Posts in Marketing

A lick of paint

Friday, February 5th, 2010 Posted by Dev

If you haven’t been to the Cohesive site for a while, you might notice a few changes about the place, not only in how we’ve presented the range of services we provide, but also in terms of design and functionality.  Truth be told, we really should have gone live with this a little while ago, but the old excuse that we’ve been too busy doing ‘proper work’ is the one we are sticking to.

A marketing company marketing itself… whatever next?

Having the utmost credibility in practising what you preach is most difficult for technology businesses, because it more frequently involves the cultural adoption of new working practices rather than simply using your own kit.  Anyone can test Renault’s corporate belief that their cars are the best, simply by having a look around Renault’s own car park.  But working for an IT security vendor – for example – necessitates a much higher threshold in terms of user policy and behaviour than just having the company product installed on the network.

Credibilty always needs to be examined close-up, whether you are a technology business or not.

Dev

£499 for what exactly?

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010 Posted by Charlie

I rather enjoy the Six Nations, particularly when the opportunity arises to go and experience the live atmosphere in a packed stadium.  But would I spend hundreds of pounds on wrapping my ticket up with a three-course dinner and a free programme?  Er…no.  Not even for a glimpse of Jonny Wilkinson’s thighs…

With the Football World Cup in South Africa just around the corner, 2010 promises to be a bumper year for these sorts of corporate hospitality packages, especially with individual companies often footing the bill; claiming the expense as a ‘marketing activity’ intended to warm up or even close lucrative sales opportunities.

Admittedly, if they didn’t work then people wouldn’t buy them, but what I question is the business ROI you can hope to achieve.  If you are a reseller accumulating a few thousand pounds a quarter through a vendor’s MDF or coop marketing pot, then is a jolly boys outing to the football/cricket/rugby etc really the best way of allocating it?

Every once in a while makes it a special occasion, but using your imagination a little more can make your sales and marketing potential spread a lot further.

Charlie