Jun 13, 2019
Got Your Story Straight? When Marketing is Telling a Different Story from the Rest of the Company
By Dawn Colossi, Chief Marketing Officer, FocusVisionAs Marketers, we spend weeks, months, years perfecting our company story and its messaging. We spend countless hours with our creative teams bringing that message to life through our website, advertising, content, tradeshows, emails, etc. We are on the hook for attracting new customers, getting them engaged and then of course, we want that to turn into revenue. But what happens when all of the messaging that we have orchestrated to attract and engage an audience is not what they...
May 30, 2019
Effective Internal Marketing: It Starts with Knowing Your Audience
By Christopher Wallace, President, InnerView GroupMarketers like to beat the drum of message clarity and consistency, but too often the word doesn’t get through. Our own research shows that 66 percent of marketing executives believe their brand message is lost by the time it reaches customers. And when customers don’t get your narrative, they’re not likely to buy into your value proposition. The problem is that marketing strategies tend to be myopic - that is, too focused on external audiences. Of course, marketers do communicate...
May 03, 2019
The Invisible Tax on Your Marketing Investments
By Christopher Wallace, President, InnerView GroupThe job of a marketing department is to produce results. Despite the fact that their budgets are growing, marketers are losing confidence. They are concerned about their ability to “penetrate” their markets and deliver on expectations. Our team at InnerView recently partnered with FocusVision to study some specific challenges marketers face. FocusVision, a leading customer insights technology company, helps companies understand their customers through research and tie the findings back to their brand/product messaging. At InnerView, we work with front-line...
Apr 11, 2019
Marketers Sell Empathy, but Can They Teach It?
By Christopher Wallace, President, InnerView GroupMarketing is empathy on a mass scale. Marketing works when you feel like the brand or the product is speaking directly to you. They “understand” you and your needs. Everyone wants to be understood for who they are. This is how Brands are able weave themselves into your lifestyle – your daily routine, your own sense of self. We are surrounded by these “empathetic messages” – on television, radio, billboards, digital ads, social media, train platforms…everywhere! A company that does...
Mar 22, 2019
Pour Some Corn Syrup on Me – Breaking Down Bud Light’s Backfire
By Christopher Wallace, President, InnerView GroupI’ve written in the past about companies that make “bold brand moves” – taking a position in the marketplace that is going to drive strong reaction. My team at InnerView always wonders how companies are communicating expectations to frontline employees about the role they play in supporting the brand position. The folks at Bud Light give us our latest example, with their “beer ingredients” campaign. If you have not seen them yet, you must ONLY watch Netflix because they are...
Mar 07, 2019
Marketing Misalignment – Forget the Blame Game and Focus on the Solution
By Christopher Wallace, President, InnerView GroupWhen a brand’s marketing story gets out of whack, marketers tend to blame their front-line teams. “Why can’t they just get it straight” is a common complaint from marketers. Marketers spend a lot of money to understand their customers and use research to craft their story. If sales, customer service – whomever represents their brand – could just get “on message” the brand would perform even better. For their part, the front-line teams will say “marketing doesn’t understand what the...
