Planning in Chaos (cohereone.com)

One day three statisticians went hunting in Maine. Out overlooking an open meadow, they spotted a deer, and the first one took a careful shot but missed by a yard to the left. Miraculously the deer never moved, allowing the second to take his shot, this time missing by a yard to the right. The third took his turn to aim and – BINGO! “We got it!” exclaimed the third with high fives all around.

The marketing planning process can seem precisely like this, and people remember the misses more than anything. Sales and customer growth forecasting is complicated under the best of circumstances, and when planning for 2021, we’re all in for some difficult challenges. One basic principle of forecasting is to plan for normalcy, but this year was anything but typical, and there is still a great deal of uncertainty ahead.

Several years ago, when we had more human interaction with our peers, I remember my colleague Matt Morton referencing the planning process as being “a bit of alchemy,” which stuck with me. I thought that was a great way to put it. Naturally, we’ll have previous results from which to work, but the real skill involves the ability to make sound assumptions for planning purposes. Get more at: https://cohereone.com/planning-in-chaos/?utm_medium=email&_hsmi=99162426&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8Fe-e-x7FfpLs6vHkNUBAT-Qiz-lHoetPkpZ3bUZ_E7KVhQoQauWC908pY6r9_kJQFD3RcOl6hkg75lneVJTRK4snWbCwo_yJaUHmecdx01klgoPY&utm_content=99162426&utm_source=hs_email

Related Posts

ADA and the Web (cohereone.com)

Web accessibility lawsuits are occurring at an alarming pace. Understanding the legal and technical guidelines of what is mandated is often tricky and confusing. Although the ADA (Americans with Disability Act) laws don’t formally specify compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) set of technical standards, private business sites have to be accessible, and it’s well-accepted that compliance with WCAG is the best way to achieve that standard. Unfortunately, this growing trend in claims is also due in part to the significant complexity in implementing the WCAG guidelines. As a result, the painful reality is that the majority of sites do not meet these standards. Resolving issues manually or without technical expertise can be a struggle or even cause additional accessibility problems. Further complicating matters is that by its nature, ecommerce is driven by dynamic change, continually coming in from all directions. Often, the number of people contributing to the site increases the challenge to remain in compliance. In this environment, not having a plan to protect your business from these accessibility claims could leave merchants with significant legal exposure.

Ad Industry Urges California Lawmakers To Reject New Data Broker Bill (mediapost.com)

The major ad organizations are urging California lawmakers to reject a bill aimed at enabling residents to easily remove their information from every data broker registered with the state. The California Consumer Privacy Act already allows people to request removal of their information from data brokers, but on a company-by-company basis. The new Delete Act (SB 362), introduced earlier this year by Senator Josh Becker, would require all data brokers in the state to honor an opt-out request made through a single mechanism. “Without data, companies would not be able to deliver critically important products and services consumers benefit from today, sometimes without even being aware of how this data supports their safety and enjoyment of everyday life,” the groups write.

Creating Community: One Brand at a Time

Along with “storytelling” and “authenticity” the word “community” gets tossed around a lot these days by brands and marketers alike. While all three of these terms, and the sentiments they carry, are often used as empty platitudes or attractive phrases to sprinkle in an ‘About Us’ page, in their best uses they come from a place of sincerity and real consumer ramifications. In a 2021 study from ebbo, ‘community’ was the second highest factor that contributed to customer loyalty after product quality. But what does community mean for a brand? How can it be grown and nurtured? What does it look like? To answer these questions I want to take a look at three different brands each instilling community with their consumers in vastly different ways. Some take place in online chat rooms, others in secret shopping opportunities, and some through in-person engagement. No matter how they approach it, each of these brands takes what people love about their products and their mission and create a space for that to flourish. read more at: https://www.jschmid.com/blog/creating-community/
Back To Top
×Close search
Search