Blogs

At the start of the 2008 recession, we had featured a series of entries in this blog about the post-materialism trend of consumers willing to do more with less, and being very comfortable with it. This trend has not only sustained, but seems to have become resurgent in the face of the continuing economic woes.Read more

The scenario where we have perfect data lives only in the textbooks of management theory. In the real world we all make assumptions. Usually there is just not enough data and most often, not enough time, money and resources to go get that data. So we rely on a combination of experience and gut instinct to make assumptions both of the external world as well as internally about the business we work in.

This approach has some serious downfalls:

• Much of the knowledge in an organization can be anecdotal or hopelessly outdated.Read more

The latest survey run by Reuters published last week revealed that a majority of Americans are planning to spend less this year over the holiday season than last year. I can almost see the bumper sale stickers from over-wrought retailers already.Read more

Many companies, especially in the financial services industry, are centralizing in a fury of cost-cutting and "rationalization". The savings look compelling when presented on a consultant’s slides and many such initiatives are being pitched as attempts to create Centers of Excellence (CoE) that will theoretically improve quality and scale. However companies need to be aware of the hidden costs to such moves.Read more

The future of growth in many emerging markets is being shaped by significant megatrends. The fundamental driver of these trends is the global population that is expected to have reached 7 Bn. already and is expected to increase by another billion souls within the next 20 years. Read more

Peter Drucker famously commented that:

- "Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two--and only two--basic functions: marketing and innovation."

- “Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs. Marketing is the distinguishing, unique function of the business."Read more

 The mobile market is growing and changing at a phenomenal rate. Innovative marketers aren't waiting for perfect solutions, because there aren't any. They're jumping in, testing options, learning from results, and listening to their customers - wherever they go...

We offer the following up-to-the-minute market overview to help you evaluate your mobile strategy.

Widespread usage and rapid growth, especially in smartphones

According to Nielsen, there are now over 223 million U.S. cellphone users over the age of 13, and an estimated 40-50% of mobile devices sold in 2010 were smartphones. Nielsen expects smartphones to overtake feature phones in the U.S. by the end of 2011. Meanwhile, according to Informa Telecoms & Media, worldwide smartphone traffic will increase by 700% over the next 5 years. We can expect smartphones to be ubiquitous in the very near future.Read more

As the first boomers turn 65, they have more influence – and money - than any generation in history, and they won’t be settling down to suck on their dentures anytime soon.Read more

After a rocky 2010 dominated by the Great Recession, we're gearing up for big things in 2011. EMM Group has identified seven developments that we believe will have a significant impact on how companies, clients, and customers interact over the new year.Read more

We are excited to launch the Center for Marketing Excellence. CME brings together top marketing consultants from around the world, having driven growth at global brands, and best practice marketing intellectual property and case studies from EMM Group. Our mission is to help organizations develop their marketing skills around core competencies and traditional strengths.

The CME marketing training workshops are customized for each organization and designed to codify your organization's marketing processes and best practices. Our work at GE, Clorox, Gillette, and other Fortune 500 companies, shows that an integrated marketing approach can drive the next big phase of growth.

We invite you to explore our Marketing Training website, call us at 877-203-6500, or e-mail us.Read more