Time for this month’s look ahead at events in May that could provide an opportunity for a marketing promotion.
After April where there was a lot going on…
…May is quieter.
Of course, there’s “May Day” on May 1…
One Easter Marketing Success Story…
“Happy Easter” to everyone!
I always like to highlight marketing successes when I can.
I know a lot of my observations and comments on this blog are about marketing blunders…
…and that’s because we can often learn more from mistakes than when things go right.
But it’s great to applaud successes too.
On Thursday, the late afternoon before the start of the holiday weekend here in Sydney, I had to go into the city for an appointment…
Did This Positioning Blunder Cost Ford Over $6.5 Billion?
See that Ford has finally sold Volvo…
“Ford Sells Volvo To Chinese Car Maker Geely For $1.8bn”
Reported sale price is US$ 1.8 billion, but after Ford has to tip in money to the Volvo pension fund and cover other liabilities, they’re basically going to end up with nothing.
Ford bought Volvo in 1999 for US$ 6.5 billion.
In other words, Ford has taken a bath on this one.
The reality is that Ford has lost a lot more than $6.5 billion…
…because Volvo has been “persistently loss making” and Ford will have pumped significant amounts into the company to try and turn things around.
Now, there are probably many reasons for this debacle, but I’d suggest that a major factor will have been…
Major Benefit Of A Good USP…
…that can boost your margins and bottom line and could easily make the difference between success and failure.
Competing on price alone is a mugs game in most cases.
(In fact, my mate Pete Godfrey would probably describe it as “Evil”!)
OK, there are some rare cases where it can work…
…BUT it means that you absolutely MUST be the lowest cost producer.
Your entire strategy has to revolve around relentless reduction of costs.
Think companies like Aldi or successful companies in true commodity markets.
For most businesses this is neither viable nor desirable…
Crocodile Marketing Conference – Sunday Morning Session
“Discounting is EVIL!”
– copywriter Pete Godfrey
Well, after a raucous Saturday evening (so I’m told…yours truly retired at a relatively early hour)…
…the Wizard himself, Pete Godfrey, presented the first session on Sunday morning.
“Reinventing Your Marketing”
…was the theme. Summarising the session…