Artisan Blog

Marketing in a downturn: when they zig, you zag

Sally — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 19:59:43 -0400

If the economic news has you holding your head in your hands, you’re not alone. For some businesses, the gloom and doom headlines of the past two weeks are translating into cancelled projects, uncertain contracts, slower consumer spending, clients getting gun-shy about their expansion plans, you name it. It may even mean real cutbacks in your business as a result of what’s happening in your key markets.

What happens all too often, though, is that marketing efforts are the first area sent to the chopping block. This can be a colossal mistake.

One small question to change your marketing

Sally — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 16:59:40 -0400

Brands, messages, core values. We marketing types often get accused of throwing around buzzwords like these. We like them. We coin new ones all the time. And often, we expect our clients or those non-marketing folks in our offices to know what the heck we're talking about. But the reality is, you can throw away the fancy terms and focus on one thing that is simple to understand. And that one thing will help your business.

Guaranteed.

That thing is called a key message. And it's what separates "marketing" from "communicating."

Writing furiously for a good cause

Sally — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 01:18:37 -0400

Just finished up my contribution to CreateAThon 2008, an event that my good friends over at smith&jones in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, look forward to every year. It's a 24-hour marathon of creative work for deserving not-for-profits, fueled by caffeine, food, cameraderie, talent and a community spirit.

Meet the new rules

Sally — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 18:37:20 -0400

I was interested this week to participate in a B-2-B webinar with David Meerman Scott, author of The New Rules of PR & Marketing. And, as usual, David said something interesting.

This time, it was the idea that an e-book is essentially a glorified white paper.

The words they want to hear

Sally — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:43:13 -0400

Have you ever bought something because of a mission statement?

Recently, an older post on The Essential Message blog caught my attention. In it, Michel Neray points out that no one has ever bought anything because of a mission statement. And as someone who has massaged and crafted mission statements, messages and taglines (and who has sat through more visioning meetings than I care to remember), I relate to what he's saying.