Free Stuff
Following are links to resources, ideas, projects, and eBooks and in general--stuff I have found on the web--that is yours for free. I am not necessarily endorsing or recommending anything (unless I say otherwise) but putting it out there for you to use as you see fit. Enjoy.
Marketing Mismatch: When New Won’t Work with Old
(Riffs on Meatball Sundae)
By Seth Godin
“People treat the New Marketing like a kid with a twenty-dollar bill at an ice cream parlor. They keep wanting to add more stuff—more candy bits and sprinkles and cream and cherries. The dream is simple: 'If we can just add enough of [today's hot topping], everything will take care of itself.' Most of the time, despite all the hype, organizations fail when they try to use this scattershot approach."
The Six Core Values of Innovation
By Jeff De Cagna
Innovation is the critical capability for all organizations trying to succeed in today's marketplace. But the case for innovation cannot be made solely on the basis of the economic value it creates for customers. It is equally important for enterprises and their leaders to embrace the 6 underlying core values of innovation as an integral element for a more vibrant future. This manifesto explores these values and explains how leaders can infuse them into their organizations in various ways.
About the author:
Jeff De Cagna is a long-time student of innovation and serves as chief strategist and founder of Principled Innovation LLC, his own consulting firm, located in Reston, Virginia. Jeff believes deeply in the necessity of innovation for all organizations, and always challenges others to do the same. Robert
Seduced By Success: How the Best Companies Survive the 9 Traps of Winning
By Robert J. Herbold
Kodak and Sony reached the pinnacle of success within their markets, but were unable to react to changes within those markets. Herbold, retired COO of Microsoft Corporation, examined 44 successful companies to discover 3 common mistakes made by previously successful companies. The mistakes generate 9 traps which can be avoided as companies like Proctor & Gamble and Apple did by anticipating unarticulated customer needs.
About the author:
Robert J. Herbold, retired chief operating officer of Microsoft Corporation, is the Managing Director of The Herbold Group, LLC, a consulting business focused on profitability. Herbold serves on the Board of Directors of Agilent Technologies, First Mutual Bank, and Indachin Ltd. Hong Kong. Prior to Microsoft, where he was COO from 1994 until 2001, Herbold spent 26 years at The Procter & Gamble Company, serving as senior vice president of marketing during the last 5 years.
The Future is Here and It is Bright: What Are We Waiting For?
By Gary Hirschberg
“We need more than simple awareness to break our generations-old, fossil-fuel-induced stupor. We have known what we should do, but we clearly have not done it. And the situation has deteriorated because of our lack of action. After more than three decades spent working in the environmental movement, I am convinced that economic self-interest—whether it is achieved by saving, earning, or a combination of the two—is the most powerful, if not the only, force capable of bringing about the future we need in time to make a difference….”
Humanize It: Bring a five-star sparkle to your customer interactions and watch your business flourish.
By Leonardo Inghilleri and Micah Solomon
“The best thing you can do for your business is not about new technology, brute force, or first-mover advantage. It’s something simpler. And more dependable. Humanize each customer interaction, in order to turn your product or service into much more than a commodity. In your customer’s mind, commodities are interchangeable and replaceable. Humanized relationships are not.”
A “Where’s Waldo” Approach to Problem-solving
By Adelino de Almeida, PhD
“We’ve all encountered bad solutions that come from bad problem-solving; heck, we’ve even encountered good solutions that were somehow generated from bad problem-solving…All you need to become a proficient problem-solver is a basic understanding of the concept behind the Where’s Waldo books: unbeknownst to most, these books encapsulate all the wisdom necessary for sound problem-solving.”
By John Moore
In response to Howard Schulz’s memo citing his concern over the direction Starbucks is headed, John Moore, a former long-time marketer at Starbucks, enlists the ‘Starbucks Board of Customers’ (i.e. readers of Moore’s blog and Starbucks customers) to propose which changes the company must make to maintain (reclaim?) its integrity.
About the author:
For the past decade, John Moore has made his mark in the marketing world by creating, championing, and implementing marketing ideas and branding ideals for Whole Foods Market and Starbucks Coffee. As the Director of National Marketing for Whole Foods Market, John focused his team on engaging in activities which were less about using traditional advertising and more about using the influential power of customers as the advertising vehicle. At Starbucks, John led countless highly successful in-store and out-of-store marketing promotions as a Retail Marketing Manager. Today, through speaking engagements and through his Brand Autopsy Marketing Practice, John shares business and marketing advice with companies aspiring to become the next Whole Foods or Starbucks. He has been recognized by Fast Company magazine as a “leading practitioner of the arts of customer service and marketing” and serves as a Standards Council Advisory Board Member with the Word of Mouth Marketing Association. John is also the author of the Brand Autopsy blog and the author of Tribal Knowledge, a business management book from Kaplan Publishing (fall 2006).
By Tom Peters
Peters is back with more Big Ideas for your job, your company, and your life. The marketing and strategy guru holds forth on why audacity matters, why women are the future of leadership, and why diversity is crucial to business success. Those who have never read Tom will find an excellent primer here; those well-versed in Peters' ideas can get up to speed on his latest thoughts.
About the author
Fortune calls Tom Peters the Ur-guru of management and compares him to Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman and H.L. Mencken. The Economist tags him the Uber-guru. His unconventional views led BusinessWeek to describe him as "business' best friend and worst nightmare." Tom describes himself as a prince of disorder, champion of bold failures, maestro of zest, professional loudmouth (as a speaker he?s "a spitter" according to the cartoon strip Dilbert ), corporate cheerleader, lover of markets, capitalist pig...and card-carrying member of the ACLU.
It's true-a DVD by Tom Peters for just $39.95!
You are Being Lied To and Other Truths
By Larry Winget
This is a manifesto’s manifesto and an absolute must-read. Here, Larry Winget is everything you know him to be: upfront, relentless, hilarious, and full of wisdom about giving and getting business advice. If you enjoy what you read, check out this DVD of Larry speaking live! One of our Best Sellers.
About the author:
Larry Winget is an attitude looking for a place to happen. Like Dr. Phil on steroids, he has developed a signature style that is by turns both eye-opening and hilarious. He is caustic, sarcastic, and abrasive and yet what he says makes perfect sense. Larry Winget is the author of the #1 Wall Street Journal Bestseller, "Shut Up, Stop Whining & Get A Life". He is also the host of the A&E reality show, "Big Spender". His new book is "It’s Called Work For A Reason."
Maximising the Value of Sponsorship (Executive Summary)
Sponsorship worldwide is predicted to hit an all time high of $26.2 billion in 2003 – up 7.4% from $24.4bn in 2002. Behind this above inflation level growth is sponsorship’s appeal as a relationship-building tool that is not just concerned about brand awareness but engages with an audience on both rational and emotional levels.
It is easy to forget the fact that modern sponsorship, particularly in sport, is a relatively recent phenomenon.The passing of Mark McCormack in May 2003 is a reminder that the global sports sponsorship industry owes a great deal to one man with such a powerful vision.
It was in the late 1950s that McCormack, a talented golfer himself, could see the potential for sports stars to earn money through sponsorship and endorsements and with that in mind he sought and acquired from Arnold Palmer an agreement to manage him. And the rest as they say is history.
Fifty years on and sports sponsorship has moved from being simply an opportunity for corporate entertainment and brand awareness into a sophisticated brand building and two way marketing platform.
The major challenge for rights holders as well as brand owners is the ability to successfully activate a sponsorship programme so that it achieves all of its strategic objectives. A sports sponsorship agreement, no matter how attractive, will never achieve its full potential unless it is activated by other communication and promotional activities.
This takes sports sponsorship into a new dimension – that of experiential communication where the audience takes part and shares in the excitement that successful sports sponsorship has to offer.
At the heart of sports sponsorship is a commercial proposition that provides a return on investment for both the brand owner and rights holder. Recent years have seen the development of a host of measurement and evaluation techniques yet still many brand owners fail to realise the full potential of their sponsorship investments.
This report sets out to cover both theory and best practice in sports sponsorship, providing a unique “road map” in Chapter 5 that guides the prospective sponsor through the various phases of a sponsorship project from both strategic and operational perspectives.
The report incorporates interviews with leading industry figures, detailed case studies and new research in an examination of sponsorship best practice. The report analyses the key factors in individual chapters that combine to provide a comprehensive guide to maximising the value of sponsorship.
Case Study of Audi Sport Sponsorship
Here is a thesis intended to help readers gain a deeper understanding of how companies use sponsorship of sporting teams as a strategic took in their marketing program.
It is certainly a bit academic for students, but teachers might find some of the information useful.
25 Ways to Distinguish Yourself
Rajesh Setty According to Setty, "being part of the commodity crowd erodes your value." You need to rise above the crowd by following Setty's 25 ways.
About the author: Rajesh Setty is currently the chairman of CIGNEX Technologies, Inc (which he co-founded in late 2000.) Rajesh wrote his first novel when he was nine years old and got it published by the time he was thirteen. His upcoming book "Beyond Code" is being published in US and India simultaneously
Scott is the only person in the world who wears a nametag 24-7 to make people friendlier. (In case you’re wondering, he has a nametag tattooed on his chest for certain occasions.) While transforming his simple idea into a business, his adventures have earned him recognition as “The World’s Foremost Expert on Nametags” and secured a spot in Ripley’s Believe it Or Not!
Here are some FREE downnloads from his site.
Sticky Note Success: 25 Self-Motivating Messages to Pump Up Productuvuty and Stimulate Sales
Let Me Ask Ya This:55 Great Questions to Ask Someone You Just Met.
203 Things I’ve Learned About Writing, Marketing and Selling Books
66 Priceless Pieces of Business Advice I Couldn’t Live Without
234 Things I’ve Learned About Creating, delivering and Marketing Speeches