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 Alexandra Reid
Over the past few years, working first on our own behalf and then with a growing array of clients that turned to us for help, we have refined what we believe is a highly effective process for the development and implementation of content marketing programs. As I explained in a post earlier this week, this approach rests on a number of key principles:
This is the seventh article in a continuing monthly series chronicling the growth path of Screenreach Interactive, a startup based in Newcastle upon Tyne in England’s North East. Screenreach’s flagship product, Screach, is an interactive digital media platform that allows users to create real-time, two-way interactive experiences between a smart device (through the Screach app) and any content, on any screen or just within the mobile device itself. We invite your feedback.
By Francis Moran and Alexandra Reid
Last time we checked in with Screenreach, the company was dealing with issues at the Apple application store to launch the new version of its Screach application. After coordinating efforts with external organizations and working through the problems at hand, the team managed to push through to launch. Following in the wake of this recent achievement, the team launched Screach’s sister product, Screach TV, at TechCrunch Disrupt NY in May. CEO Paul Rawlings explains what he and Chief Strategy Officer David Weinfeld did at the event to gain favour with investors and media.
By Alexandra Reid
Running a successful content marketing program has many challenges, a number of which Joe Pulizzi expertly cites in his post, 12 challenges that stop marketers from creating epic content marketing. I propose that many of these challenges could be solved if businesses would learn to simply tap the resources available at their fingertips.
Employees hold a wealth of knowledge that can be turned into thought-provoking content. Some also understand their customers, their pains and where to reach them. What many lack is the knowhow to turn that insight into great content and how to coordinate efforts to use that content for marketing purposes. That’s where hiring an agency can come in handy, but I’d argue that even the best agencies can never know a company as intimately as its employees.
The best solution I’ve found to develop and implement an effective and budget-wise content marketing program is, quite logically, to use each team for what it does best. Let the marketers create, coordinate and implement the content marketing program while showcasing the internal talent of the client’s knowledge keepers.
By Jesse Rodgers
RIM has had a hard time since Apple’s iPhone came out. Apple did more than bring the world a touch screen and the app store. It took apart the carrier/phone model on which RIM was an absolute genius at building a strong company. Most people focus on feature for feature device comparison but in reality it is what happened behind the scenes that I think hurt RIM the most.
By Alexandra Reid
As a regular feature, we provide our readers with a roundup of the best articles we have read in the past week. On the podium this week are ReadWriteWeb, GigaOm, Inc., Financial Post, and MarketingProfs.
How big tech companies keep quiet on big news
While startup companies crave the kind of exposure that can require public relations campaigns worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, established tech players often pick and choose when they speak, if they choose to speak at all. As author Dave Copeland explains, as long as the media clamors for info, hoarding it works as a publicity strategy.
June 01, 2012 by Alexandra Reid
As usual, we covered a lot of ground last month on our blog. We covered the Startup Canada launch, introduced a new “born global” startup concept, discussed the future of accelerators, and highlighted that the Canadian university ‘innovation gap’ is more illusory […]
Read more... -May 31, 2012 by Francis Moran
I was invited a couple of weeks ago to facilitate a group discussion on the marketing of university technology transfer offices at a forum organised by the Technology Transfer Partnerships. The forum was held in […]
Read more... -May 30, 2012 by Ben Yoskovitz
I’m not much of a prognosticator, but recently Sarah Needleman from the Wall Street Journal called me to ask my thoughts about startup accelerators. She had found a blog post I had written (How to Maximize the Value of Mentors in Startup Accelerators), and […]
Read more... -May 29, 2012 by Francis Moran
It’s been three months since we last touched base with CommentAir, a period in which the startup has gone through a near-death experience and continues to face an uncertain prognosis […]
Read more... -May 28, 2012 by Tony Bailetti
Most new technology firms first focus on the domestic market and then internationalize slowly one stage at a time. They become global by emergence, not by design. Recent evidence suggests that the conventional phased approach to internationalization which is […]
Read more... -May 25, 2012 by Alexandra Reid
As a regular weekly 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 the Financial Post, The Globe and Mail, ReadWriteStart, Business2Community, Social Media B2B, and CopyBlogger […]
Read more... -May 24, 2012 by Francis Moran
My day yesterday? Twelve straight hours of startups, speakers, schmoozing and social media as I took in both FounderFuel’s second demo day and The C100’s AccelerateMTL. With what I am sure was more than a wee bit of coordination, one event followed the other […]
Read more... -May 23, 2012 by Alexandra Reid
I read a blog post today that annoyed me, the content for which came from a presentation Gary Vaynerchuk gave to more than 600 small businesses and local chamber and association leaders at America’s Small Business Summit on Monday in Washington D.C. […]
Read more... -
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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...) [...]