Posts Tagged ‘Marketing’
Solve the right problems
One of the first things you learn as an aspiring engineer is that if you first carefully define a problem, you’re halfway to solving it.* But all too often, we’re defining and then solving the wrong problem, not the real problem. For example, try bringing a decent sized bottle of shampoo onto an airplane –…
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Search success starts with usefulness
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) still sounds like a complicated and arduous technical task to some. But it really comes down to basic communication principles – skills marketers already have. Maybe it would help to put it in simpler terms. Build a useful web site, and the world will use it. Note that “useful” means that…
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Motor madness
As you can probably guess, I’m a motorcycle nut. In fact, motorcycles are my primary transportation — I ride one of my bikes to work every day it’s not snowing too hard. Recently on a large online forum, the topic of financing motorcycles came up. I was very happy to see that several people recommended…
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Why Marketing Directors would make great CEOs
My credit union needs a new CEO, since the previous CEO retired. I recently found out this fact because the local paper printed a retraction. Somehow the paper got everything all mixed up, because the CFO also retired, and they thought that the SVP of Finance was taking over for the retiring CEO, when he…
Read MoreAre you fast food marketing?
Today I realized that credit unions may be taking a fast food approach toward their brand and marketing. Do you: Market low cost Not everybody orders off of the dollar menu, and rate shoppers have very little loyalty. Make sure you are attracting the type of member that will use multiple services. Focus on volume…
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Jerry Garcia could teach you a thing or two
The Grateful Dead may not have been the best band musically, instrumentally or lyrically, but they may have been the best touring band ever. They were considered the “pioneering Godfathers of the jam band world” known for songs that went on and on, experimenting and mixing rock, folk, bluegrass, country and various other music genres.…
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When price is all they care about
As a consumer, if given the choice between buying what looks to be the same product from two different sources, you would choose the one with a lower cost, right? You probably switch brands of tissues or aspirin or dish soap to whatever is on sale at the store this week without even thinking much…
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When it’s okay to preach to the choir
I have heard variations of “preaching to the choir” all my life. Of course, I grew up as a P.K. (preacher’s kid) and even have a brother who became a minister in his second career, so maybe the phrase has a deeper psychological meaning with me than most people. But today, it seems to apply…
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What to do when Lending starts grumbling
Every credit union needs loans. So the CFO rattles Marketing’s chains. Concepts are dreamed, visuals created, goals and ROI plotted and blessed by the executive team, then marketing starts working its mojo and gets it out the door. That’s when the grumbling starts. And Marketing starts grinning like a Cheshire Cat. Because the grumbling is…
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The hard part is showing your work
Coming up with creative ideas is the easy part. Well, okay, at least kind of easy when it’s your job to come up with ideas and you do it on a daily basis. You train your mind to make connections that aren’t obvious, think of words that combine into something visual, and visuals that connect…
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