SAGE: OUR BLOG
adj: wise through reflection and experience
Advertising and Marketing
Primary Market Research Can Often Be Accomplished Affordably Online
Online focus groups, concept testing and consumer surveys are three types of primary research from which online execution can provide excellent data at a lower cost and shorter timeframe than conventional phone, mail, or in-person methods. Asking for clients’, customers’ or prospects’ online input often provides a greater response rate than conventional surveys as well. The savings include resources ranging [...]
The Fine Line between Email Marketing and Spam
Twenty-six. That’s the number of emails that have magically popped into my “Junk Mail” folder since I left the office last night at 6:00 p.m. These are the ones that made it past our first layer of protection. I’m sure that for some of you, this number is even larger—and more aggravating. Here’s another reality check: from January 2011 to [...]
The Most Powerful Forces in Business
What are the most powerful forces in business? An idea whose time has come? An entrepreneur who passionately devotes him- or herself to its realization and fulfillment? Yes and yes. Then add the impact of scale. Multiply x 50,000 x 100,000. This is where small gets big! This is channel marketing, also known as field marketing. And it’s the business [...]
Is Your Channel Marketing a Balanced Program?
Channel marketing programs are under constant scrutiny. The expectation is clear … performance delivery. Establishing the program’s objectives must be first and foremost. Defining measurable objectives leads to focused strategies and tactics. A channel marketing campaign objective might be: Increase participation with retail partners by 50% in the second quarter consumer promotion; Increase customer satisfaction by 15% of our signature [...]
The 4 Cs of Strategic America’s Creative
We know what you’re probably thinking. Those “creative types.” Their offices exist somewhere far away in the building, they sit in beanbag chairs pulling ideas out of thin air, and they most definitely beat to the tune of their own drummer without much consideration for the typical processes and procedures of the agency. Right? Not at Strategic America. While creativity [...]
Making Process Interesting
“How do you do what you do?” can be a question that leads to a long, somewhat arcane, and often interesting response. It may test understanding, sales skills and the comprehension of the listener. Often, it helps to do what we have done for years. Draw it out. Tell a story. Make it relevant. If process becomes interesting, it is [...]
Brand and Reputation Management
Today, things are moving so quickly, with such velocity, that brand management is more important than ever. Many clients are asking us to initiate account planning in order to assess their positioning related to competitive and market changes. Positioning, tagline development and category differentiators are components of a brand audit that SA conducts. In reputation management, mapping of key messages [...]
Needed: a New Paradigm for Co-op Advertising
If there’s an area of business that needs a fresh breath of innovation, it’s co-op advertising. Some retailers view it as easy, off-the-shelf ads that leverage a manufacturer’s brand, but don’t go far enough for them. Some don’t even view co-op as marketing, but as cost of goods sold. But, does co-op do what it was intended to do? Create [...]
Digital Solutions: B2B Efficiency, Value and Reporting
It started before 2000, then Y2K certainly accelerated it. Digital solutions. Now, digital apps bring value to businesses and consumers. Speed . . . efficiency . . . value . . . even fun . . . are the essential ingredients. In the field/channel marketing category, SA has developed a number of these apps. Back in 1998, we designed SMP®, [...]
Unique in the Field
Field marketing is the space Strategic America often plays in . . . works in, actually. It is the place generally referred to as retail. Channel. Co-op. Distributive marketing. And, those descriptors only start the conversation. The common factor is: this is where sales occur. This is where cash registers ring. This is where your brand is presented against a [...]
