Jim Holbrook is CEO of EMAK Worldwide, a family of marketing agencies including Upshot, Equity Marketing, Logistix and Neighbor. He was formerly president of Zipatoni, an independent agency that was sold to IPG. Prior to Zipatoni, Jim served in management and marketing positions at Ralston Purina (now NestlePurina) and P&G. Jim graduated from Washington University and Vanderbilt University. More about Jim Holbrook.
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” – Leanardo da Vinci
“When forced to work within a strict framework the imagination is taxed to the utmost- and will produce its richest ideas. Given total freedom the work is likely to sprawl” – T.S. Eliot
I’m not sure about the marketing resumes of da Vinci and Eliot… were either of [...]
Do you think there’s a ’standard’ checklist or recipe of the ingredients that are ‘must haves’ to end up with great marketing? I’ve been keeping a list of what I think constitutes great marketing inputs… see if they make sense, and if you have others!
- true understanding of the target audience, and deep insights about [...]
With your marketing budget, would you rather:
- put it all behind marketing your product/service… or try to fit into your customer’s lifestyle?
- build traffic/trial… or build brand equity/awareness/attractiveness?
- be totally focused on one or two things… or have a wide and broad set of activities?
- take the conventional approach (FSI’s, :15’s etc)… or take an [...]
Totally focused on your product/service (rather than ads, communications, media etc)….
- Brand & Product Development
- Brand Expansion
- Brand Renewal/Refreshment
- Product Innovation
- Product Conceptualization and Planning
- Product Design Solutions
- Product Development for Retail, alternatives to Retail
- Product Development for Sourcing Alternatives
- Merchandise, Merchandising and Marketing Support – all connected together
Agency says “Here’s your product, and here’s [...]
The Facts:
- consumers have moved from passive to active (from ignorant to inquisitive)
- retailers have moved from passive to active (from real estate to community service center)
The Current Situation:
- marketing is still mainly about messaging and bribing, not about engaging
The Disconnect:
- consumers (and retailers) don’t want messages or bribes, they want more
The Result:
- ‘marketing’ has [...]
For 2010, I have sworn off french fries (so far so good), swearing (um, need some help here), artificial sweetener (using raw sugar instead), and… carbonated soft drinks. Or, ’sparkling non-alcoholic beverages’, as Coca Cola now calls them.
I’m reconsidering my no-pop resolution though, because both Coke and Pepsi are trying to make the world and [...]
