynda C. Falkenstein learned about the importance of distinguishing yourself from everyone else by working with scores of organizations and individual entrepreneurs all seeking the same golden ring: success, profits, and happiness. Known as "The Consultant's Consultant," Dr. Falkenstein's business seminars have been presented coast to coast and attended by more than 50,000 people. She is the author of several other important publications, including Consulting for Fun and Profit, Don't Retire: Reformat!, and Starting Your Own Business. Her "Niche Doctor" and "Consulting to Professionals" columns have appeared in respected papers nationwide. |
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| This is not your ordinary marketing manual. With casual humor and a laid-back tone, Wipperfürth, a marketer who helps brands like Dr. Martens and Napster "appear like serendipitous accidents," advocates the "brand hijack," a process of allowing customers to shape brand meaning and drive a brand's evolution. Using case studies of products that were embraced by young consumers precisely because they lacked traditional, excessive ad campaigns, like Pabst Blue Ribbon and In-N-Out Burger, Wipperfürth shows that seemingly effortless branding is actually sustained by "no-marketing" techniques. Some of these tactics include marketing first to alternative subcultures and building a brand "folklore" with "customs, rituals, vocabulary...and experiences," much in the way that he claims "Starbucks created coffee culture." The book designates three types of brand hijack: the Discovery, which allows people to feel "in on a secret" (à la Palm); the Commentary, by which a brand like Dr. Martens is associated with a subversive social statement; and the Mission, which "declares a worldview oppositional to a 'Big Brother' enemy" (à la Apple). While the book speaks specifically to marketers, it offers a glimpse into America's consumer- and ad-driven culture, and even lay readers will be fascinated to learn about the sly techniques being utilized on them. That pair of expensive pre-ripped jeans will never look the same. |
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Discuss ideas, share thoughts and opinions on Strategy and Planning issues with other credit union marketers.
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2002 Marketing Plan [PDF] and Budget [Excel]
(from Jill Lingo, Kemba CU)
2001 Marketing Plan [Word]
(from Jim Kelly, Univeristy of Iowa Community CU)
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- Let Your Fingers Do the Walking
September 2001
The next time you get a phone call from your yellow pages representative asking if you’d like to expand your listing, Just Say No. by Gary Zenker
- (Site: Business 2.0) Marketing During Wartime
3/13/03
With war looming and the economy sputtering, figuring out a shrewd marketing strategy is only getting more complicated. Business 2.0 turned to Pradeep Chintagunta, professor of marketing at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, for some advice. by Pradeep Chintagunta
- (Site: Business 2.0) Cool Design Won't Save A Dud Product
March 11, 2002
Ever since the iMac, shelves have been littered with bold failures. Here's how to get it right. by Bob Parks
- Get Out of the Auto Lending Business
August 27, 2001
Is this guy crazy? Get out of the lending business? "We want more of it", I hear you saying. That’s exactly why you need to get out of it. by Gary Zenker
- Managing Your SEG Development Efforts
September 2001
Use technology to avoid cold-calling potential new SEGS. by Mary Falcon
- We're right-side-up; now, how do we grow?
Nov. 2000
Is growth necessary? If so, how do we achieve it? by Jim Ray, President, Broward Schools Credit Union
- (Site: Financial Services Marketing) Rising Stars, Burning Ambition
April 2001
CMOs have become part ad pro, part researcher, part product developer, part Webmaster and full-time brand titan—in effect, a program director for financial institutions. The main objective: ensure that customers are satisfied by developing an intuition about what fosters an emotional connection between a customer and his institution. by John Adams
- (Site: Fast Company) Michael Porter's Big Ideas
March 2001
The world's most famous business-school professor is fed up with CEOs who claim that the world changes too fast for their companies to have a long-term strategy. If you want to make a difference as a leader, you've got to make time for strategy. by Keith Hammonds
- (Site: MarketingProfs.com) Is Sales From Mars, and Marketing From Venus?
6/3/2003
You've heard it before many times, the seemingly endless "he said, she said" debate between sales and marketing. Many CEOs feel like they are counselors and could write John Gray's next relationship advice book.
Clearly, the "counseling" approach isn't working, as the divorce rate between software companies and their marketing leadership is extremely high. Can anything be done to fix their issues? by Scott Santucci
- (Site: CreditUnions.com) The Requirements of Being No. 2
April 9, 2001
Everyone wants to be number one. No one wants to come in second place; except credit unions in their business strategy. Chip Filson comments on why almost all CU managers and boards would describe their goal as being a "fast follower" or second-to-market. by Chip Filson
- (Site: The Business Journal Portland) First Tech CU does part for advertising art
February 2001
Managers at Beaverton's First Tech Credit Union found it difficult to narrow members' suggested scripts for television commercials down to one contest winner. by Robert Goldfield
- (Site: Financial Services Marketing) Living Richly at Citibank Means There's More to Life Than Money
January 2001
After three chaotic years, Citi is finally getting in touch with its inner self—its customers. Its new ad campaign brings a common-man touch to reinforce that life—and finance—is about living. by Bob Kapler
- (Site: CUES) How Good is Your Value Proposition?
August 2000
Everybody should be able to readily define your value proposition, the reason someone does business with you," explains John Zells, co-author of CUES new manual Outrunning The Competition: Relationship Management, on the customer relationship management system Zells and IBM Southeast EFCU pioneered by Kristin Gilpatrick
- (Site: Goizueta Magazine) Marketing Strategy Unplugged
Sept. 2000
Anil Menon and Sundar Bharadwaj, both associate professors of marketing, received this year's Marketing Science Institute/H. Paul Root Award for their article in the prestigious Journal of Marketing on the key ingredients for making a successful marketing strategy. by David Black
- (Site: Microbanker) Dallas Credit Union Maps Out Growth Using Spatial Analysis
June 2000
The Dallas Teachers Credit Union ($760 million) noticed a trend among its competitors toward one-to-one marketing about three years ago. “We realized that the shotgun approach to marketing was not going to work for us too much longer,” says Jerry Thompson, vp/cio at DTCU. The full-service credit union decided to implement a customer relationship system containing a spatial analysis component that has been instrumental in increasing their potential customer bases almost 10 fold. by Roy W. Urrico
- (Site: Marketing Profs) Is Your Internet Co-Branding Strategy Off Track?
March 2001
There's no denying the benefits to be gained from a careful co-branding strategy. But most firms on the net today mistakenly believe they are engaged in a co-branding campaign when in fact they aren't. by Jonathan Schreiber
- (Site: MarketingProfs) New Marketing Models: Easy in Theory, Difficult in Practice
April 2001
A look at the real changes to marketing that the internet has created. by Allen Weiss
- (Site: Bank Administration Institute) Financial Funnel
April 2001
Bankers may not wholeheartedly embrace account aggregation, but they will need to offer it if that's what customers want.
Ever since the first Internet banking application was launched nearly six years ago, bankers have scrambled to keep ahead of the learning curve. With so many new technologies in play, executives can never be sure when something is a flash-in-the-pan or the next big thing. by John R. Engen
- (Site: MarketingProfs) What are the Basic Principles of Marketing?
October 2000
So you want to do marketing. You’ve got to know the rules, but what are they? Often the strategies and tactics and day to day operations make us forget some basic principles. by Marketing Profs
- (Site: Harvard Business Review) What is Strategy
November 1996
Today's dynamic markets and technologies have called into question the sustainability of competitive advantage. Under pressure to improve productivity, quality, and speed, managers have embraced tools such as TQM, benchmarking, and reengineering. by Michael E. Porter
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