Archive for the ‘BLOG’ Category

Cita's 12 Rules of Marketing

Friday, November 9th, 2012

12. REPEAT YOUR FORMULA. Drive growth by first having a stable core business, then repeating your success formula relentlessly through strategic adjacency moves into new products, segments, geographies, and channels.

Cita's 12 Rules of Marketing

Thursday, November 8th, 2012

11. HAVE A STRATEGIC ROAD MAP. Make sure you have a clear, concise strategic road map of where you are and where you’re headed. It’s hard to mobilize your company if the plan is in someone’s brain. And without it, your efforts may be unfocused and your resources spread too thin.

Cita's 12 Rules of Marketing

Wednesday, November 7th, 2012

10. DETERMINE YOUR VALUE PROPOSITION. Different kinds of customers buy different kinds of value. To achieve market leadership, determine if your discipline will be lowest total cost, best total solution, or best product, period. You can try to do all three, but are not likely to become a market leader.

Cita's 12 Rules of Marketing

Tuesday, November 6th, 2012

9. MAKE IT RELEVANT. The best brand attributes are features that have high relevance to customers and differentiate you from your competitors. Lead with the most important benefit that fulfills an unmet need. Features that don’t solve customer problems are fool’s gold.

Cita's 12 Rules of Marketing

Monday, November 5th, 2012

8. KEEP IT SIMPLE. The more complex the product, the simpler the message needs to be because a confused mind says “no.” Simplified messaging helps complex products build critical word-of-mouth marketing.

Cita's 12 Rules of Marketing

Friday, November 2nd, 2012

7. SHOW THEM THE WAY. Focus on what your customers are trying to do, not how they are trying to do it. Customers don’t always know what they want or need until you show them a better way. Education is key.

Cita's 12 Rules of Marketing

Thursday, November 1st, 2012

6. BUILD BRAND EQUITY. To increase the value of your company, increase the value of your brand. Strong brand equity translates into higher market valuation. Create a compelling, differentiated verbal and visual brand and integrate it across all your touch points. Have a proven process for managing your brand.

Cita's 12 Rules of Marketing

Wednesday, October 31st, 2012

5. MAKE A CONNECTION. Branding is providing customers with a rational, relevant reason for an emotional decision. Great creative concepts and design can spark an emotional connection to your brand—as long as you remember that relevance trumps cute when marketing complex products.

Cita's 12 Rules of Marketing

Tuesday, October 30th, 2012

4. DIFFERENTIATE. Know your competitors, then create an evidence-based value proposition that is differentiated from theirs. If you aren’t differentiated, you are a commodity. And if you’re a commodity, price rules. If you don’t bother branding, your competitors will do it for you.

Cita's 12 Rules of Marketing

Monday, October 29th, 2012

3. OWN MINDSHARE. Once you’ve clarified your value proposition and brand promise, become a brand evangelist. Live, breathe, and share your brand promise on every customer touch point. This helps you own a key word or concept in the minds of employees, customers, and prospects.