Thinking in the customers/receivers shoes: say exactly what you want your customer to do

When you send out a CV via email or upload  for a job do you call the attached file "CV" , "resume" or  "Document1" ? You are not alone…. most people seem to do this in email attachments. When they know that there may be hundreds of other emails with the same type of documentContinue reading “Thinking in the customers/receivers shoes: say exactly what you want your customer to do”

Search marketing, landing page and quality content that reflects real value to customer

There are two ideas in this post because although simple, these are a bunch of related concepts that seem hard to grasp.These are: Your organization  creates: —-> Real value to customer (Innovation)——> Puts out web content Search engine creates :—–> Real value to customer (better search like Google) —> Delivers   search results (and relevant Ads)                                                                                                                           Continue reading “Search marketing, landing page and quality content that reflects real value to customer”

US Healthcare: 5% people account for 50% of the cost: the Camden experiment

You have heard of the 80:20 or Pareto principle, but the 5:50 with US healthcare costs  is  just amazing. And guess what – all those in that bottom of pyramid 5% who go innumerable times to the Hospital Emergency Rooms (ER) and rack up  what becomes 50% of the cost-  are  rather unhappy with USContinue reading “US Healthcare: 5% people account for 50% of the cost: the Camden experiment”

Why Encyclopedia Britannica took twenty years to go digital- the sales force angle

Finally, Encyclopedia Britannica has gone digital (Reuters 2012) And it took 20 years for the 200 year old organization to do so.Above is a 1988 TV commercial and you can see the PC in evidence.  PC makers were already giving free Grolier Encyclopedia discs alongwith the IBM PC’s that came with Windows DOS. But BritannicaContinue reading “Why Encyclopedia Britannica took twenty years to go digital- the sales force angle”

Marketing is about segmenting and diversity is about *not* segmenting

Marketing is all about segmenting so that you have viable “buckets” of customers for whom you can develop product or service offerings, get a reasonable price as you communicate your offering and deliver it without excessive cost. “Stereotyping” is thus at the heart of conventional marketing and it is “stereotyping” that is at the core of diversity issues in organizations.

Happy 100th Birthday to Oreo cookies: keeping the soul of a brand

In a rapidly changing world- Oreo cookies give you a sense of stability and comfort and that is the soul of the Oreo brand. The largest selling cookie of the 20th century has survived numerous wars,technology upheavals,financial meltdowns and extreme globalization. If you were used in childhood to "twist,lick and dunk" and are now watchingContinue reading “Happy 100th Birthday to Oreo cookies: keeping the soul of a brand”

What is the most important attribute in GE Jack Welch’s 4E and 1P?

Previous posts on GE Jack Welch’s 4E’s and 1P on the StratoServe blog are very popular. Sort of leads you to think about which of the four E’s and one P really matter? But first a quick recap, although they appear in earlier posts. We’ll talk about 3E’s and the the one P first andContinue reading “What is the most important attribute in GE Jack Welch’s 4E and 1P?”

IBM-CMO Study 2011: Big Data,Social Media,multiple channels and changing demographics

The IBM-CMO Study of 2011 is a pretty large scale study of 1700 CMO (Chief Marketing Officers) in 19 industries and 64 countries. Here are four headlines of the study that re-iterate some of this blog's earlier posts: 1. There is a deluge of data– strikingly 90% of all data in the world was generatedContinue reading “IBM-CMO Study 2011: Big Data,Social Media,multiple channels and changing demographics”

Why do organizations find it so hard to update websites?

Ask small  or large organizations- for profit, non-profit or government ones – and top managers will admit that their website could be better in both content and looks. Understanding why organizations find it so hard to update websites is useful. Here are five thoughts: "Bricks" organization legacy: Remember that any business that existed before 2000Continue reading “Why do organizations find it so hard to update websites?”

As US mobile wireless data zooms: wireless carriers run out of spectrum

Ever wondered why every US wireless carrier has a spotty coverage map?  Just look at this old AT&T (then Cingular)coverage map. It turns out, wireless carriers own "spectrum" they are allocated from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and these are like "pipes" they own to provide wireless services to their voice and data customers. Naturally,Continue reading “As US mobile wireless data zooms: wireless carriers run out of spectrum”