Tag: Market Research

Much of the chatter on the topic of social media has focused on businesses that sell to consumers (B2C) as opposed to other businesses (B2B). Consumer-focused companies like Starbucks, Wells Fargo, Dell, Cirque du Soleil and traditional media outlets are leading the pack, but should B2Bs learn and employ similar tactics, or is social media the domain of the B2C market only?

Much of the chatter on the topic of social media has focused on businesses that sell to consumers (B2C) as opposed to other businesses (B2B). Consumer-focused companies like Starbucks, Wells Fargo, Dell, Cirque du Soleil and traditional media outlets are leading the pack, but should B2Bs learn and employ similar tactics, or is social media the domain of the B2C market only?

Here are five things that you can do to make sure you get the best results when pitching for new business.

You're not a business unless you have customers and clients. If you have customers and clients you'll relate to this. Negotiation tactics... in real...

In shopping mall design, the "Gruen transfer" refers to the moment when consumers respond to "scripted disorientation" cues in the environment (of course, with the goal of soliciting a purchase). It shouldn't come as a surprise, therefore, that the website of the popular ABC television program of the same name is extremely effective at seducing visitors who wander through its pages, making departure feel almost impossible.

In past recessions, the tried and proven strategy has been for organisations to shed all non-core businesses and hunker down to the job of...

Adobe didn't get to where it is today by playing defence. And, as Brad Howarth discovers, the company knows it must keep innovating to stay on top. It's a lesson for us all.

The world has changed, and it is just a little out of whack. We're living in a time when teenagers are excelling in Second Life but flunking in their first, Maslow's Needs Hierarchy has been flipped on its head and football players have become metrosexuals. Since 2000, the Chinese have embraced capitalism, Muammar Gaddafi is now a respected member of the international community and Big Brother is finally off air. Computer power doubles every 18 to 24 months, farmers speed-date on national television, we tell one minute bedtime stories to our children, and even instant gratification today seems too slow. (I want my cheeseburger, now!) And then, well, then there's Gen Y... Tech-savvy, ambitious, international in outlook and with a sense of entitlement that would have made 18th Century British aristocrats cringe. So how can employers tame the 'silver-spoon' generation?

Downturn or not, the growth of any business relies on how well you know your customer and what you do with that information. As the owner/CEO of a business, you have the responsibility to ensure your customers understand what your business offers, and to do that you must understand what it is your customers need - and anticipate that their needs change regularly.

Here are the top 10 tips to get Out-of-Home Digital (OOHD) media working for your business.

Take every chance to hear from your customers. Don't waste a single one. If they bother to hit reply and type something out, you should read it. If you're product or service doesn't have the margin to allow for listening to your customers when they want to talk to you, then you're in trouble.

Take every chance to hear from your customers. Don't waste a single one. If they bother to hit reply and type something out, you should read it. If you're product or service doesn't have the margin to allow for listening to your customers when they want to talk to you, then you're in trouble.

Marketing is war, anyway you look at it. You are battling the enemy, your competition. You are battling to dominate the market. Marketing is combat, and for every combat you need a strategy. Tighten your helmet as Jordan Mullen guides you through the trenches.

Listen to Jordan Mullen's 'Marketin is War' podcast.

Of the 861 products nominated for our inaugural 'Smart 100' Index, some doozies are in our Top 100. While we can't announce the winners until 2 April 2009 (with the release of our Apr/May/Jun edition), we can bow to your prolific and very persuasive emails requesting a sneak peak at 'who has entered'.

Of the 861 products nominated for our inaugural 'Smart 100' Index, some doozies are in our Top 100. While we can't announce the winners until 2 April 2009 (with the release of our Apr/May/Jun edition), we can bow to your prolific and very persuasive emails requesting a sneak peak at 'who has entered'.

In this video, New York Times technology columnist/blogger David Pogue makes some interesting points on why many executives fear social media, citing loss of control and reluctance to part with their one-way, broadcast spin mentality, to mention a few.

This week we flooded our readers' inboxes with a wide range of stories, semi-obnoxious headlines, serious opinions and a spattering of irreverent, odd-ball items of information from around the globe. We did this to get a better idea of just what interests our readership as a whole, and you personally. While the email technology can't read minds (literally), it can self-optimise.

Reading that your customers are satisfied might give you a warm-fuzzy feeling, but what do you really learn? Katie Harris thinks that to improve...

He hadn't been mugged at gunpoint in London as they feared, but that didn't stop the criminals who had hacked into his Facebook profile from impersonating him and posting messages to his friends requesting money to rescue him from ongoing danger.