Back Seat Marketers

Thanks to Lizdon for pointing to a great post From Tom Brakke on the cave and the flow.
This post goes way beyond investing from my perspective. Tom highlights something far too many companies are falling in the trap of: fast following. The river is getting so easy to follow. Specifically, the data flow is so [...]

Just took another look at the Consumer Sentiment Index thanks to U of Michigan via the St Louis Fed, and it is still at historically low levels…

The hunt for income dollars are coming in all areas. As we’ve covered, distressing times are when business models are broken [Hint: Amazon quietly gets into private labels [...]

Quite interesting to be a part of what my company is going through during this downturn.
In fact, many companies and industries are digging into themselves to find what makes them unique and whether that means anything in this new market. Consumers have changed what they are buying and companies are having to shift gears [...]

I’m amazed right now at how many companies are reeling from poor performance and are not sure where to find growth. Data driven, CRM companies know the score. They are driving business with their existing clients and know how to grow new ones profitably.
Get the word out with your customers that you’re on [...]

Let’s be honest, the stock market turmoil makes great fodder these days. Feeling like we’re getting out of the woods one day leads to punishment the next. I’ve learned to just tune it out and use a few tools to guide me on where things are headed for the economy.
First, The Conference Board posts a [...]

The Pew Research Center has found that the one-time and regular use of social networks by older parts of the US population are starting to take hold. This chart is the true sign of technology taking hold:

While many older parts of the US are not as well penetrated as younger ones, what we’re starting to [...]

This year, financial targets are already blown. Any idea of guessing, er, budgeting for 2009 is extremely difficult. Intel does the right thing and forgoes a 2009 projection and with it, the CEO reminds internal and external constituencies that there is work to be done during the downturn:
“Intel has weathered difficult times in the past, [...]

In a product marketing class we took in undergrad, we played a simulation game each week that was supposed to replicate a market with consumers that had shifting preferences over time. All of our teams were given comparative advantages and then had to determine where we fit today in the market, and had to read [...]

The WSJ reports that spending is far off, and the more luxury and discretionary, the less people chose it.

As people hunker down, lose their jobs, see iconic corporations change dramatically, and face a new reality of a more fundamental lifestyle, we’re going to see a shift of importance in creating value. Value in 2007 was [...]

Here’s a thought, retailers, do something different than super low prices to get my attention. Door busters were interesting, but they’ve run their course, but now, as your shopper, I’m tired of the mayhem that comes with 6 AM start times, elbow throwing and not getting the 1 of 6 ultra-low priced items I went [...]