 |
|
||||||
“One thing this recession hasn’t knocked out is the power of brands.” A couple of the reasons that we preach the power of brands here at Marion is 1) a strong brand will sustain less damage than a weaker one during a recession, and 2) the stronger brand will recover faster after the recession – the weaker may not even survive. An article in Advertising Age supports this thesis.* “Despite the pounding global business is taking, the $2 trillion value of the top 100 brands has held steady, according to the Millward Brown’s annual BrandZ report. Consumers are blaming companies and leaders for the current troubles, not the brands. Brands have emotional bonds created with consumers, and overall, brands have sustained value.” The Current Top 10 Brands (And their rankings last year)*
Is your brand strong enough to survive? Do you have a brand positioning statement? >> Give Your Brand Lasting Strength with Marion Brand Building Services *Reference: Advertising Age, April 27, 2009 for complete Article | ||||||
| ||||||
Once again, Apple Apps show how the combination of user engagement and technology can have the power to attract and keep customers. Case in point – Apple’s iPhone is becoming an important and potentially huge marketing battleground for Big Pharma as companies try to morph the phone into a diagnostic device. Imagine an App where a diabetic patient can connect a glucometer (which tracks blood sugar) to the iPhone's external-accessory port, and so allow the App to interpret and chart the results, calculate the sugar intake during meals, and allow the user to adjust medications and diet accordingly. Imagine what a close and personal connection that App owner would have with that patient! What about Business-to-Business Apps? B2B applications could include searching for parts by entering a serial number, or enabling a customer to access product selection guides and detailed product information specific for that customer. Also, which will yield better fruit for B2B – BlackBerry or Apple? Generally, Apple is consumer orientated and the BlackBerry is B2B – but there are lots of crossovers. Best solution? Have an App that works with both.
Reference Advertising Age, June 1, 2009 | ||||||
Microsoft describes its new search engine, Bing (at MSN.com), as a decision engine. The idea is to shift the work from searchers to the search engine itself. Here are some examples of how Bing works for the user:
Bing's initial focus will be on purchasing decisions, trip planning, health conditions and local businesses. So get your product descriptions, prices and local search engine strategies up to snuff. Remember content is king! (And Marion can help.) Will Bing make a big enough bang to narrow the search gap between MSN and the Great One – Google? Google has 64.2% of search, Yahoo 20.4% and MSN 8.2% - that’s a big gap! Microsoft is going to spend 80 to 100 million advertising dollars on Bing. How much will that help? Ultimately, it is up to you and all the millions of other search engine users to decide. | ||||||
 Publish an eBook. Independent eBook technology publishing is straightforward: the document is coded in html and then rendered as a single file using an eBook compiler (think pdf file). Users can download and open your ebook if they have Windows 95 or better, and Internet Explorer 4 or later, which is of course the vast majority of web surfers. Commercially, eBook readers such as Kindle and Sony’s Reader are dominating the market at the moment. To get on their devices, you have to use their technology and sell through their stores. Learn about the differences between Kindle and the Sony eBook readers. Currently, the readers do not support color, animation, video or social media. But watch out. It’s all coming. >> From Pen to Pixel, Paper to Screen, Marion is Your Publisher for |
||||||
 In the Spot Light  Sidali Toudeft (Sid) is a student intern from France working at The Marion Group for the summer in order to sharpen his marketing skills. He is studying Business at the Toulouse Business School in Toulouse, France, and in January 2010 he will decide his major. Will it be Marketing and Advertising? Perhaps his experience at Marion will help him make up his mind.  But you would ask, why The Marion Group? My choice was deliberate. I found Marion on the first page of Google.com results for “marketing firm” and I liked their range of integrated services. The Toulousse Business School | ||||||
Marion has been battling in the ring on the side of our customers as we punch out their competition in these tough economic times. Our customers appreciate the strategy of continued investments in marketing and advertising as weaker competitors cut back, a fact understood and exploited by the top brands. 
Apple Facts to 
|
|||||||
