By Francis Moran
Regular readers of this blog will know that we have something of an obsession with customer service. At first glance, it might not seem obvious why a technology market blog might be so preoccupied with this. Except, as I have written many times, customer service is based on what I have come to call my first law of competitive differentiation, the proposition that, in an age when almost any technological or cost advantage will rapidly and inevitably be eroded, the only sustainable competitive differentiation for most companies is to treat their customers like the centre of the universe, which they are.
Based on recent experience, I have to say there’s nothing quite like doing a major round of house renovations to expose the good, the bad and the carpet layers of customer service.
Read More
By Leo Valiquette
I remember as a boy the time one of my uncle’s chickens laid an egg shaped like a squat bowling pin. It was quite the thing — it got him a picture and a cutline in the local paper. My mother still has that worn and yellowed clipping in a photo album.
Of course, the question is whether that one-off bit of media attention would have brought new business to the door if my uncle had been a commercial egg farmer trying to grow his market share. There is seldom a downside when serendipitous events entice the media to come knocking with little or no effort on your part. But when you are undertaking a formal PR program that requires an investment of resources, time and money, a stack of media clippings are of little value if they didn’t put your story in front of an audience with the potential to grow your business.
Read More
By Denzil Doyle
Having just completed 50 years in the computer industry ( I joined Digital Equipment Corporation on March 21, 1963), I would like to reflect upon some of the major advances in the industry during that period and to speculate on those that we might witness in the next 50 years.
As for the past, by far the greatest advances have been in the cost and size of computer memory. In 1963, Digital sold a computer called the PDP-5 which was unique in that it used both core memory (4096 words of 12 bits each) and transistors ( 500,000 bits per second clock rate) as opposed to drums and vacuum tubes. Additional memory could be obtained by ordering a “Memory Extension Unit” for $10,000 and 4096 word blocks of memory at $10,000 each – all in 1963 dollars.
Read More
By Leo Valiquette
Last month’s content lineup featured great posts that shattered common myths about finding and defining a customer base and how to market an app, as well as insights on securing a patent and recognizing a great CEO. We also looked at the genius of Audi’s Spock vs. Spock ad campaign and some of the weak links in Canada’s commercialization ecosystem. And of course, there was plenty of sage advice for neuromarketers and strategists alike.
In case you missed any of it, here is a handy recap of our posts, as ranked by the enthusiasm of our readers:
May 13: The marketing genius of Audi’s Spock vs. Spock, by Leo Valiquette
May 15: Design by committee is just plain wrong, by Francis Moran
May 27: The third way that government can, and must, support Made-in-Canada tech, by Leo Valiquette
May 21: Why shouldn’t it be made in Canada?, by Leo Valiquette
May 07: If you’re so afraid of spilling the beans that no one knows you have any …, by Leo Valiquette
May 02: Startup Canada Communities seeks to build regional economies ‘from the inside out’, by Francis Moran
May 23: ‘Everyone’ is not your customer, by Francis Moran
May 09: 6 small business statistics that may surprise you, by Brent Barnhart, Chamber of Commerce
May 08: Accelerator metrics in Canada (or anywhere), by Jesse Rodgers
May 14: The business of evolution: We’re not as clever as we think we are, by Bob Bailly
May 16: Fiction: Media relations is ‘free advertising’, by Francis Moran
May 30: To sponsor or not to sponsor: 6 questions to consider, by Leo Valiquette
May 22: So you’ve developed an app … now how do you market it?, by Peter Hanschke
May 28: Selling an invention to a patent examiner, by David French
May 29: Everyone has competition, by Francis Moran
May 06: Peeling away the layers of a great CEO, by Denzil Doyle
Image: May 2013 Calendar Printable
By Hailley Griffis
Every Friday, we round up some of the best articles we’ve come across in the past week and share them with our readers. Front and centre this time around are Memeburn, Marketo, Ventureburn and Convince and Convert.
7 habits of highly successful cloud-based medium businesses
Riaan Pietersen looks at medium-sized businesses and talks about how they are no longer asking whether or not they should transfer to the cloud, but asking how to transfer. He reviews seven steps for switching to the cloud while gaining additional functionality and productivity.
Read More
-
To sponsor or not to sponsor: 6 questions to consider
May 30, 2013 by Leo Valiquette
There is perhaps no marketing tool more disputed in terms of its ROI than sponsorship. From charities, to naming rights on community ice rinks and signage at industry events, there are always hard questions which must be asked about whether seeing your organization’s name in lights will in fact translate into […]
Read more... -
Everyone has competition
May 29, 2013 by Francis Moran
Last week, I tackled the assertion I all-too-frequently hear from technology executives that everybody could benefit from their product, and so the whole world is their target customer. This week, I’d like to demolish an equally hoary shibboleth […]
Read more... -
-
Selling an invention to a patent examiner
May 28, 2013 by David French
One of the most critical jobs of a patent attorney is to convince a patent examiner to grant patent rights to your client. This means convincing the examiner that your client is entitled to exclusive rights over a described version of the invention […]
Read more... -
The third way that government can, and must, support Made-in-Canada tech
May 27, 2013 by Leo Valiquette
“Canada is open for business.” So said Jason Kenney, Canada’s Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism , in a media release issued last week to promote Canada’s new Startup Visa […]
Read more... -
-
Great articles roundup: Content marketing, international talent, entrepreneurial mistakes, Silicon Valley
May 24, 2013 by Hailley Griffis
Every Friday, we round up some of the best articles we’ve come across in the past week and share them with our readers. Front and centre this time around are Under30CEO, Marketo Marketing Blog, Fast Company and Memeburn […]
Read more... -
So you’ve developed an app … now how do you market it?
May 23, 2013 by Peter Hanschke
Welcome to the fourth post in my journey to build and launch an iPhone app. The last post tackled the intersection of product management, user experience and implementation – how they are separate but yet related. In this post I’m going to talk about the marketing of my iPhone app […]
Read more... -
-
‘Everyone’ is not your customer
May 23, 2013 by Francis Moran
I love working with young technology companies, and that’s part of the reason I volunteer as a mentor at startup accelerators like Montreal’s Founder Fuel. I was there yesterday, putting on a session I do for each cohort that teaches these budding entrepreneurs a framework for the strategic planning of their marketing function […]
Read more... -
Why shouldn’t it be made in Canada?
May 21, 2013 by Leo Valiquette
Last week I had the honour of being involved with Canada 3.0, a digital technology conference put on by the Canadian Digital Media Network. Over two days, the conference explored the many ways that digital technology is transforming our lives and how we are […]
Read more... -
Twitter
Tweets by @FrancisMoranRecent Comments
The Future of A&R – Walabe : [...] http://francis-moran.com/marketing-strategy/top-10-questions-every-strategic-communicator-should-ask... [...]
Traditional Marketing is Dead – Long Live Bikini Waxer Marketing | Scalexl : [...] pointed out by Alexandra Reid on the Francis Moran website content marketing is becoming more and more like journalism. So, it is not just about the content, [...]
It’s Summertime…and the Networking is Easy? | THE MERRAINE BRAIN : [...] In fact, summer is perhaps one of the times least used to network, yet at the same time has shown to be the most productive time to network. People tend to be in a brighter mood compared to during the gloomy winters-especially where I am from in England! Networking needs to be fun and not approached as another chore, like mowing the lawn. (http://francis-moran.com/marketing-strategy/social-media-strategy-why-meeting-in-the-real-world-matt...) [...]