Category Archives: Helpful Hints

Rope-A-Dope Marketing Won’t Work

I’m sure there are more than a few of you out there who remember the “Rumble In The Jungle” in which Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman.  It was one of the great matches and there’s a fantastic documentary about it you should watch if you want to see The Greatest in his last great bout (and at the peak of his promotional abilities!).

It was in this fight that Ali introduced the Rope-a-Dope –  strategy in which you hang on the ropes and let the opponent punch himself out so you can fight back to decreased resistance.  Of course, there’s a good chance you’ll make a defensive mistake and get knocked out yourself before that happens, so it’s highly risky.  Naturally, this was the first thing that came to mind the other day when I saw the results of a new marketing research study. Continue reading

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Great Managers Don’t Have Jobs

Mr Burns

Image by billypalooza via Flickr

I was thinking last night about some of the great, obvious questions your kids ask when they’re little.  The Mrs. and I were blessed with two very inquiring little minds to play that role.  Even though it was quite a while ago that they were asking, one question stand out in my mind and I thought I’d share it with you today since the response says a fair amount about how I see the management world.

One of my daughters – and I don’t remember which one – asked “Daddy, what do you do?”  Simple, right?  But like most great questions, it prompted an answer that’s anything but simple. Continue reading

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Shooting The Messenger

One of the things I discuss fairly often with clients is measurement.  We chat about things such as “What do we measure”, “why do we measure it”, and “what constitutes success.”  As you might imagine, with every marketing dollar being scrutinized (rightfully so), figuring out ROI is job one for folks like me who are gone with the wind if the results aren’t there.

Well, sometimes the results aren’t there, despite the best efforts of everyone involved.  I’ve always felt that marketing, and digital marketing in particular, is a process of continuous improvement rather than a series of one-time events.  However, that view isn’t always shared, especially in light of “fix it NOW” thinking on some senior management‘s part.  That’s short-sighted and misdirected in my book.  Let me explain. Continue reading

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