123 eGuides

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123 eGuides are authoritative guides published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost. Every 123 eGuide is just 3 bucks or less ($2.99 to be exact).

123 eGuides are designed for today’s reader who wants information in a quick, convenient, easily readable format. Each 123 eGuide is intended to provide a functional overview rather than a detailed roadmap. Every 123 eGuide always includes additional resources if the reader wants to learn more.

Check the "Available 123 eGuides" link above to see what's available. 123 eGuides are available wherever eBooks are sold, including the Amazon Kindle store and in any eBook format at Smashwords.com.

1 Minute Advice: How Brands Secure Customer Trust

A recent global survey of senior brand executives conducted by the CMO Council indicates that brands have certain priorities for securing customer trust. As reported by Marketing Charts, over half (51 percent) of survey respondents say "respecting the data that the customer has voluntarily provided" is a top priority. Close behind (49 percent) is "communicating in a personalized way, honoring the data the customer has given." It seems as if customer data has a direct link to customer trust in the minds of senior brand executives.

More than half (55 percent) of the surveyed executives indicate "their organization’s ability to follow through on the privacy, permission and personalization promises they make to their customers is high."

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

Have you heard about the book, Boomer Brands?

1 Minute Advice: Attributes of a Successful Product Launch

Marketing Charts reports on a survey conducted by Bain and Company that reveals key attributes of a successful product launch as determined by "launch leaders." Five of these attributes are:

1. Use social listening - More than one-third of launch leaders use social listening data to help guide their product launch strategy.
2. Use authentic messaging that evokes emotions - Almost half of launch leaders indicate that their messaging or campaign was seen as authentic by the target audience.
3. Focus on a specific audience - More than half of launch leaders target a specific audience with their product launch rather than trying to reach a broader audience.
4. Make a splash early on - Launch leaders invest the largest part of their media budget in the prelaunch period and the launch date.
5. Tweak and test - Launch leaders keep an active eye on what's happening in their campaign using real-time data, adjusting their strategy quickly as needed.

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

Be sure to check out the Product Launch 123 eGuide!

1 Minute Advice: Brand Differentiation through Customer Focus is Key

Customer focus is the key to brand differentiation, writes Isaac Krakovsky, principal at PwC US for strategy + business. "An inability to connect with customers is a big part of the problem for companies that find themselves lost in the undifferentiated middle," says Krakovsky. "To implement a successful customer-centric brand strategy, companies need to have a foundation of operational excellence. They should be exceptional on practical points, such as product offering or omnichannel experience, so they have a basis from which they can reinvigorate and maintain customer engagement."

Krakovsky offers a useful framework for brand differentiation in the article, dividing companies into four groups: "The path to differentiation (and to thriving as a differentiator) depends on whether your company is currently a hopeful, a doer, a visionary, or a differentiator..."

For any brand executive seeking brand differentiation, the article is a must read:
https://www.strategy-business.com/article/How-to-stand-out-in-a-crowded-marketplace?

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

Have you heard about the book, Boomer Brands?

1 Minute Advice: Surprisingly, Online Brands are Plunging into Retail

This may sound counterintuitive, but the growth in retail seems to be coming from online direct-to-consumer brands. According to eMarketer principal analyst David Lipsman, “D2C brands with a demonstrated aptitude for selling online are now expanding to physical retail. Brick-and-mortar isn’t always the most hospitable environment, particularly for brands targeting the more elusive millennial shopper, but D2C brands nevertheless feel confident about their prospects."

As a result, online brands are exploring pop-ups, showrooms and full-fledged retail stores. eMarketer says it expects this trend to continue, reporting the following: "October 2018 data from Activate—the most recent research we have on the topic—found that a plurality of D2C brands, including Fabletics, Warby Parker and Glossier, opened or announced a store opening worldwide last year. That figure is significantly higher this year as other brands such as Allbirds, Casper and Burrow continue to expand their physical footprints."

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

Have you heard about the book, Boomer Brands?

1 Minute Advice: 2019's "Most Relevant" Brands

The Brand Relevance Index from business consulting firm Prophet is out for 2019. For the fifth straight year, Apple is the top most relevant brand to U.S. consumers. As reported by Marketing Charts, here are the top five most relevant brands:

1. Apple
2. Spotify
3. Android
4. Bose
5. Disney

Brand relevancy differs by demographics, however. Note the comparison of most relevant brands, Millennials vs. non-Millennials:

Millennials

1. Apple
2. Android
3. Google
4. Bose
5. Disney

Non-Millennials

1. Apple
2. Amazon
3. Pinterest
4. Android
5. Netflix

Rankings are based on a survey of 13,500 US customers, who rated 225 brands across 27 industries.

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

Have you heard about the book, Boomer Brands?

1 Minute Advice: How CMOs See the Current and Future State of Marketing

The American Marketing Association, Deloitte LLP and Duke University's Fuqua School of Business sponsored the August 2019 "CMO Survey," a twice annually, long-running survey of Chief Marketing Officers. The survey generated 341 responses from U.S. for-profit companies and 95 percent of respondents were VP-level and above. A few interesting data points:

• Companies are bullish on marketing, with marketing budgets expected to grow by 8.7 percent next year.
• Marketing leaders believe new technologies have strengthened the importance of marketing in their companies, but they struggle with being forward-looking: Two out of three executives say they tend to focus on "managing the present" rather than "preparing for the future."
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) is having an impact on marketing; there has been a 27 percent increase in the use of AI over last year.
• The percentage of the marketing budget spent on mobile marketing is significantly increasing and expected to grow over 70 percent in the next five years.

More about the survey here: https://cmosurvey.org/

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

Have you heard about the book, Boomer Brands?

1 Minute Advice: Danger Signs for Legacy Brands

In retail, the once great legacy brand, Sears, is virtually gone now. In the CPG world, the renowned legacy brand Gillette is struggling. While the reasons may vary, these and other legacy brands are in danger in today's volatile brand world, according to professors at the Wharton School.

Professor Santiago Gallino thinks "...these brands are breaking up with the customers. I think that at some point the customer decides to pack up and leave. To me, it looks like the brands are consistently giving the customer the signal that they are done with them, that they are not going … to give them what they expect from the brand and what they used to offer.”

Professor Barbara E. Kahn sees digital marketing as another reason: "...digitally native vertical brands go to millennials with an emotional, branded story that speaks to their lifestyles. Legacy brands didn’t see the change and didn’t change fast enough.” Still, she thinks it's possible for legacy brands to leverage the relationship they once had with consumers: "I think nostalgia will always be around. People tend to become more nostalgic during recessions; they long for the good old days and have a positivity bias about the past. They only remember the good things, so you see it in advertising, and market share of nostalgic brands picks up in less prosperous times.”

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

Have you heard about the book, Boomer Brands?

1 Minute Advice: Is "Showrooming" Still a Problem for Retailers?

Brick-and-mortar retailers are always concerned when they see store visitors taking out their phones. Some of these shoppers are "showrooming" when they are in a traditional retailer. That means they have come to the store with the intent to check out a product's attributes but then look it up online to see where they can buy it at a lower price.

New research from Google is somewhat encouraging; it suggests that, while some mobile shoppers are indeed showrooming, others may actually be searching for more information about the store itself. In fact, Google has discovered "that people no longer follow a predictable and straight path to purchase." More shoppers are using mobile search before they even go to a store to look up hours, locations and other details. Google has found that " shoppers continue to hunt for deals while they’re in-store, and search online for things like '[retailer name] + in store coupons'..."

More good news regarding in-store mobile search, according to Google: "In-store shoppers are 4X more likely to search on Google for the retail brand of the store they’re currently in compared to the next highest competitor, and there are 6X more Google searches for the retailer than for 'amazon." The bottom line is that retailers need to be sure all relevant store and product information is easy to find online -- and also create a positive in-store shopping experience.

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

Have you heard about the book, Boomer Brands?

1 Minute Advice: Keeping a Brand Fresh with Gen Z

Research suggests that members of Gen Z (ages 8 through 22) are more oriented toward advertising-free experiences, and that they sometimes don't even respond to traditionally branded products. That's why Doritos has launched an unusual and unconventional campaign that actually excludes the product's brand name and logo. Instead an "anti-ad" created for YouTube features the triangular-shaped snack and an unbranded bag. In a tweet, the company said, "It's the chip so iconic...we don't need to name it."

The brand, which is owned by PepsiCo, is confident the Gen Z audience will recognize the shape of the Doritos chip and connect with the campaign. While it could be a risky strategy, it could also stand out and differentiate the brand. Only time will tell.

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

Have you heard about the book, Boomer Brands?

1 Minute Advice: Hotel Brands Proliferate

One category of brands seems to be exploding non-stop: hotel brands. According to The New York Times, hotel brands add brands at a blistering pace to differentiate their offerings and appeal to different audiences. As of June 2018, reports hotel research firm STR, there were 180 hotel chains with more than five U.S. properties.

Major hotel chains have brands across many segments, from budget to luxury. For example, Hilton and Hyatt each offer 17 brands. Marriott now has 30 brands after its acquisition of Starwood hotels in 2016. Some of Marriott's brands actually compete with one another, but they've retained them all. “We were able to push these brands apart and continue to provide varied experiences,” says Tina Edmondson, Marriott's global brand officer. Phil Cordell, Hilton's global head of brand development, warns, “If brands get too focused on a specific segment, that’s where things can run off the rails in the longer term...“The more you have, the more you have to be incredibly disciplined in ensuring that difference is there. Bigger isn’t always better.”

This post is brought to you by 123eGuides.com. 123 eGuides are a series of authoritative guides about branding, marketing and small business published exclusively in electronic format to provide maximum value at minimum cost.

Have you heard about the book, Boomer Brands?