Tag Archives: strategy

Your Mission and Vision are Lousy

Posted on Friday, 30 June 2017 7:40 am by markpilip

I was talking about company mission and vision statements with Paresh Shah, a good and smart friend of mine. During the discussion, he gave me a simple rule to see if your mission was good or not: “Write out the … Continue reading →

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Advertising Needs More History Majors

Posted on Monday, 20 March 2017 10:15 am by markpilip

In the United States in 2014, only 1.7% of the undergraduate degrees awarded were history degrees. In the period since 1971, the share of history and social sciences degrees has declined from 18% to 9%. 1 Why study history? According to … Continue reading →

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Want to win in marketing? Think like a marketer, not the NSA. Surveillance doesn’t equal marketing strategy. Continue reading →

Posted on Monday, 19 September 2016 1:01 pm by markpilip | Comments Off on Mistaking Surveillance for Advertising

Innovate Creatively or Die, New York Times

Posted on Thursday, 22 May 2014 1:44 pm by markpilip

I love the New York Times. I learned how to read newspapers in school, with the Times as the teaching vehicle. What I recall learning: It contains “All the News That’s Fit to Print” The Times always gets the facts … Continue reading →

Posted in Analysis, Branding, Marketing, Media, Organization, Strategy | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Vision’s All You’ve Got

Posted on Thursday, 13 September 2012 8:40 am by markpilip

You might hire the smartest data scientists available. You might develop a product that has benefits that push all the user buttons. You might price that product perfectly. You might distribute it perfectly. You might create the most clever campaign … Continue reading →

Posted in Branding, Philosophy, Product Development | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Groupthink: A Caution for Summer Planners

Posted on Monday, 23 July 2012 9:44 am by markpilip

The classic article Groupthink was just brought to my attention via RSS feed. Most of us have heard of the 1952 article, but how many have read it recently or at all? If you’re taking part in summer strategy or … Continue reading →

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If You’re Going Out of Business Anyway…

Posted on Tuesday, 6 March 2012 10:07 am by markpilip

Why wouldn’t you try to stop it? The answer in the newspaper industry, at least according to Mathew Ingram in GigaOM yesterday is culture. The newspaper industry has been circling the drain as the shift to free/cheap classified advertising has … Continue reading →

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“The Channel” to Nowhere

Posted on Thursday, 10 November 2011 9:00 am by markpilip

Why do you sell through distributors, resellers, VARs, or in other words, “the channel?” Is it worth your time building lots of infrastructure to manage the rules around distributing your product, dealing with channel conflict, commissions, “owning the customer” and … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer Care, Organization, Product Development | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Why There’s No iPhone 5

Posted on Thursday, 6 October 2011 5:45 am by markpilip

Now I know why Tim Cook didn’t introduce the iPhone 5. I believe that Steve Jobs, ever the thinker and ever the showman, is playing out his final and best script. And while doing so, he completes the smooth transition … Continue reading →

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