Case Study: MapSherpa
"We have been fortunate enough to have worked over the past nine months with Francis Moran and Associates to deliver virtual CMO services for our company, and so far it has been highly effective. With this relationship, we get access to a level of experience and expertise which would be unaffordable to us if we were to hire a full-time equivalent." Dave McIlhagga, Founder and CEO
Case Study: Singletouch
"When I hired Francis Moran to lead our marketing efforts in 2011, I had very high expectations. We needed to completely rebuild our marketing from the ground up. Francis and his team not only met those high expectations but exceeded them. He brought a very high level of strategic thinking, professionalism and creativity to our organization that will be felt for many years to come in our quest to build a successful IT company." Marty Hilsenteger, Founder and CEO
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 that must be asked about whether seeing your organization’s name in lights will, in fact, translate into greater awareness among the customers you are trying to reach and make the phone ring more often.
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 that isn’t really a corollary statement but that goes hand-in-hand with the everyone-is-our-customer myth so regularly that maybe it ought to be.
It’s the notion that you have no competition.
“Nobody does what we do,” is the proud boast of every self-respecting technology venture. And they may well be correct. That doesn’t mean they don’t have competition — probably even fierce, well-entrenched and irresolute competition.
By David J. 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 that, while being of the widest scope possible, will meet the novelty requirements of the patent law. The key requirement is that you have to define the invention in language that does not describe anything that was previously available to the public. But you also want to use language that will shut-down competitors without leaving any loopholes. Not an easy job.
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.
In what the federal government is touting as a “first of its kind in the world,” the visa is intended to accelerate the immigration and citizenship process for entrepreneurs from abroad, particularly technology entrepreneurs, who are vetted by criteria that include investment, and endorsement, by Canadian VCs.
“The new Start-Up Visa will help Canada attract the world’s best and brightest entrepreneurs to build businesses, create jobs, and fuel economic growth,” Kenny said.
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.
Tech Startup High Flyers: Israel, India and Brazil
Under30CEO takes a good look at Brazil, India and Israel, three of the most important tech hubs in the world outside of Silicon Valley. Thanks to the specialties they have already developed and their population bases of digital consumers, they are coming up with some incredible and innovative new technology.
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... -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... -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... -May 20, 2013 by Leo Valiquette
Today we take a break from our regular blogging schedule in celebration of that great Canadian kick-off to summer, Victoria Day […]
Read more... -May 17, 2013 by Hailley Griffis
As a regular feature, we provide our readers with a roundup of some of the best articles we have read in the past week. On the podium this week are Convince&Convert, VentureBurn, Kim Garst, TechVibes and Commander Chris Hadfield […]
Read more... -May 16, 2013 by Francis Moran
At the time my PR agency,inmedia Public Relations, was founded, I worked out of a large integrated agency in the city and some of the account executives there loved to push my buttons by declaring that media relations was free advertising […]
Read more... -May 15, 2013 by Francis Moran
The aphorism that a camel is a horse designed by committee is usually attributed to Greek-born British car designer Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis, who was responsible for British Motor Corporation’s popular Mini. I never quite understood why Sir Alex would disparage a camel’s design […]
Read more... -May 14, 2013 by Bob Bailly
When I was first asked to contribute to this blog, my stated interest was writing a piece that “is really all about you and how evolution has contrived you to be who you are, acting and feeling the way you do […]
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