Archive for month: June, 2009

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I had the pleasure last week to hear a presentation to the members of the manufacturing community during the annual WIRE-Net meeting where Arthur Anton spoke. He is the president and CEO of Swagelok Company headquartered in Solon, Ohio.

He spoke about the strength in manufacturing and how our country and the world is evolving. He encouraged us all to stay the course and look to be innovative and highly productive and to treat our employees and associates with respect and credit. One of his message points was to not stop marketing as it is the fuel for the engine and if you stop the competition will ride past you on the way up.

The one quote that made the most sense was “You can’t cost yourself on the way to profitability.” I found this so refreshing that later that day I was speaking to the CFO of PPAI in Texas and received a similar quote, “You can’t save yourself to prosperity.” Both statements echo what have said in earlier blogs and posts in that we must maintain our market share and position as it will lead to faster and stronger growth.

An interesting report: 600 industrial companies survey during the 1981-82 recession had reported, “That B to B firms that maintained or increased their expenditures during the recession averaged significantly higher sales growth both during and for the following 3 years than those that eliminate or cut. Those that maintained or increased their advertising during this period showed an average sales growth of 275% over the proceeding 5 years VS a 19% increase for those firms that cut.” – McGraw-Hill Research Laboratory of Advertising Performance , 1986.

Bruce Felber

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You don’t! You let them fly solo on their first prime time interview. My daughter’s Elana & Zoe Felber represent Twinsburg, Ohio in Cleveland Magazine’s annual “rate the suburbs” issue June 2009.

See the online interview here: http://bit.ly/dKAPk

>The first presentation of “Sales and Marketing: Your Way Out of the Economic Crisis” sponsored by the WIRE-Net Organization has been completed.

The session started of with an introduction by Mark Pinto, Manager of Manufacturing Sales for WIRE-Net. Mark outlined the six sessions that will be presented over the next six months and introduced the faculty presenters and the WIRE-NET staff. I was introduced by Mark and I set the stage for the sessions by using Felber & Felber’s recently created Manufacturer’s Anxiety Closet. All participants shook their heads to acknowledge what keeps us up at night.

I then handed off the session to Erica Root Cikanek of Strategic Marketing Initiatives, LLC. who spoke about understanding your Value Proposition and Brand Promise. Erica outlined the difference between the company and customer’s viewpoint and how to determine the customer’s pain points. Erica pointed out how important it is to analyze your competitor’s brand promise by reviewing their websites, brochures and product catalogs. This part of the session included examples that illustrated the difference between Company A and Company B and their value proposition/brand promise and why we should perform a Gap Analysis.

Erica turned the second half over to me where I spoke about the Lead Generation tools and techniques needed to communicate your brand.

I presented a quick summary of the following: (These will be expanded on in the upcoming sessions.

DIRECT MARKETING
Client Profile
Mailing List
Vehicle (Postcard, Dimensional, Brochure, Promotional, Trade Show,
e-Blast)
Message/Copy Points – Call to Action
Creative
Production
Delivery Method

ADVERTISING
Display Ads (Trade pubs, industry newsletters, business newspapers & directories)
Your Company Newsletters, Blog & Website
Banner Ads
Promotional Products (crosses all media)

PUBLIC RELATIONS
Press Releases
Lead Story
Industry & Client Publication Avenues
Industry Expert
Current Client Case Study
Wire Services
Special Events

SOCIAL MEDIA
Linked In
Face Book
Twitter
Flickr
You Tube
Ning Sites
Digg, StumbleUpon, Delicious, Reddit
Blogs & RSS Feeds

During the session the presenters and participants engaged in Q&A and feedback. The entire group benefited from sharing situations and solutions.

Overall this presenter was thrilled with the outcome. I look forward to the next 5 sessions and will share comments, reactions and results.

Bruce Felber