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Outsider Insights | You Can't Measure AI ROI If You Can't Measure Marketing ROI
Outsider Insights
Across Chief Outsiders, we talk to hundreds of CEOs every month. In this series, we explore the trends and challenges we’re hearing from these discussions – and what you can do if you’re facing the same issues in your business.
When do I need to Hire a Product Manager?
Thu, Jun 28, 2018 — Over the course of my career I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside some really good product managers. The good ones tend to be easy to spot even though many don’t like attention cast on them and are quite content being behind the scenes. Like the conductor, they’re focused on keeping the trains going on time. The “trains” in this case are the products or services a company offers. There is a cadence to product management done right and the frequency they operate under is tuned into by the entire organization. Think of Max Weinberg, Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band drummer. It’s said that drummers are the heart and soul of bands. While Springsteen was clearly “The Boss”, Weinberg set the beat and always had his eyes constantly fixated on Springsteen during live performances and could make adjustments in a microsecond that allowed the band to be at its best.
A Best Marketing Practice: Cultivating “Lead” Customer Relationships for Breakthrough Products and Services
Thu, Aug 3, 2017 — It’s been many years since I learned what a “lead” customer is and how to build lead customer relationships to build confidence and reduce risks of new product or service launches. The concept of a lead customer, or lead user, is probably one of the most beneficial best practices I’ve used in marketing and product management roles. Want to design and launch a breakthrough product? The lead customer approach is absolutely a winner. The lead user methodology was originally developed by Dr. Eric von Hippel of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and first described in the July 1986 issue of Management Science. You can read a revised version of the original article here.
3…2…1… We Are “Go” for Product Launch
Wed, Feb 8, 2017 — Part 1 – Gathering Strategic Insights B2B product companies have to move quickly to innovate and release new offerings to remain viable and sustain growth. All too often, B2B companies rely too heavily on their sales channels to launch their products. Because we are always connected to the Internet, your sales prospects have access to a wealth of information making the traditional sales journey less relevant. Your marketing team now has a greater responsibility than ever in driving success of a new product launch.
Forging a Solid Go to Market Plan – Without the Assumptions
Wed, Sep 14, 2016 — Business owners and entrepreneurs live in a constant state of observation. Equal parts tenacious and curious, they never stop watching, listening, and comparing their product and service offerings to the competition. They ask themselves daily, hourly: “Is the competitor’s product better?” and “Am I really putting an impactful marketing message out there?”-- often secretly wondering if they truly know the answer.
Attention, Company Founders: Keys to Avoiding Colossal Marketing Flops
Mon, Jul 25, 2016 — They’re some of the worst American marketing flops of all time: Smith & Wesson Mountain Bikes, Cosmopolitan Yogurt, and Coors Rocky Mountain Water. These three powerhouses are some of the most well-known brands on the planet – and yet they still hit the skids when their seemingly unique and interesting idea failed to meet customer expectations and gain traction in the market.
New Challenger Brand Tees Off with Hilarious Video
Thu, Apr 7, 2016 — As they say, “Dumb as a fox.” Attitudinally provocative “Challenger” brands have long been around for decades using contrarian positioning (The UNCOLA!) to separate them from the more normative incumbent brands in a given category. But in recent years with disruption strategy almost becoming the expected method of launching every new product, we seem to see more brands becoming the champions for disaffected consumer segments by promising a substantially better product or deal and by attacking the category leader with advertising featuring a loud, irreverent or downright outrageous brand persona. More or less censorship free online media have also opened the door to the use of profanity and lowbrow bathroom humor by some Challenger brands to create even greater juxtaposition between the new upstarts and the brands they mean to steal share from.
Product > Market Alignment: The True Sign of a Startup Unicorn?
Tue, Mar 29, 2016 — For those of us knee-deep in the startup world, we’re inundated by Unicorn noise – first their rise and more recently their fall (or, at least their right-sizing). Any number of factors have played into this trajectory: from FOMO venture capital activity that drove unsustainable valuations, to startup growth hacking techniques that indicate initial hyper-scaling, but often run out of steam - exposing the startup’s gap between product and promise.
Are You Eating Your Own Dog Food?
Fri, Aug 21, 2015 — How An Old Microsoft Corollary Holds New Significance For Today’s Digital Marketer When I helped control Bill’s “Gates” many moons ago, as a marketing executive for Microsoft, there was an old nugget of wisdom that I believe offers new relevance for today’s digital marketer. To ensure the quality of its products – particularly in the “go-go” days of the 1980s, when Microsoft was relatively unchallenged in the marketplace for PC software – executives and employees alike were told to “eat their own dog food.”
The Elton John Brand – Lessons in Marketing Management from The Rocket Man
Wed, Nov 20, 2013 — I read with interest several recent Elton John interviews in support of his latest (33rd) album release, The Diving Board. In a WSJ interview, the album is praised for being a return to the basic style that had Elton continuously on the Top 40 charts for over 4 years during the mid-70’s. The articles made me think about how a brand that started strong can survive for so long putting out some questionable products, and what lessons about marketing strategy we can we take from this.