Are You a Gen Y Magnet?

A great white paper by Brazen Careerist http://tinyurl.com/6c74hc

Check out www.brazencareerist.com or RyanHealy on Twitter.

The glittering allure of the mobile society

A great white paper (lots of depth for those who want it) on the history and future of media. SMLXL's Alan Moore, commissioned by Microsoft. http://tinyurl.com/lpzueu

Books We Love

Here are some of SW+A's recommendations on business books we love:

• Good to Great, Jim Collins


• The Black Swan, Nicholas Taleb


• The Strategy Paradox, Michael Raynor


• Groundswell, Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff


• Four Seasons, Isadore Sharp


• Tribes, Seth Godin


• Grown up Digital, Don Tapscott

The "Bionic" Marketer

SW+A is of the opinion that a truly "Bionic" Marketer would be an individual who possesses the skill sets of 4 types of marketing:

• CPG Marketing - The power of words and the power of strategic frameworks.
• Retail Marketing - The ability to execute with pride, passion and attention to detail...everyday is show time.
• Technology Marketing - The ability to truly innovate based on deep consumer understanding. Consumers in this space don't know what they want until they see it.
• B2B Marketing - No puffery allowed. You must save your customer's money or time or get out of the way.

The following questions are ones that SW+A has heard from our marketing clients, and are a typical representation of the marketing challenges broadly seen since the start of the recession. Following each question is SW+A's point of view on how our 'Bionic' marketer might respond. Ok...'Bionic' is a dated word, but you get the drift...

1. “Are my TV ads being seen? Am I really a luddite because I’m not twittering my customers?”

- Maybe...but commit to being smarter 12 months from today than you are today. And have an understanding of 'On the way to what...' for each initiative.

2.“It’s not all science, there is still art.”

- Without an understanding of how your Brand is meaningfully different, all the science in the world is a waste of money. True and meaningful differentiation has been created by Stephen Jobs, Mickey Drexler (J. Crew), Howard Schultz, Sam Walton.

3.“Go over every program, every line item one more time.”

- Can't Argue. Just Do It.

4.“When do I have time to think strategy?”

- You need to be a schizophrenic planner...focus on the next 3 months with a view to where you want to be in the next 3 years.

5.“You can’t really expect a forecast in this market.”

- No denials based on the recession. Time for scenario planning, but you own your Brand's future.

6.“Why can’t Sales sell?”

- Marketers must lead Sales, but Sales must think that they are leading.

7.“My innovation pipeline is dry!”

- True innovation isn't just about focusing on new products. Focus on new channels, new processes, new customers etc..

8.“Why can’t I move faster?”

- Upfront alignment in an organization builds speed.

9.“Well, these results are ‘less bad’.”

- Manage expectations and over-communicate.

10.“How do I demonstrate Return on Marketing Investment?”

- That's a whole other meeting...perhaps a future Blog post.

11.“Too much information, not enough insights.”

- Quit complaining and clarify. Many insights are a 'blinding glimpse of the obvious'. It is less about the 'insight' but what you do with it to create meaningful differentiation that matters.

12.“Wal-Mart!”

- Respect them. Learn from them. Help your other customers to differentiate from them.

Please feel free to post your additions or comments on these. Thanks to all of our Marketing Leaders who came to attend this presentation today.

SW+A 's Six "Upside of Down" Principles

On June 10 2009, Luke Sklar presented SW+A's point of view on how businesses can best succeed in today's economy.

Present were some of Canada's best marketing leaders...all attendees are in charge of leading the marketing function for their respective organization.

Six Principles to Win in a Down Economy

1. Create and Communicate Your Brand Value

• Dial-up value
• Get close to the customer
• Do not depreciate your brand
• Provide the solution

2. Invest in what you do Best

• Ensure brand promise is relevant & deliverable
• Fund your competitive advantage

3. Don't Get Caught in the Middle

• Be meaningfully different
• Stay on the Innovation roadmap

4. Do the 'Right Thing'

• Be authentic
• Be transparent
• Be trustworthy

5. Involve & Engage Your Customers

• Listen
• Build relationships
• Apply vision & discipline to social internet tools

6. Create optimism

• Create both external and internal optimism
• Be calm, be focused, have fun

Luke Sklar is the founder and a Partner of Sklar Wilton + Associates Ltd..

SW+A is in the business of helping our clients make better decisions.
We help clarify business problems and the best solutions via a fusion of marketing research, strategy and innovation.