DrContrarian

One: Anything = Nothing, and Anything = Everything. Therefore, 'Anything' is the most powerful idea. Two: Outcome - (Objective + Action) = Zero.

USP = Unique selling Proposition. It should have died a long time ago, because it inflates the importance of what you are selling, instead of what you are buying. Long live the UBP. UBP = Unique Buying Proposition

If the internet is ubiquitous and the content is hence 'everywhere'; can someone explain why there is a need for an iPOD to store music? Surely you only need a device to access this perpetual inventory on-demand? I am sure people will get over the need to 'own' the music if you can play it anytime anywhere anyway. Is that a new business model that will save music? That is: Originators or publishers can own the content on a server and distribute free iPOD-like devices and charge a fraction of a cent every time the song is played. Kinda like mobile phones without the plan.

Differentiation isn't all it is cracked up to be. Differentiation only makes you different. Not better. Not preferable. Not successful. Differentiation may get you noticed, but it does not make you loved.

It really grates when people have to qualify what they say with 'to be honest...' I reckon you should just be honest, right? I wrote a review of a book (Selling: Powerful New Strategies for Sales Success) that I bought (on Amazon ) recently. It was written by Kevin Hogan et al - someone whom I follow closely on the net, and whom I admire for subject knowledge as well as marketing savvy. I gave it 2 stars. Seventeen other reviewers averaged 5 stars. Should I have been brutally honest? (See previous post.) Is that really what is wanted in 'comments' sections? Is that the right forum? If I can't write a better book, do I have the right to criticise? How many of the 5-star comments are seeded by friends and fans and how many are genuine? Having said all of that, I thought the book did offer a few nuggets that are worth the $20 -odd bucks spent on it. But then again, I think any book on the planet represents great value, because one sentence could change your life.

What’s not… I read a piece today that made me think about the difference and the impact of what is and what is not. The author draws a parallel between a style guide and a menu. ‘A manual of style () and a menu share one important point in common: both impose limitations. The word "menu" is from the Latin - minuere, to diminish. You can tell as much about a restaurant by what isn't on the menu as by what is: a chef doesn't try to cook everything, or to appeal to everyone's tastes. A stylebook imposes its limitations on the varieties of a written language: it's from these many acts of limitation and diminishment that a style is formed.’ Marketers are guilty of always focusing on the point of difference, the proposition, the benefit, the key feature. We often ignore what the product/ service does NOT do or offer. Just like a menu tells you about what you can eat, what is not on the menu possibly says more about the restaurant and the chef than the ...

Mandossian: " The only marketing genius is the customer." Price: "Every cent spent on marketing activities is an admission of failure."

Through my association with the MGSM (as an adjunct lecturer on the MBA program) I get access to really cool stuff. Now you can too ... and don’t say I never share :-) Find out how you’d perform running an Australian company for a week by taking up the online challenge at www.ceosurvivor.com

As an entrepreneur/ consultant/ author, you are always interested in finding a new angle to write about. As a free tool, I have created a marketing buzz-generator – for all to use… Pick-and-Mix one word from each of these tables, combine…. and off you go: Integrated Brand System Connected Market(ing) Solution Authentic Customer Theory Sustainable Consumer Framework Collaborative Value Platform Dynamic Communications Proposition Strategic Community Outcome(s) (Just don’t expect me to buy the book L )

The last word about Marketing I am one of those people you see in the bookshops, browsing through magazines and books. (The kind of people that annoy even me.) There are a number of reasons why I do this, and it isn’t about money. I find ‘topical’ magazines to offer very little value, but like an addict I keep going back to look. There are several magazines on marketing (and every now and then even a runaway best seller) that propagate a new buzzword and makes amazing claims about a wonderful insight the author has. (I actually created a table that allows you to create your own NEW theory in 5 seconds flat – more about in the next blog.) I thought about the discipline of marketing quite long and hard, because quite frankly, I am struggling to see how marketing (as it is practiced today) will retain its relevance over a long period. I have come up with these 7 immutable laws of Marketing. The Contrarian 1-2-3 of Marketing: 1 Law of Process CONSISTENCY 2 Laws of Product/Off...

"The purpose of a company is to create a customer. ... The only profit center is the customer. ...The business has two – and only two – basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results: all the rest are costs." (Peter Drucker:)

Attended a session today on networking skills. I wanted to test whether my understanding of networking was the same as most other people. So it is only fair to say what I believe: Networking is not about selling. Networking is not about building your profile. Networking is not about gathering as many leads as possible. IMHO, networking should be about giving as much as you can. You attend these functions to meet other people – and try and help them as much as you reasonably can – if not at that moment, down the track. (Assuming of course they are worthy of your referral.) I believe the more you give, the more you will get in return. But here is the catch: you can not do so with the expectation of getting it back. (There is fine line between knowing you will get something back and expecting it.] To be fair to the presenter and this particular model, it was pretty close. Selling and lead-gathering was suitably de-emphasized. The whole approach was one of the least cynical ...