DAEMON QUEST - Robert Monturiol

The big leap onto the market

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 12:01:28 +0200

Thousands of people in Madrid have, one more year, enjoyed Cirque du Soleil’s magical spectacle, “Saltimbanque”, which will soon return to Bilbao. Once again, the largest circus company in the world has surprised and delighted us with their show and their numbers, capable of raising the circus to an art form. Beyond the irrefutable talent of its professionals, Cirque du Soleil bases its success on an accurate strategy, the envy of any company that is thinking about the internalization process. Knowing each market and each audience is one of the great success that have contributed to making Cirque du Soleil a worldwide phenomenon, applauded and recognized all over the world. How is it possible to triumph in Tokyo, Madrid, and New York with the same offer? Globalization holds no secrets for Cirque du Soleil… Or does it?

How to differentiate yourself in the mind of the customer

Tue, 18 Apr 2006 12:04:39 +0200

The world of brand names is one of the hottest current topics in the Marketing world. In the United States alone, there are more than 2,500 books dedicated to the subject of brands or “branding”. However, we shouldn’t confuse the importance of having an attractive name with what really makes it a winning brand: what the customer associates it with in his or her mind. And that’s where positioning plays a vital role: that which allows us to associate a brand with a completely distinguishable concept, which establishes distance from the competition. A good brand and good positioning must always be closely related. They both feed off of each other.

We all know that there are brands that are less attractive advertising-wise than others, but that nevertheless mean so much to the consumer, that the impact of its name takes a back seat. Today, having a good name is not limited to a combination of syllables that sound fresh and modern, but rather it is about planning this brand name in the consumer’s mind and, above all, linking it with one or several elements that clearly distinguish it from the competition.

Learning how to sell again

Tue, 29 Nov 2005 11:07:55 +0100

It’s always funny to think that while a European discovered the New World, and with it the greatest market in the History of Mankind, the foundations of marketing were born in North America, and in Europe we have been incapable, to date, of even looking for a valid translation for this universal word…

Apart from academic definitions, I have always looked on marketing as an art… the art of selling. I know it might sound surprising, or even cause disgust, but “art” and “sales” are not, in my humble opinion, conflicting concepts. Good marketing seduces, innovates, and above all, transforms. By what mysterious process is a company’s need to sell transformed into a customer’s purchase impulse, without them even realizing it? Is that not art?

‘Churn’: How to reduce client abandonment

Sun, 16 Oct 2005 19:06:20 +0200

Abstract

Churn is skyrocketing. Abandonment is no longer a phenomenon that affects only certain sectors and companies.
Unviable strategies. Companies must not resign themselves to high churn rates. This strategy is as illogical as it is unallowable.
Retention, more profitable than obtainment. It’s easier and more profitable to retain a client than to obtain a new one. However, companies opt more often for obtainment.
Analyze and understand. Abandonment maps are essential in creating alarm systems that alert you to abandonment risk. However, it is not only necessary to analyze which clients leave and when, but also why.
Price is not the enemy. Price is no longer the biggest abandonment driver. Service is
the key.
Client value is key. Retention plans must be based on the causes of abandonment and the client value in order to be profitable and meet the needs of each client.
Facilitate the exit. When a client abandons, companies must try to recuperate them, if the client’s value is strategic, and if everything is lost, do not impede their exit.

Abandonment rates are skyrocketing

Churn has gone from being a familiar term only in the Marketing environment, to being a prominent word in any company’s strategy. The reason is as simple as it is worrisome: abandonment rates are skyrocketing to alarming levels in all industrialized countries, in all sectors, and in all companies. The activity, profile, and size are not important anymore. Churn affects all companies, and they still do not know how to react to this phenomenon that weighs down their results.

Sales Force Effectiveness

Fri, 10 Jun 2005 13:33:36 +0200

All the keys to optimizing the sales force

Abstract

The old sales planning techniques should cede the way to new Sales
Intelligence strategies that optimize the management of sales networks.

Analyzing clients; the potential market, the competition’s positioning and
the sales network itself are the obligatory steps before designing objectives
and assigning resource.. An appropriate sales planning is obligatory in a
correct Sales Intelligence Strategy.
Software tools (ETMS, CRM...) included under the umbrella of
the “Sales Force Automation” are useful, but not enough for an optimum
management of the sales network.. Sales reps are, on occasion, reluctant to
an automation that does not include them directly and intelligently.
New sales channels have changed the way of organizing and coordinating
sales networks.
Targeting, Assigning channels, Sales Force Sizing, Portfolio management, Sales
Force Distribution or Territory Alignment, are consecutive and
obligatory steps that must be taken in order to optimize the sales network .

Sales activity is basic, vital, and very complex
In any company, but especially in sectors that need and intense
and well-sized sales structure. Sales effectiveness and care in
the company’s image are aspects that are kept very much in mind
when selecting, forming, and organizing a sales team. But it is
imperative to go beyond that. Other aspects such as targeting,
- determination of strategic clients -, channel management – maximizing
the efficiency of each channel, managing it according to the
appropriate client segment -, Sales Force Distribution – optimizing
the placement of the sales network -, Sales Force Sizing – sizing of
the sales network -, or portfolio management – assigning the appropriate
resources to the right clients -, contain the key to the sales team’s job
being fruitful and translating into a constant increase in business volume.

Consumers saturated with advertising

Sat, 11 Sep 2004 11:49:30 +0200

65% of consumers consider themselves "bombarded" by campaigns.

Marketing and advertising actions have become massively used resources all over the world. However, as they have been generalized, the public has tended to feel trampled on and mistreated by them. The result, according to a study carried out by the consulting firm Yankelovich Partners, is saturation of the objective public that very negatively affects acceptance levels for the products offered.

Some Data

The perception that advertising surrounds and accosts the consumer public is too high. 65% of consumers consider themselves “bombarded”, and 61% say that marketing and advertising are “out of control.
60% of consumers now have a much worse perception of marketing and advertising than they did only a few years ago. 95% of those surveyed offer a key piece of data in understanding the contempt towards some marketing actions: they consider the actions to have little to do with themselves.
64% doubt that the intentions behind advertising campaigns are what the sponsors manifest publicly.
For 61% of the population, companies that undertake marketing and advertising campaigns don’t treat consumers with respect. Close to 70% of the public is interested in obtaining products and services that allow them to skip or block the promotions that they receive. A significant 33% say they are willing to lower their quality of life if it means living in a world without advertising.