The value of Old School Advertising

As a marketing consultant who has designed thousands of print ads, I have watched the evolution of advertising over the past six decades. Marketing strategies have changed from the traditional to Avant Garde. The advertising that was popular in the 1970’s through the 1980’s is now considered “Old School”. On…

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What is Guerrilla Marketing?

The dictionary defines it as; Innovative, unconventional, and low-cost marketing techniques aimed at obtaining maximum exposure for products and services. These alternative advertising tactics can work in place of, or in conjunction with major marketing campaigns and have proven extremely effective for small and medium sized marketers. Guerrilla Marketing relies…

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WHY MARKETERS NEED AN AD BUDGET

If you do not put enough gas in your car you are not going to reach your destination… if you don’t adequately fuel your business marketing efforts, your company will be stalled as your competitors pass you by. Developing an advertising/marketing plan and allotting a realistic budget is like planning…

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Opening a New Business

Thousands of new businesses are started every week. Ninety-nine percent will fail within the first year. Primary reasons are; lack of capitalization and poor management. Actually the two go together. Whether you are starting a manufacturing firm, a service business or a distributorship, getting started is a multi-faceted and complex…

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Influencing customers buying decisions

No one advertises Bathing Suits in December or Snow Blowers in May. Seasonal marketing is all about timing. The marketer must have advertising exposure at the start of the season to reach prospective customers. To maximize advertising effectiveness, advertising must not only be targeted to the market but be designed…

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ADVERTISING IS MORE THAN ARTWORK

Yes, pretty pictures attract attention, but graphics alone, do not sell products or services. Effective advertising is a combination of creative graphics, quality photography, motivational ad copy, and timely placement in select media to a targeted audience, all developed and implemented under the umbrella of an integrated marketing strategy. In…

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How to Design a Great Catalog

Whether you are selling, on-line, direct to end users, or through distributors and retailers, an impressive catalog is indispensable in presenting your products and making sales. A Good Catalog is not just a list of items, but a user-friendly organized classified directory. A Great Catalog is more than that! It…

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Designing Training Manuals and Course Promotion

Study material, manuals and workbooks can make the training course a success or render it lack-luster. More important, the enrollment campaign can fill the classroom with students, or result in weak participation. While many organizations and/or instructors produce their own collateral material and student solicitation efforts, the expertise of a…

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Is your Advertising Collateral Effective?

Every successful business, organization and marketing campaign relies on some form of print support material to communicate their message. Be it a product catalog, a service brochure, informational pamphlet or a political campaign flier. All collateral is created to perform the same function; to inform, educate, and motivate the recipient…

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IS POLITICAL CORRECTNESS KILLING MARKETING?

Several years ago, I saw a billboard for a furniture store with the slogan that read, “For the discriminating buyer”. You cannot say that today. Any reference to discrimination has been eliminated from all advertising vocabulary. Marketers must be ultra-sensitive, so as not to offend anyone in today’s Politically Correct…

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