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PR and Marketing Articles by Wayne E. Pollard

Hannibal, CMO
CMO, April, 2006
What can you, a marketer, learn from Hannibal Barca, the Carthaginian military leader who put fear in Rome from 218 B.C. to 202 B.C. in the Second Punic War? A lot—especially if you’re considering attacking a new market.

The Education Fallacy
BtoB, March 13, 2006
B-to-b marketers often give educational presentations to inform people about their offerings. However, the belief that educating the market will get prospects to become customers is a fallacy. Educating the market without persuasion does not result in sales. There are several reasons why this is the case.

Blue Ocean Strategy’s Fatal Flaw
CMO, December 2005
In their international bestseller, Blue Ocean Strategy, W.Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne provide tools and frameworks for creating "blue oceans"—their term for "all the industries not in existence today. This is the unknown market space." However, the authors fail to discuss (at any significant length, anyway) the key factor that determines the success of any blue ocean strategy: marketing. Without an effective marketing strategy, and its execution, there can be no successful blue ocean strategy.

The Value of Marketing
Chief Marketer, February 26, 2006
What Al Ries and Jack Trout said in their 1972 article, "The Positioning Era Cometh," is still applicable today: "To succeed in our overcommunicated society, a company must create a ‘position’ in the prospect’s mind." Creating a position is probably the most important thing marketers do to help companies succeed.

Forget the "Omniscient Buyer" - Branding Still Works
Chief Marketer, January 14, 2006
Recently there have been articles on the power of today’s buyer. Because of the Internet, the articles say, buyers have an almost infinite amount of information at their fingertips. These articles would have you believe that buyers are now omniscient and therefore can make decisions based solely on the “facts.” This leads to one conclusion: Branding is dead because marketers have little hope of influencing buyers anymore. This is complete nonsense. There are several scientific reasons marketing is even more relevant--and needed--today.

A Return to Journalism: PR Can Save Itself by Hiring Hacks, Not Just Flacks
Bulldog Reporter’s Daily Dog, December 7, 2005
Media relations is the main service that most clients want. Yet many firms have neophytes without journalism experience calling media outlets that can make or break brands and reputations. This is insane.

A Cancer Grows in Brooklyn
The Village Voice, February 13 - 19, 2002
Winston Dyer was so busy making money in his Brooklyn nightclub that he was not thinking at all about cancer. That was before both his father and his brother died from prostate cancer. Then, in 1995, he, too, was diagnosed with the disease. If it had not been for the deaths of his father and brother, Dyer probably would not have gotten diagnosed in time to save his life. "Without a doubt, I would have been a statistic," he says.

Confessions of a Software Salesman
CIO, July 1, 1999
You know the old joke: What's the difference between a software salesman and a used-car salesman? A used-car salesman knows when he's lying. Well, I'm going to tell you something that you've probably suspected: So does the software salesman. And if he doesn't know when he is lying, he definitely knows when he is stretching the truth.



 
 
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