Great article from a Crispin Porter + Bogusky creative director. Sums it up at the end:
1. Do great work for our existing clients – NOW – using whatever budgets they give you. No excuses.
2. Push your clients to be unconventional in their approach to marketing. Big ideas that do this are why they are pay us.
3. Be willing to tell a prospect no if they are not willing to do #2.
Branding Made Simple
As some of you know, I'm over in Regensdorf, Switzerland for X-Rite. It's a small town outside of Zurich, which is a city about the same size as Grand Rapids, MI. Had two days of sales meetings for Europe which included sales managers and directors from the UK, Germany, Switzerland, France, Spain and Eastern Europe. These folks cover all of Europe, the Middle East, India and Northern Africa. Every day here I'm learning more and more about the language and cultural challenges here. For instance, in Eastern Europe, there are 16 languages. Right now the X-Rite website supports none of them. It's unfortunate because that is one of the few growth markets in the world. But in talking with the sales director, we might be able to come up with a solution by creating a mini-website module that our distributers (dealers) in each of the country's can translate and drop into the local websites.
Not only language is important, but also trends from a marketing standpoint. Things that work in the US are not always appropriate for Europe. So I'm constantly working with my counterparts on specific regional techniques, activities and approaches for communications.
Had a great dinner with a new friend last night, Felix Schmollgruber, who is an Industrial Application Specialist here at X-Rite. He helps customers with the technical applications of unique customer solutions. Other than great food and beer, talked about cultures, languages, politics and children. We came to the conclusion that people are all the same, no matter where they're from. Same challenges, same fears, same happiness.
Vielen Dank Felix, sehr interessant und ein schoner Abend.
Great article by Larry Weintraub of Fanscape. It definitely outlines what is essential on your LinkedIn profile to be successful.
Check it out and let me know what you think. Any other ideas out there?
How to be a LinkedIn Superstar