A Look Under the Gloss - The vanguard of promotional genius for American capitalism. But is the mentality out of touch with the realities of operating a business?

What can we learn from all that intellectual horsepower and mega- budgets. And who is the greatest copywriter of all time?

A Meat and Potatoes Look at Advertising  by Steve Krampf

 http://www.brandinc.net/newsletter/a/madison_avenue2.htm

How to Buy Media - What your Rep Wont' Tell You by Herb Schiff
http://www.brandinc.net/Newsletter4/salesmedia2.htm

What I’ve seen happen from both sides of the buyer/seller scrimmage line, is that media buyers give up on trying to make any sense out of the seemingly arcane analysis of media as it is presented by most space reps, and base their media buys on what publication they themselves read or the space reps they themselves like. 

Since the media buyer is rarely spending his or her own money, this is unacceptable.  In order to put a reasonable amount of logic back into the buying process, what follows is a number of "do's and don'ts", some simple rules, some questions to ask and some definitions that ought to be chiseled into the top of your desk.

Team Chemistry by Russ Pratt
http://www.brandinc.net/newsletter3/coaching1.htm

Most of us have witnessed first hand, that not all well-intentioned teams work well together. The most important characteristic of a highly effective team is that the members all strive to accomplish the team goals. The goals should be clear, realistic, measurable, and supportable by both team members and upper management.

Ideally, your team should be comprised of people with complementary skills, experience, behavior, and team roles. This diversity often leads to a richer solution. Co-workers need to cooperate, communicate honestly and should share their knowledge and skills with each other in order to attain mutually agreed-upon goals.  If these dynamics strike a chord with you, click through to the full story.

Why "Bottom Line" Managers Aren't Brand Builders by Christian Doering
http://www.brandinc.net/cdoeringtips.htm

As a marketing guy, I am a firm believer in the value of brands. Until recently I had a hard time understanding why so few companies in the AV industry (and most others, for that matter) invest in and actively manage brand equity. When I pose the question to marketers and general managers within those companies, their answers range from "our dealers do the selling: we just need to find the right dealers" to "we're not a consumer company" to "what is a brand?"

We all live and die by the bottom line -- but it's the goal, not the process.  Read how and why.

Trade Shows - Another Perspective by Steve Krampf
http://www.brandinc.net/newsletter/a/new_markets2.htm

Love to hate Trade Shows? We're going to rethink them. This article discusses exploiting new markets and expanding presence in current niches - on a budget.

Other articles will focus on ROI and a new approach to customer acquisition.