Here are just a few of the items that are good things to think about in your marketing strategy for 2013 and beyond: Every 30 seconds, two non-Hispanic consumers turn retirement age while every 30 seconds a Hispanic youth turns 18. (from Scott Scovel, Univision, ATM-Debit-& Prepaid Forum). 90% of 18-29 year olds sleep with their smartphones and 95% of people use the phone for something just before going to bed. (Mitch Joel, Six Pixels ) More than 700,000 apps …

For many organizations, the economy has caused a focus on cutting expenses to compete, to survive or to eek out a profit.  However, you can only cut expenses so far before bleeding to death as an organization.  Cuts in marketing mean you disappear from the minds of your customers/members, so leads and new accounts fall.  Cuts in training mean no talented staff to serve customers/members for the service experience that keeps them coming back.  And, no profit means there is …

Consider these names: JC Penney, NY Times, Groupon, Sprint Nextel, Zynga, Dell, Advanced Micro Devices, and Bank of America. These large corporations include long-standing names as well as newer corporations that each had what seemed a meteoric rise. The author of this article on 24/7 Wall Street discusses the competitive edges that built initial successes of each company have been eroded or compromised by new competitors, a lack of differentiation, and failure to act in light of technology or other …

In the news, you might have noticed the news about how tablet sales surpassed PC sales in 2011 and they are rivaling laptop sales. The tablet has been a very quick technology change that has also changed consumer habits. When new technology, like a new tool, changes the game so dramatically and quickly, it is hard for marketers to make shifts in strategies to take advantage of the changes. For your brand, the marketing strategy to support it has to …

Shift Your Attention to Results The key in this crazy market of a down economy, businesses going bankrupt, high unemployment and bad news all around, is to stay focused on getting results. There are many excuses in marketing to get off track: • Too little staff • Not enough budget • Need more time If your focus is on staying with your marketing plan that was crafted last year to achieve corporate goals, then you have the structure to track …

[AMAZONPRODUCT=0814417949]Last month, I was privileged to be the guest of Kenneth Gronbach, author of “The Age Curve” at a conference appearance in California. He again opened minds throughout the audience about looking at the numbers to see where marketing opportunities will be next. Since Boomers started turning 50 and slowing their spending, until now when those same Boomers are going over age 65, a statistic explains the perfect storm. Gen X, following the Boomers is 11% smaller as a generation, …

There have been glaring headlines about large brands dumping their marketing teams or their marketing agencies to move to social media. There have been naysayers that show how few marketers are able to determine an ROI on their marketing budget or even track the path from social media to increased revenue. While I was eager to jump on the social networks to see what they were about, after three years of trying to understand its value in the marketing mix, …

[AMAZONPRODUCT=0470095199]Your one chance to get the attention of a customer/prospect may be a television ad on their favorite cable network. Or, it might be an online ad as they are logging into their personal email at home. Perhaps they receive a direct mail postcard or newsletter in their mailbox. Consumer behavior is spread out across many different channels that when your message does pop up, you only have seconds to grab their attention! Does your marketing message catch their eyes …

In the next few years, business growth may continue to be slow due to one factor that cannot be controlled – adult-aged U.S. consumers will experience an 11% drop in population from the aging Baby Boomers to the smaller Gen X.  There are just not the numbers to help absorb the slowing spending and changing interests of Boomers in a congested, competitive marketplace. So, is there hope in the wings? Change is in the air!  Have you noticed the protesting …

One of my coworkers had brought in coupons for a favorite fast food place and we started extolling the virtues of couponing. In our conversation, she mentioned that when not wanting to cook for the family dinner, her husband now asks, “Where do we have coupons to use?”   While we laughed, as one of our market research analysts, she commented about the changing of consumer behavior. “Will consumers go back to paying full price when the economy recovers?”   …