If Facebook was a country, it would have a population of 400 million and be the third largest country in the world. 70% of its users are outside the United States.  Nearly 50% of all users login daily.  YouTube announced that it has reached 2 billion videos on the popular portal.  Twitter has more than 75 million user accounts. Linked In boasts 50 million users. Flickr hosts more than 4 billion images.

We see the statistics.  We hear the industry buzz.  Yet, many of us fail to harness the power of social media to be contextual and relevant to target consumers.  What are you waiting for?  Build your own country.

September 28, 2010– ATLANTA, GA:  Junction Creative Solutions (Junction), an Atlanta-based strategy firm, is not only growing its client portfolio but its knowledge base.  Junction welcomes Thomas Tsai (Tom) as a Senior Information Architect to the team.

“We are really excited to have Tom join our intelligent team of strategists. Tom’s unique expertise with user experience, interface design, and information architecture enhances the value of our marketing solutions,” comments Julie Gareleck, Managing Partner, Junction.  “We are able to create truly contextual experiences to effectively reach target user segments, ultimately driving revenue for our clients.”

Tom has led teams for a variety of high profile clients spanning a multitude of industries including:  Disney, Purina, General Mills, Bank of America, RIM, Intel, Southwest, Target, AOL, FedEx, and Flickr.  In his new position, Tom will be responsible for investigating and validating user interaction and information architecture to craft valuable solutions that support business, brand, and marketing initiatives.

“It’s great to join a growing firm dedicated to developing key strategies and initiatives.  As the industry shifts its focus to more consumer centric strategies,” say Tom Tsai.  “I look forward to working with Junction to create intuitive and measurable solutions for our clients.”

October 6, 2010– ATLANTA, GA:  Junction Creative Solutions (Junction), an Atlanta-based strategy firm, continues to focus on improving processes and operational competence by hiring top notch talent.  Junction welcomes Marci Cropp as Senior Project Manager to the team.  She brings more than 15 years of experience and a proven track record of effectively using managerial, communication, and analytical skills to drive operational efficiencies for an International Fortune 500 company.

“I am proud to be a part of a firm dedicated to developing and implementing effective processes for the growth of more sustainable businesses,” says Marci Cropp.  “I look forward to working with the team and our clients to drive real value.”

Marci’s background as a mechanical engineer adds a unique perspective to how Junction establishes and executes processes across various business units. In the short time she has been with the company, Marci has worked closely with management to implement sustainable workflows, greatly impacting the bottom line.

“We are so excited that Marci has joined our growing firm,” comments Julie Gareleck, Managing Partner. “We are developing an ‘A Team’ that is not only seasoned but also passionate about what we do and how we do it.”

We are proud to announce that Junction is officially drinking the company Kool-Aid!

With our clients, we stress the importance of consistency in communications. We focus on aligning brand goals with business goals and aligning those goals with comprehensive and measurable marketing solutions…….

Bottom line – Our blog finally meets our brand standards. Enjoy the new look!

As strange as it may sound, it makes perfect sense.

What do all successful businesses have in common?  They execute and they deliver. Yet, it’s easy to get bogged down in the day to day tasks, losing sight of the bigger picture.  Consistency in execution is the bullet proof vest that is going to keep your company from getting executed on its own accord.

Strategic planning is crucial for the growth of business.  Business owners are keenly aware of just how difficult growth is with the constant changes in our economy.  Some have a strategic plan laying around that cost the company big bucks, although it’s lost somewhere in a file cabinet.  Others have found it unnecessary to market the business or create a solidified marketing strategy.

Don’t make that mistake.  Shooting from the hip can only work for so long before the business comes crashing down.  Have a plan, work the plan, adjust the plan, and execute consistently.  Then, do it all over again.  We have yet to meet someone who wears a bullet proof vest well.

How many on-screen graphics do you see? I count six; the super scoreboard module in the upper left, scores from other games in the upper right, first down line (yellow), line of scrimmage (blue), current down indicator, and finally the play clock timer. Almost every part of the screen is covered except for the little space in the lower left corner. Are all these graphics necessary and do they add to the enjoyment of watching the game?

There are obvious duplications of information within this screen. Both the current down indicator and play clock timer are prime examples of this. Are they needed in both places? And why is there a fake shadow underneath the on-field play clock timer? So the viewers think that this play clock is actually right next to the players.

Another issue is with the overly decorated and large graphics that contribute to the “chart-junk”. Does the current down indicator need three arrows to show the correct direction of where the offense is heading? Why are the fonts so large?

The information displayed within the scoreboard module needs a little prioritization. Every data item appears to be of the same size and thus importance.  This disorganized experience can affect the viewing experience.

If the football game is the focus, the on-screen graphics need to be side-lined. I propose keeping only the first line marker as is and modifying the scoreboard so it has less weight / opacity on the screen. I don’t even mind if Fox keeps their logo on the screen.

In this fleeting digital age, more isn’t always better.

When the iPhone was first introduced in January 2007, it was hard to imagine that a device would change mobile computing.  Nearly 3 years later, new devices are shaping consumer connectedness and personal computing.

The Nielsen Company just released a “Connected Devised Playbook” providing interesting insights on how consumers are using iPads, Kindles, and other related devices.  The report notes that early adopters are embracing the iPad/Kindle (what they are calling tablet computers).  These tablet users on average own more than 6 connected devices. Yes, 6!  It’s hard to imagine owning 6 connected devices – let alone, using these devices on a daily basis.

Statistics show that the adoption of the iPad is besting the use of the iPhone.  Users consuming content on the iPad over the iPhone include books, TV, movies, and magazines. The iPhone still leads content consumption for news and music as this report was released.

One more notable statistic for businesses to consider is that more 36% of iPad users made a purchase via the internet after viewing an advertisement…more than 9% higher than purchases made on other devices.  Businesses will want to pay close attention to these users – -as it indicates a trend on consumer purchase behavior.

To view the full report: <http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Nielsen-Connected-Devices-Summary-Oct-2010.pdf>

iPhone to iPad in less than 3 years…. makes me wonder what’s next….

Small business is on the rise, taking shape a new generation of entrepreneurs.  The Small Business Administration (SBA) reported that an estimated 27.5 million small businesses operated in the US in 2009 creating more than 65% of net new jobs. The statistics account for the number of opportunities but not always the opportunity cost of identifying new employees.  Trends indicate that entrepreneurs are looking to family and friends to fill those coveted roles.

Laura Pretrecca, USA Today writer, shares findings in her article, “Hiring family or friends to work for you can be boon or bust.”

Whether you agree or disagree with employing family and friends, hiring strategies are a key component to creating a sustainable and effective workforce.  The same rules should apply to family and friends as it would to a candidate you identify during the recruiting process:

1.  Define position goals/objectives

2.  Outline key measurements for achieving those goals/objectives

3.  Empower employee to take ownership for the successes/failures

4.  Hold the employee accountable

We would like to hear from you.  How have you successfully or unsuccessfully recruited new candidates, family members, or friends?

Video games continue to evolve with the newest release of Microsoft’s new controller-less gaming & entertainment system called  Kinect for XBOX 360. It’s safe to say that we have come a long way since 1975 when Atari was introduced.

It’s another new development in the gaming experience putting the control into the hands of the user, literally.  Instead of traditional gamepads or keyboards, users connect with arm movements, waves, voice commands, facial recognition, and video chat.  Kinectimals, a virtual pet simulator game, mimics the movements such as spinning and jumping. (As incredulous as it sounds, we even tested in on a 2-year old. It was a success.)

Although cutting-edge, we did see a few unique issues with the user interface.  Selecting items on the screen requires that a user places a hand over the item for an average of 10 seconds.  If you move within that timeframe, the timer resets….this has the potential to create frustration especially with the younger and less impatient, older user groups.  And a few other reviews worth checking out:

http://www.tweaktown.com/news/17458/kinect_xbox_360_accessory_hacked_to_work_with_windows_7_pcs/

http://www.product-reviews.net/2010/11/08/xbox-360-kinect-vs-ps3-move-consumer-choices-during-black-friday-2010/

Regardless, this just might be the future of UI.  For now, it’s just a fun new toy to play with!

ATLANTA, GA: October 28, 2010 — Motion Stability, a leading physical therapy and rehabilitation center headquartered in Atlanta, GA, introduces a new brand strategy and website.  Motion Stability, a practice committed to excellence, offers a user-friendly online experience to educate and inform patients.

“We stress the importance of our multi-dimensional approach for evaluating and treating pain to our clients.  We wanted the site to include the latest research and relevant information helpful to understanding how to restore performance and resolve pain,” said Brian Yee, owner, Motion Stability.  “As well, we want our clients to continually have access to our team and our research.”

The website is designed with the customer in mind, allowing visitors to quickly navigate areas of the website to learn about current and upcoming trends in research, articles, patient information, educational courses, and community involvement.

“We believe in Brian Yee’s vision for Motion Stability.  He has created a thriving and sustainable business with a unique combination of industry knowledge, experience, and customer-focus,” said Julie Cropp Gareleck, Junction Creative Solutions. “We greatly enjoyed working with Brian and his amazing team at Motion Stability. We wish the team much success with their practice and their new website!”

To visit the new site, visit www.motionstability.com.

About Motion Stability

Motion Stability opened its doors in 2006 as a rehabilitation organization for clinical excellence, evidence-based research and professional course training.  With over 10 years of experience working with a continuum of patients – from acute to chronic pain to elite level athletes in the PGA Tour, NFL, USTA, NBA, and Olympics – – Brian Yee, owner, established one of the leading physical therapy and rehabilitation centers in Atlanta, GA.  The team at Motion Stability shares passion, diverse talent, and a drive for providing the best level of care for injuries as well as comprehensive strategies for resolving pain and dysfunction.  The therapists provide education, tools, and resources to insure that patients are able to maintain good health and prevent future injury.

ATLANTA, GA: December 09, 2010 – Junction Creative Solutions (Junction), an Atlanta based strategic firm, faced the economic challenges head on to not only survive, but flourish.  By employing the same strategic principles applied to Junction clients, the firm achieved remarkable growth in an otherwise unpredictable business climate.

Junction attributes the success of the firm to hard work, a carefully executed strategic plan, and great clients.  “We’ve worked diligently to practice what we preach.  Strategic planning is an ongoing item on my ‘to-do’ list,” said Julie Gareleck, managing partner, Junction.   “More importantly we have amazing clients who reinforce our core principles of entrepreneurship, authenticity, integrity, and value.”

BB Webb, owner, Carl House, is one of those clients.  Junction applauds the efforts of Webb as she mitigates a dynamic industry to remain sustainable.

“Junction Creative has been a long desired ‘find’ to me and for my company.  Having sorted through all manner of organizations and people promising great service, on time and cost effective delivery and creativity to impress my most high standards, I had been entirely underwhelmed until meeting this crew of creative and savvy business folk,” comments Webb. “Headed by the entrepreneurial and visionary Julie Cropp Gareleck, her core of seasoned professionals understand the basis of running a good business, coupled with resources and talent to fit the many needs I have in the areas of marketing, promotion, design strategy, and implementation.  With that, I envision a marriage that will last throughout the years!”

2010 served as a pivotal year for Junction.  As the planning continues for 2011, the company looks to expand its presence, its portfolio, and its impact in the marketplace.

Happy New Year from Junction Creative Solutions!

In 2011, Junction will offer an entrepreneurial blog series focused for entrepreneurs looking to start a new business.  Each month, Junction will discuss topics that span the start-up process from ideation to launch.   Throughout the series, we will highlight entrepreneurs who are moving through the process and the unique challenges they face.

Junction looks forward to sharing knowledge with the entrepreneurial community and the opportunity to learn from each other!

Carl House, the event venue of the southeast, located between Atlanta and Athens, unveils a new online experience capturing the essence of the traditional antebellum-style home.  The new website is rich with content including photos and videos highlighting the breadth of event offerings at Carl House.

“When a bride walks the grounds at Carl House, there is an energy in the air, an atmosphere quite unique.  We wanted to create that experience online that allowed brides to set foot on the property virtually,” said BB Webb, owner, Carl House.  “We are committed to providing the best facility for events whether a wedding, corporate event, or special celebration.  The new website allows us to showcase all that we have to offer.”

Visitors to the new site are able to quickly navigate areas of the website to learn about hosting an event at Carl House.   The property tours and videos take users through the facility.  The information all allows visitors to plan an event down to the very last detail from food to floral arrangements.  The facility has received accolades including: Best Reception Site by AtlantaBridal.com; Best of Wedding Venues by The Knot Magazine; Best Place to have a Wedding by Gwinnet Magazine; and Bride’s Choice Award by WeddingWire.com.

“BB had an incredible vision when she built Carl House so it was important that we transferred that vision online. We put ourselves in the shoes of her customer,” said Julie Cropp Gareleck, managing partner, Junction Creative Solutions. “We greatly enjoyed working with BB and her amazing team at Carl House. We wish the team much success in the New Year!”

To visit the new site, visit www.carlhouse.com.

About Carl House

Built in 1903, Carl House was the centerpiece and home to the owner of a large and thriving ornamental plant nursery. Its original Southern garden plan has been restored with the addition of an exquisite gazebo under which many of the best and most beautiful wedding ceremonies in the South have been held. This authentic piece of Georgia history is situated on four manicured acres that are surrounded by over 30 acres of the original pasture land property giving Carl House a plantation atmosphere with all the amenities and a luxury ballroom with covered porches.

Businesses start somewhere – more often driven by an entrepreneurial passion.  The transition from employee to entrepreneur is not for the faint of heart.  Statistically, many entrepreneurs fail.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2010 more than 96,000 companies closed its doors after an even more devastating loss of 400,000 companies in 2009.

Don’t let the numbers deter you from launching a new business venture, but rather assess your entrepreneurial readiness:

Insight: Have you thought your idea through?  Have you identified the value for what you propose for your customers? Have you researched your idea?

Ability: Analyze your personal and professional abilities.  How will your skills enable you to execute on your idea?

Risk: Are you making a calculated risk or a foolish one? Is the risk more than you can afford to take?

Endurance: Are you prepared physically and mentally to launch a new business?

True entrepreneurs will attest to the fact that if being in business for yourself was easy, everyone would do it.

While it may seem a distant tragedy, the global nature of contemporary business means that the earthquake off the coast of Japan and its attendant destruction very much impact us as consumers of technology that is manufactured in Japan. Believe it or not, that list is considerable. Endgaget’s intriguing post “Japanese quake will likely affect the global supply of gadgets” explores this topic. Reuters and The Wall Street Journal weigh in similarly.

It’s not merely the manufacture of components that is to be interrupted, but the supply of electricity to major markets in the country will be rationed; dramatic reduction in electricity production is a result of the explosions and attendant nuclear contamination of the Fukushima power plant. Gizmodo provides a synopsis of developments on this topic.

Consider how Libya, which ships just 3% of its oil to the United States, stands at the center of a crisis that we consumers can witness at the pump. Prices seem to increase daily.

And how about the crisis of faith with the safety of nuclear power? While the United States relies on nuclear for about a fifth of its own power production, countries like France and South Korea are more highly invested than even Japan. The manufacture and distribution of much more than technology is at risk.

We can minimize the inconvenience of a more expensive or even unavailable iPad 2, but the tumult of recent events – from freedom fighting to natural disasters – brings these issues to life.

While our access to technology may be highly interwoven with global issues, technology may also help connect uswith solutions. Telecom companies are offering free calls and texts to Japan from the United States. Even online gamers are joining in the effort.

Today, our thoughts and concerns are focused on Japan and the people suffering as a result of natural devastation. As was shown effective with Haiti, consider using your everyday technology to make a donation to organizations aiding in the recovery effort. Just be careful when you do so.

Entrepreneurs are in the business of taking risks, whether investing in a start-up or reinvesting in an existing business.  Without a silver bullet for success, mitigating the day-to-day can present unforeseen challenges.  The job description of CEO can quickly become “jack-of-all-trades” and “expert-of-none.”

There is inherent and undeniable value in finding a good advisor(s) who can provide not only strategic direction but tactical assistance in moving the business forward.  An external strategic firm with in-depth industry knowledge and a diligent focus can be an indispensible ally for an entrepreneur, SMB, or large firm.  It can prevent failures in strategy or uncover important insights to ensure success.

Management consultants can provide information, resolution, implementation, and overall organizational effectiveness to move a business forward.  In order for the relationship to be successful, entrepreneurs must remember to:

Trust – Finding the right relationship with an advisor is critical.  Without trust, the relationship could prove to be detrimental and result in less than effective results.

Engage – Collaborating with an advisor is a key ingredient to the success.  Entrepreneurs must continue to engage and actively get involved with conversations regarding the business.

Execute – Listening and learning are important. Success, however, lies in the execution.

Understanding the value of consultation with a strategic firm can be a crucial step towards building or furthering a successful business. The proper course of action for bridging strategy and execution differs greatly for every business, and can be a difficult path to discover. Rather than play a guessing game, business owners should free themselves from the extreme demands of the “jack-of-all-trades” cliché, focus on driving the business forward as the CEO, and let the consultant handle the items that they don’t know.

Further extending its reach into the northeastern United States, Atlanta-based Junction Creative Solutions (Junction) hosted a series of networking events aboard Freedom Yacht, sister ship to the Presidential Yacht Sequoia, to build relationships between clients, colleagues, and partners.

Junction, founded in 2008, has seen its sphere of influence achieve considerable growth, aiding clients in bridging the gap between strategy and execution as they grow sustainable businesses. A recent two week foray into the northeast corridor has provided Junction the opportunity to further develop relationships with companies in New York City, Harrisburg, and Philadelphia.

Philadelphia based Realtime Media, one such collaborative partner, cosponsored an event on September 1st. Realtime, recognized as North America’s top technology-drive marketing promotion specialist, is an example of how a collaboration can drive maximum impact and provide comprehensive solutions to clients.

“The northeast offers a number of opportunities to drive new business and create more sustainable businesses. What we do at Junction has no geographical borders; companies everywhere can benefit from creating a sound strategy and executing on marketing solutions,” comments Julie Gareleck, CEO and Managing Partner, Junction.  “Impact is impact, regardless of location.”

To view a snapshot of the networking events, visit Junction’s Flickr photostream at www.flickr.com/photos/junctioncreativesolutions/ .

November touts “Best Places to Work” issues across many major media outlets. Most prominently, Fortune releases its list of 100 Best Companies to Work For, but numerous other outlets partake in the ritual of recognizing how essential happy employees can be to a company’s overall success.  Websites like Glassdoor.com, which presents a list generated by surveys of actual employees, and publications like The Boston Globe, highlighting excellent companies on a local level, prove that operating in a positive environment is highly important to many businesses.

According to a survey by Robert Half International Inc., one third of executives believe the work environment is the most critical factor in keeping an employee satisfied in today’s business world. Besides the obvious truth that happy employees are productive employees, there is meaning as to why defining the right type of workplace is such a crucial element for business, regardless of industry. In the same survey in 1993, ‘praise and recognition’ was at the top of the list of factors most important to employee happiness, cited by 47%. (Of course, ‘compensation’ was another major choice.)The recent increase in attention to good work environments as a priority for both business owners and employees has likely stemmed from the successes of high profile companies who have chosen to construct nontraditional workplaces.

Top computer animation film studio Pixar constructed an imaginative and unique physical space for each employee, promoting creativity and enthusiasm. Google has offices across the country encouraging employees to find healthy distractions from their work, an unorthodox approach that has revolutionized productivity and has since been mimicked by companies worldwide.

Take a Break and Rack 'Em Up!

The formula for creating an amazing workplace isn’t really about casual dress code, free lunch, or pool tables. In reality, the most imperative practice is to maintain a connection to the values and mission of the company. Pixar and Google, beyond the superficial appeal of their offices, are tremendous examples of this.

Here at Junction, we operate in a work environment that reflects the values that inform our business practices. Our brand goals are authenticity, integrity, and value. Operating in a tight-knit, lean office environment allows us to communicate effectively, keeping our impact high and our clients’ costs low. We take pride in the fact that our workplace is an extension of our philosophy. Under the surface, any list of the ‘Best Places to Work’ is full of companies who do the same.

Junction Creative Solutions (Junction), an Atlanta-based hybrid strategic firm founded in 2008, marks the end of 2011 by posting 300% growth, its second triple-digit-growth year in a row. This substantial increase is complemented by a host of new clients as well as an expansion of Junction’s services into several new verticals.

New clients include AcuteCare Telemedicine, Competitive Sports Analysis, Intelaplay, BCS Switchgear, Saffire Vapor, SWM Int., and Lucy’s Market. All of which launched new websites, marketing campaigns, or both in 2011 or will be launching in early 2012, leveraging the value-focused brand strategy provided them by Junction’s team. Junction has also added depth to its portfolio with new clients in the consumer packaged goods, technology and travel and hospitality arenas, in addition to the diverse verticals that the company already advises.

“We had remarkable growth and success with our clients in 2011.  Junction exists to grow start up and mid-size businesses into success stories, which we’ve been able to accomplish this past year. Our success has been proven with our small to mid-size businesses; we have scalable companies that are emerging from our collaboration,” says Julie Gareleck, founder and Managing Partner, of Junction’s considerable success.

Beyond site development and brand strategy, Junction’s 2011 accomplishments include aiding clients of all sizes, from entrepreneurial start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, with achieving maximum impact and measurable results through long-term marketing strategies. Gareleck notes, “It often takes a long-term engagement to prove that strategy works. Sometimes it’s difficult to make a case for that level of investment, but our clients’ success is indisputable. More and more companies are seeing the value in how Junction can help them connect strategy and execution and we’re growing as a result.”

Commenting on what’s next for the company, Julie added, “In 2012, we want to keep scaling. Our long-term vision is to grow the business, although we never want it to become so large that we become what we aren’t, which is a typical agency model. That’s what allows Junction to thrive.”

The slow economy of recent years has forced the reconsideration of budgeting for people from all walks of life. For many, the downturn has meant drastically reduced spending. Much more severe than simply eliminating luxuries, stretching dollars as far as they will go across everyday expenses has become standard practice. Items considered to be necessities are not any less necessary in this financial crunch. Occasionally, special circumstances lead to a situation that requires new ideas to maintain the mutually supportive confluence between business and consumer.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution recently reported on a local RIMCO, an arm of rent-to-own giant Aaron’s that has transformed a massive downturn in its primary business, selling and renting car and truck rims, into an opportunity to fill a real need for its customers rather than peddling a luxury. Unlike rims, the tires that wrap around them are an absolute necessity for car owners. However, tires are nearly as expensive; the outright purchase price for an entire set is well out of the budget for many drivers.

Renting-to-own is widely understood to be considerably more expensive than buying, but in the case of necessity items, some customers may have no choice. The store now rents twice as many tires as the rims that used to compose 60-70% of its business. Loyal customers, although not enthralled with the increased cost, are appreciative of the service and products they receive from the store, without which their commute would be impossible.

Rather than struggling with the challenges of the economic downturn, RIMCO successfully managed to shift its strategy on the fly in reaction to a radically changing market. In the face of lowered demand for the store’s primary source of business, it seized an opportunity to provide even more value to its customers than previously, and at an inflated cost that meant more revenue. The same lesson could apply in any industry – value is about more than price. For consumers, it is more important that a service fills a need. For businesses, creating an adaptable strategy that thinks far beyond cost is essential.

The focus for most marketers is on social, mobile, and all things technology in an attempt to capture market share and provide measurable return on investment. In an effort to be better, faster, and constant, marketers must leverage the most influential crowd that continues to gain power over marketers and brands alike. This paradigm shift is being driven not by the most innovative technology but by the ever-growing baby boomer population.

Each day, 10,000 baby boomers turn to the age of 65, and will continue to do so for the next 19 years. Projections show that by 2050, more than 50% of the US population will be older than 50 years of age. For the first time, parents and children will be part of the same demographic. The Center for Mature Consumer Studies reports that boomers control more than ¾ of the country’s wealth. The power of this population is in its ability to affect the elasticity of demand, increase consumption, and ultimately influence marketers.

Baby boomers continue to be the most brand loyal segment in the market place. Before technology became contextual to consumers, marketers told stories and built brands with which this growing population identified. Marketers should consider the following when defining a strategy for this captive audience:

• Diversity: Baby boomers are the most diverse segment which is the biggest asset and strength. The marketing approach should be as diverse as this consumer group.
• Empathy: Baby boomers are wise, experienced, and aware. Marketers must appreciate and recognize these sentiments.
• Constancy: Baby boomers are methodical and calculated as consumers. It becomes a test of endurance for marketers, constantly and consistently reaching this target audience.

If marketers across industry refocus a portion of the budget, the potential to create the next generation of influential and brand loyal consumers is immeasurable. For brands and marketers, the impact is substantive.

In an effort to be more competitive in the face of increased competition, mainly from their “dollar store” competitors, Wal-Mart has been minding its costs as U.S. sales growth slows.  U.S. locations declined for nine straight quarters before snapping the streak with a 1.3 percent gain for the quarter ending last October.  It is understandable that keeping a tight focus on costs during poor economic times is a necessary function of doing business today, but how far is too far before one of the most successful brands in history is significantly damaged?

Founder Sam Walton, built a strong foundation for the future success of his company by featuring wide unobstructed aisles, neatly and plentifully stocked shelves and motivated and friendly staff along with the low process.  In 1980 to make his giant low-price stores even more friendly he added greeters to the entrance of the stores.  The world’s largest retailer has recently removed greeters from the overnight shift at its U.S. supercenters, chipping away at a 30-year tradition of making sure all shoppers are welcomed to the store.  Cutting back, even during the early morning hours, shows Wal-Mart is rethinking long held traditions to boost profit margins and guarantee low prices.

“The greeter is part of the Wal-Mart experience and, in stores not always known for killer customer service, sometimes the friendliest face a customer might encounter,” wrote Ryan Mathews, founder, CEO of Black Monk Consulting.  ”It never made economic sense to have a greeter, but that wasn’t the point. If Wal-Mart’s economics are so fragile that they are worried about changing such a signature part of their operation, they have much bigger issues.”

The most recent effects of trimming the brand is having wide spread effect and is garnishing customer complaints from all across the country.  More than 1000 complaints were registered recently regarding the lack of adequate stock being on the shelves to meet the consumer demands.  Many were from previously loyal Wal-Mart customers confused by what has happened to service at a company they’d once admired for its low prices and wide assortment.   Many said they were paying more and driving farther to avoid the local Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart’s restocking challenges stem from a thinly spread labor force struggling to keep up with all the work that needs to be done, said Colin McGranahan, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in New York.  “Stuff gets backed up, and they’re forced to respond as best they can,” said McGranahan, “The result is an increasing amount of customer-encountered out-of-stocks.”

One loyal Wal-Mart customer recently responded to the bare shelves at his local store saying “As much as I need to take advantage of the low prices that Wal-Mart has to offer, the money I would save is spent on gas to drive to other stores to buy the items that the retailer doesn’t have on its shelves, he said. “So it is easier to just shop elsewhere.”

And how is the company responding to the latest criticisms?

Responding to the report in Bloomberg News, Wal-Mart said the customers complaining to Bloomberg aren’t a sufficient sample size and don’t represent shoppers’ impressions of its stores nationwide.  The spokeswoman said, “The premise of this story, which is based on the comments of a handful of people, is inaccurate and not representative of what is happening in our stores across the country.”  Not the kind of response shoppers expect from a major retailer in a highly competitive, economically depressed environment.

Customer service is also driving some customers away.  One frustrated customer tried to get a watch battery changed. “No one could find the batteries and a worker didn’t know how to change it anyway”, he said.  “The lady told me to go to a pawn shop to have it changed.  Michael Young, a 63-year-old accountant in Oklahoma City, goes to Wal-Mart “only when I need things I know I can usually get for less money.” He has to prepare himself for what he knows will be an unpleasant shopping experience.

It is not uncommon for businesses to encounter operational challenges which result in scattered, poor customer relations resulting in some tarnish to the brand, even the world’s largest and most prestigious performers will struggle to consistently maintain quality service and performance levels.  Even if it is an isolated problem or one of localized perception, and the evidence suggests neither is true, perception regardless of whether it has basis in fact, is reality in the eyes of the consumer.

Could Wal-Mart, once the discounter consumers could rely upon for more than just low prices, be so focused on trimming the budget that they damage what many long-standing, loyal customers believe is one of the most endearing brands?

Entrepreneurs readily thrive on formulating great ideas for new products and business ventures and many even manage to muster credibility when it comes to formulating a vision for success, but all too often the busy road to market is littered with the debris of unrealized dreams and unfulfilled intentions. Initial investments generally are freely cast towards product development, manufacturing, packaging and market logistics, and while tangible and of paramount importance, these factors alone will not be enough to ensure successful marketability and viable business sustainability.

Robert Arnold, entrepreneur and CEO of Saffire Vapor comments, “Strategy keeps an entrepreneur focused on the larger goals – the big picture. It lays out a roadmap for ambitious and sweeping aims and breaks the impossible journey down into realistic and conceivable tasks. It is of the utmost importance for business. Without it you’re just walking over the hot coals, never realizing when you’ve made it to the other side.”

Business today gets done in a global marketplace and new technologies and change is occurring at an unprecedented rate, making time and distance less relevant thanks in great part to the explosive growth of the Internet and the development of new mediums of marketing like social, mobile and digital.  There was a time when strategic planning was only done by large businesses and those companies known for leading change.  For small and mid-size businesses, survival now rests on establishing strategies to weather the economic storm.

“Strategic planning is critical to business success.  It is has not only kept us in business, but has been the key contributor to our continued growth,” says Daveenia Beller, Managing Partner & Founder, Infinite Resource Solutions. “Different from traditional business planning, our leadership team views strategic planning as our roadmap for survival and continued success.  Strategic planning for our company is not your classic business operations plan.  Ours involves vision, mission and outside-of-the-box thinking.  Strategic planning has helped us define both where our company is heading, and how we are going to get there, while considering potential economic or market pitfalls.  Without a defined strategy and plan, it’s like taking a trip without a predefined destination.  We prefer to drive with our lights on, and possess a physical address for the stops along the way.”

Some good strategic advice from Daveenia to emerging entrepreneurs and small to mid-size companies; “budget more than you plan on spending, and borrow money when you don’t need it.  Just don’t spend it until you do!  A prime example is back in 2008 when many organizations saw a recession on the horizon.  They braced themselves for the impact, knowing full well that banks are more likely to lend when you don’t need it, rather than when you do during an unstable economy.”

It is just as possible to grow yourself out of business, as it is to go out of business.  It is important to have a solid cash flow analysis and anticipate potential constraints.  “Our company doubled in size even during the recession,” commented Beller. “We had to control our growth, and make certain it was controlled at a sustainable rate, being that conventional loans were extremely difficult to secure at that point in time.”

Investing in an effective, well researched and targeted strategic plan is vital to assure success in a competitive market environment. Embarking on any new business venture without a clear plan which includes direction and sustainable goals is like setting out across a desert without so much as a simple compass to guide ones journey. Nothing planned, little achieved, everything at risk.

Procter & Gamble Company (P&G), an American multinational consumer goods company, is as familiar to the average American as Mom and her famous apple pie.  Established in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1837 by William Proctor and James Gamble, the new company weathered the economic storms and a plethora of competitors to stake out a leadership role in the quickly expanding consumer products market.

Consumers today, as every generation since its founding, are as familiar with one or several P&G brands as they are with their closest sibling.  P&G recorded $83.68 billion in sales in 2012 through product segments including; beauty, grooming, health, snacks and pet care, fabric and home care, baby care and family home care.  To remain ahead of its competitors, P&G spends a reported 9.3 billion dollars globally on advertising and marketing in prior years and retains a world-wide market share of 20%.

When P&G management recently announced that it would be retraining marketing spend to focus on return on investment (ROI), its announcement succeeded in getting the ad industries attention very quickly.   Chief Financial Officer Jon Moeller said he expects advertising spending to lag sales growth by about 0.2 percentage points this year.  Restraining ad spending below sales growth “does not mean less reach, less frequency,” Mr. Moeller said. “It means more effective advertising, the right mix of media, and, importantly, reducing non-advertising costs that the consumers never see.”  He said the share of P&G marketing spending on digital in the U.S. is “up to 35%,” ranging down to 25% on some brands.  “We have some businesses and brands where digital is incredibly effective and we’re doing more.”  He went on to say, “We have other brands that are on the learning curve. We’ve got to get up the learning curve faster.”

The shift to larger marketing spend to digital should be a concern for large and ultra-large advertising and marketing agencies who have been struggling to retain their margins in the new Digital Age.  But the future of small agencies may be a bit brighter due in part to recent mergers of already giant firms into behemoth conglomerates who are motivated to leverage the relationships, investments and proprietary trading desks of their parent companies, a move that may not be in the best interest of clients.

While not every major marketer is inclined to throw their big ad firm over the side, some notable brands are viewing small agencies as a viable alternative to mega firms, providing an opportunity for small agencies to differentiate themselves and focus on a strategy of delivering value at every touch point with their clients.  As often is the case, mega company shareholders and investors on Wall Street tend to apply pressure to increase focus on revenue and equity, not creativity.  The best innovation and creative ideas usually flow from smaller organizations whose growth projections are more focused on deliverable value and creativity. Big is always bigger but bigger is not always better.  As more mindsets continue to change in the marketer’s arena opportunities for smaller, more creative, nimble and flexible agencies will likely abound.

The most famous and successful family owned brands in the fashion industry have managed to survive multiple economic downturns, two world wars, numerous global conflicts, two depressions, countless fads and fashion faux pause’s only to face a new technological threat.  Anchored with well-established brick and mortar stores, catalogues and traditional mail order operations, many of the best known family brands are beginning to feel the weight of their own history.  Saddled with the hard costs of traditional marketing and product delivery models, long standing fashion brands are moving to reposition and redirect their investments in online marketing models to compete with the new, digital driven, online fashion brands.

Void of the traditional physical acumens of architecture, forms and functional displays, the internet is presenting a challenge to established family retailers who are falling behind the shift in media consumption and the rapid changes in consumer behavior.  Companies such as NastyGal, Moda Operandi and Gilt Group are  digital-driven fashion brands, selling clothing directly to the consumer without traditional fixed retail costs and who are targeting the new age Internet generation while taking a dramatically different approach.  These new wave fashion retail companies share a common trait; they are tech savvy and understand how to leverage the ‘new’ internet and social media as a marketing and distribution channel.

The key to building successful e-commerce businesses lies in creating lasting consumer value and satisfied customers who share their experience with their friends and family on Social Media.  Internet marketing leaders build success on differentiation, perceived value, consumer targeting and a mastery effective content creation.  Established brand owners rely heavily on physical product displays to present their fashions, but with e-commerce mastery of photography, imaging, video and visually, explicit content is essential for customers to see via the content.

Despite major shake-ups in 2011, J. Crew has stayed true to its upscale trend-right classics in creative store environments and is making impressive progress on moving the traditional brick, mortar and catalog retailer into a leading internet marketer.   While its offerings aren’t for everyone, the New York City-based clothier has perfected the distinctive preppy-yet-hip apparel to appeal to its young, upscale consumers.  And with jcrew.com, it has created a Web site that makes online shopping as easy as ordering from a catalog. J. Crew is currently working with Sun Microsystems to create a whole new Web site with more personalized shopping features, such as one-click ordering and recommendations based on order history. The revamped site should be up by early fall-just in time for holiday shopping.

Listening to customer feedback, never compromising on customer experience or service, filling a very real gap or inefficiency in the fashion market and setting one’s product apart from the competitors are key strategies for success in the digital marketplace.  For the well-established family brands to remain relevant in the new digital marketing era, they will need to reposition marketing strategies to capture audiences across devices. The electronic recreation of the excitement and anticipation once experienced by consumers upon receipt of their holiday edition of the Sears and Roebuck’s catalog is now the challenge of traditional family brands who wish to compete in the new digital marketing era.

When a Portland, Oregon, engineer’s 13-year-old daughter asked if it was possible to build a one-wheeled motorcycle she saw in a video game, Chris Hoffmann decided that yes – he probably could. Further research revealed earlier attempts, such as a wild sit-inside-the-wheel contraption from the 1940s. With recent technological advances and cost reductions, leveraged from mass produced products like smart phones, the technology-to-cost curve had finally hit a tipping point. After nearly eight years of development, the Ryno is ready to be introduced to the world. Small, sleek and unique, it looks like something that rolled off a sci-fi movie set on to your neighborhood sidewalk. A modern day, 21^st century high-tech version of the turn of the 20^th century unicycle, the Ryno Cycle bears little resemblance to its ancestor. With a stubby, lower center of gravity and electrically powered, the Ryno was developed to accomplish a simple mission: making motorized personal transportation accessible, enjoyable, and practical.

With a price point under $5500.00, the space aged unicycle promises to attract an eager market of urban users who want to sport-around town at 10 miles per hour.  The Ryno promises easy, safe operation even to the motorized, cycle riding challenged among us. Recently, Chris Hoffman, inventor and CEO of Ryno Cycle, introduced his new contraption on an edition of NBC’s Today show and announced that the high-tech cycle would be ready for delivery by April 16, 2014. But a visit to the companies Facebook page and website, immediately after the televised introduction, revealed digital marketing collateral that is not fully developed, optimized or designed to provide users the opportunity to navigate effectively to making a purchase. With dealership information still incomplete and many product details and options not fully implemented, it would suggest that the April 16, roll-out is a bit optimistic at best.

The Ryno Cycle is a fantastic example of ingenuity of purpose and technological design and Mr. Hoffman and his obviously very capable team is to be commended on their engineering skills and insight in developing a unique product and bringing it to market introduction. Unfortunately, it may also be an example of how even the most brilliant product can have its introduction stymied by a lack of focus and preparation in engaging an effective marketing strategy.

In this fast paced technological environment, it is increasingly important to allocate resources to the development of a marketing strategy and its implementation that is at least equal to the commitment of time, energy and expertise directed to the engineering and development of the product. No matter how exciting and anticipated the product, failing to be fully ready to deliver the product and its promised benefits will result in confusion, frustration and negative resignation on the part of today’s demanding consumer and can embolden the market position of better prepared competitors.  Let’s hope that Ryno Cycle is quick to address the marketing issues before this ingenious new consumer vehicle doesn’t become another example of letting the genie out of the bottle too soon.

One of the most used and least understood terms in business is strategy. While nearly every organization’s success can be traced to a well-founded and directed plan of action, or strategy, many within today’s company hierarchy would be hard pressed to articulate their company’s strategic plan or their specific role in the process of implementation. Much of the misunderstanding stems from a lack of clear articulation of the plans content and who in the organization is responsible for its success.

The Roman philosopher Seneca is quoted as saying: “If a man does not know what port he is steering for, no wind is favorable.” Strategies role in any organization is to collectively focus its resources and assets on achieving a tightly defined course of action towards achieving a set of common goals and objectives. Flexibility is necessary in deploying a strategic plan in order to address original assumptions that become ineffectual when the plan meets the reality of an ever changing marketplace. But while some flexibility in the process is necessary, maintaining a clear focus on the desired objective is essential to garnering cooperation and understanding from all those who are on board.

Whether a company’s strategy is founded on the internal strengths and beliefs of the organization or guided by a belief based on their customer’s sense of the company’s value to fulfill their expectations, without a clear and compelling vision of where it is headed, an organization is destined to be lost.

The leader’s responsibility to its organization is to set forth a vision for the company that engages the understanding, acceptance and participation of its associates. Peter Drucker, whose writings contributed to the philosophical and practical foundations of the modern business corporation noted, “An effective leader knows that the ultimate task of leadership is to create human energies and human vision.” While leadership provides the vision and forms the strategy, it is the organization that engages and carries through on its implementation. Successful strategy is dependent upon the participation and buy-in of all individuals in an organization who have clearly assigned roles and a timeline with predetermined milestones along the path to success.

Have you sufficiently defined the role of strategy in your organization?

Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Once reserved for the single last day in October, Halloween was a time when younger children donned costumes and set out throughout the neighborhoods of America, knocking on suspecting home dwellers and recounting the term “trick or treat,” the seemingly timeless plea for candy instead of a trick; the latter usually manifested in a soaped window, a tissue adorned tree or burning bag of poo on the front porch. Celebrated for hundreds of years in communities across North America, Halloween is becoming a more popular holiday and an increasingly bigtime marketing opportunity for commerce.

The Great Pumpkin, of Jack-o-lantern fame, and his compatriots the ghosts, goblins, witches and ghouls are arising from the patches, cemeteries and the darkness of night to claim a stake in the list of universal celebrations. It is estimated that consumers will spend $6.9 billion on Halloween this year, an average of $75 per person, an increase of nearly $30 since 2005. Children’s trick or treating is still Halloween’s leading characteristic, but adults are the main funders of the increased holiday spending.

Research conducted by The National Retail Federation (NRF) found that while the majority of Halloween celebrations were among 18-24 year olds, more than 60 percent of those above the age of 34 were now expected to join in the revelry by conducting larger “event” parties attended by elaborately adorned party goers. This year, spending on house decorations for Halloween is expected to rival that of the Christmas holiday season and candy buying at Halloween will outpace that spent on Easter for the first time. It is clear that the Great Pumpkin has arrived and is throwing down a respectable challenge to the Easter bunny and Santa Claus.

Marketers, take note! Positioned perfectly between the lucrative back to school selling events and the profitable Christmas holiday sales season, Halloween is an opportunity to build on your year-end strategy for closing the gap on profitability. Whether digital, mobile or traditional, the trick is to engage in effective Halloween marketing activities to capture your share of the holiday’s treats.

November 12, 2014 – ATLANTA, GA: Junction Creative Solutions (Junction) and its client Ultimate Health School (Ultimate) announce the launch of a new website. Ultimate is a Virginia based accredited nursing and allied health training institution dedicated to providing incomparable health education programs.

The Junction team of experienced web developers, designers and marketing strategists worked closely with Ultimate stakeholders to design a new website to reflect the vision and ambitions of the professional educators at Ultimate. The refreshed website and brand collateral enhances the user experience while expanding and improving site management capabilities.

“Ultimate Health School’s mission to educate and train students is so vital to meeting the future requirements of the ever changing nursing and allied health profession.   The new online experience not only provides comprehensive information regarding its programs but also provide essential tools and resources for students currently enrolled in Ultimate programs,” commented Julie Gareleck, CEO and Managing Partner, Junction.

To view the new website and learn more about how Ultimate’s experienced staff of professional educators is preparing their students for a career in the dynamic healthcare field, visit www.ultimatehealthschool.com.

About Junction Creative Solutions

Junction Creative Solutions (Junction) combines the intellectual capital of a consulting firm with the creative execution of an advertising agency to create effective and measurable strategies and solutions. The solutions align with specific business goals and objectives, and provide consistency from strategic planning through execution. As a result, our clients are able to maximize opportunities to react, adapt, and thrive — ultimately creating more sustainable and competitive businesses. Junction’s award winning portfolio boasts successful strategies and agency solutions for SMBs and Fortune 500 companies.

About Ultimate Health School

Ultimate Health School (Ultimate) is a nursing and allied health training institution dedicated to providing quality nursing and Allied health education to all students who are willing to commit to learning new and advance skills in their areas of interest. Ultimate’s mission is to continuously adopt new and advanced academic study aides and technologies to improving academic curriculum. The highly trained and dedicated staff partner with the best healthcare institutions to provide the most up-to-date professional healthcare education for its students. Ultimate is accredited by the Virginia Board of Nursing [VBON], National Health Career Association and the State Council of Higher Education of Virginia [SCHEV].

At a time when nearly half of the workforce is struggling to land a full time career with a company that values commitment to long-term employees, the temptation to jump the corporate ship and seek asylum in “Entrepreneurial Utopia” is as strong as it has ever been at other times. The feeling is nothing new. As the saying goes, “what comes around will go and come around again later,” or something like that. Keeping one’s head when making a well informed decision about when and if to become a member of the self-employed class is difficult no matter the circumstances. It doesn’t help that mainstream media’s have fallen head over heels for those really savvy hipsters who casually quit their former life, school, job and move back home to start a business in Mom and Dad’s garage only to become instant billionaires.

Let’s face it; no matter how deficient one may be in the “handsome department” being an entrepreneur today is seen as being really sexy!  Who wouldn’t jump at a chance to become independently wealthy, set their own work and play schedule, be their own boss and bask in the glamourous life-style of the rich and famous. After all it seems so easy, right?

Well. You might want to ask the couple that bought that historic Bed and Breakfast with visions of reliving the past among antique treasures’, sharing a glass of fine wine and engaging conversations with multi-cultured guests only to realize that the old barn of a house constantly needed fixing and it costs a gazillion dollars to heat; the guests always want to visit on those holiday’s you were planning to get away; and when the maid and maintenance guys didn’t show up for work (guaranteed to be more often than anyone could imagine), the person whose name is found on the bottom right-hand corner of the checks makes the beds, does the laundry, washes the dishes and mows the lawn. How’s that for sexy?

True, not every business venture is a bed and breakfast, fast food restaurant or oil changing franchise but every business venture, whether it involves a new high-tech gadget, software app or heal-all potion, has a challenging, dirty side to it. And the price of being the recipient of the entrepreneurial spirit is that the visionary gets to experience it all. Here are a few more entrepreneurial myths to ponder before striking out on your E-mission:

It’s a great way to get rich. There’s simply no data or logic or factual data to support the premise that anyone will make more money running their own business than working for someone else. Most independent business endeavors require the commitment of significant personal wealth with no assurance of respectable returns.

It’s not about the money it’s about following the passion. Warning! If following the passion doesn’t generate enough money to support the passion part, you’re going to go passionately broke.

You’re going to be your own boss. It’s the biggest myth of all. The truth is your customers, the regulators, the creditors and the tax collectors are the boss.

The self-employed control their schedule. This myth is correct. The 24 hour/7 day a week schedule.

You’ll be certain to find personal fulfillment. It has been said, “Find a job doing what you love to do and you will never work a day in your life.”  Please note: The vast majority of things that must be done to secure success in business are often those things that many entrepreneurs do not love to do, but have to do. If your journey to fulfillment includes practicing management and leadership skills every minute of every day, than you will have plenty of opportunity to experience personal fulfillment.

The most successful entrepreneurs are those willing to just step out on faith. Before you run out and invest the life-savings in a chain of cupcake shops it would be prudent to determine how many cupcakes will need to be sold just to pay the rent. Reality: The best decision is one that is all about doing due diligence and the math, thoroughly and correctly.

Entrepreneurship is not about glamour or about being sexy; it’s about hard work, tenacity, passion, tolerance, self-confidence and having a clear vision and strong sense of purpose and mission. If it looks easy from the outside it is most likely because the subject of the complement is very good at doing the routine little acts of continuous improvements every day, day in and day out.

So, if you are thinking about joining the entrepreneurial ranks don’t do it because you think it will make you sexy because it won’t. It will be all about customers; about experiencing the best and the worst of all things; about surviving your mistakes; about being proud of your successes and sensing the true joy of accomplishment.

Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

It is a debate among marketers that has raged since the word “Discount” first found its way into consumer’s vocabulary. Add descriptors like “Sale”, “Reduced”, “Low price leader”, “Special”, “We sell for less”, and “We will not be undersold”, and any observer would come to the conclusion that the lowest price alone determines who gets the sale. Is the buying decision all about price? All things being equal, will the lower price always prevail?

The assumption that consumers are motivated to act based on just one reason more than any other is an over simplification of the decision making process and a premise that a large and diverse market can be moved to action by deploying just one factor. The truth is consumer’s reasons to purchase are as diverse as the market and as complex as the individual making the decision.

According to a recent CEI Survey, 86% of buyers will pay more for products when accompanied by excellent customer service, product quality, or perceived added value.  Based on a buying hierarchy model, first outlined by Windermere Associates, most consumers follow a pattern for action when making a buying decision:

1. Functionality – Where a product or service fills a specific customer need or want that cannot be accomplished by other products or competitors, consumers will not base their decision on price.
2. Reliability – When two or more similar products have the same functionality, consumers will favor the competitor whose product offers the better reliability.
3. Convenience – When the products or services offer the same functionality and identical relative reliability, consumers will choose convenience.
4. Price – When competitors all have similar products or services that offer equal function, reliability and convenience, then price will prevail as the deciding factor for the buying decision.

In addition, a Nielsen’s 2014 Global Survey on Corporate Social Responsibility indicates that 55 percent of global online consumers are willing to pay more for products and services from companies that are committed to positive social and environmental impact. “Consumers around the world are saying loud and clear that a brand’s social purpose is among the factors that influence purchase decisions,” said Amy Fenton, global leader of public development and sustainability at Nielsen.

There will always be those who will pay a higher price for brand status or those who perceive value in brand loyalty. And a generous portion of consumers will always harbor affection for getting the best deal and paying the lowest price. But for the greater number of consumers price alone is no longer enough to motivate them to purchase. In a highly competitive market environment, where marketers are offering added value to their lowest price, buyers are becoming increasingly adept at discerning the difference between real value and low price.

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

As more and more consumers turn to the Web for their holiday shopping, performance of e-merchants online experience is becoming increasingly important to the bottom line.  A recent Harris Poll indicates that 68% of U.S. adults expect to shop online for gifts this upcoming holiday season and more than three quarters of adult US online shoppers feel that website reliability and reputation is extremely high in their consideration of an online merchant and their eventual purchase decision.  What’s even more concerning is that 89 percent of the survey respondents said they would simply stop shopping at a particular online store as a result of a poor Website experience. Web performance is clearly important to a majority of online shoppers, who will often flee one retailer’s site for a competitor’s for faster service. With so much riding on meeting the customer’s expectations it is increasingly important to insure that your website is prepared for the seasons increased usage and that its performance meets your customer’s expectations.

Speed and availability is critical to a positive customer interaction.  Online shoppers have unlimited choices and have little patience when they are delayed or frustrated by a sites poor performance.  Implementing traffic management and web content optimization tools will improve site response times and help balance system workloads.  

Security and liability are critical concerns for online shoppers. Hacking of customer data is on the rise and retailers are being held liable for the costs associated with lost and stolen customer data. Securing customers personal credit card information and passcodes is vital. Customers will return to the site only if they feel confident that their information is safe and secure.  

This is the year of mobile. More and more consumers are embracing the use of their smart phones and pads for every day shopping, whether over the internet of while in the store. Optimizing your website to accommodate the latest mobile apps and software to interact with the roaming consumer will enhance user experience and elevate customer satisfaction.

Don’t leave your websites performance to chance. Investing in an effective website optimization and monitoring tool will improve the likelihood that performance issues will be identified early enough to be resolved before they adversely affect the customer relationship. Regular testing of the site over multiple web browsers is very important. Online users will often use different browsers to access the internet depending on the devise. Your site should offer a consistent and positive e-visit regardless of the method of access. And remember, a website that is “down” and inaccessible for even a brief moment during busy shopping hours is akin to closing the door and turning out the lights of a brick and mortar store at rush hour. Once turned away, studies have indicated that as many as 44 percent of inconvenienced customers will never return.

Once what was considered the normal customer interaction is changing as technology advancements have improved and been expanded to offer new bells and whistles to entice new customer interactions. Initiating unproven and untested site enhancements at the busiest time of the shopping season can result in a calamity for even the best designed websites.  Better to be prepared than to be first with a failed site performance that will damage your brand.

The holiday shopping season will determine the success or failure for the vast majority of retailers, getting the user experience effort right has never been more important. Online shopping is opening new opportunities to expanded global markets for even the smallest of businesses. But with the increased exposure comes a corresponding increased risk to getting the customer experience wrong. E-commerce retailers whose websites are prepared, tested and diligently monitored will be rewarded with a positive and profitable consumer experience.

Image courtesy of Feelart at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The following you will read two stories of accomplished women, who when faced with the opportunity, combined their passion and embrace for the entrepreneurial spirit to achieve new visions of personal and professional accomplishment.

As recently featured in Fortune Magazine, the shy and extremely private, Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken rarely speaks to the press or goes out of her way to draw attention to herself. In her own words she has said, “I’ve always been quite happy to be anonymous.” But often times, personal ambitions and life’s intended direction are altered in their course by factors beyond an individual’s control. The only child of the late Freddy Heineken, Charlene is the sole heir to the Heineken fortune and the controlling shareholder of what is now the world’s third-largest brewer. Charlene spent her life happily below the radar in London, raising five children with her banker husband Michel, who was a former child actor and Olympic skier, until the death of her father Freddy Heineken, who brought the premium beer brand to America after Prohibition and built the company brand into a world brewing power-house estimated to be worth $45 billion.

Charlene De Carvalho-Heineken now controls 51% of Heineken Holding NV, a public company listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, which in turn owns 50.05% of Heineken NV, also listed on the Amsterdam exchange. Though she joined the board of Heineken Holding NV in 1988 she showed little interest in the daily operations of the family business until after her father died. On the day of Freddy’s funeral in 2002 Charlene, with the support of her husband Michel de Carvahlo, Vice Chairman of Citigroup, decided that it would be prudent to have a member of the Heineken family involved in the companies operation.

With considerable trepidation, she faced up to the challenge that fate thrust upon her and got actively involved in Heineken’s brewery operations all around the world. Aided by Michael, the couple was instrumental in the decision to bring in Jean Francois van Boxmeer, as Heineken’s CEO in 2005. Since then the company has acquired the brands Dos Equis and Bohemia and successfully fended off a take-over bid by SABMiller’s late last year in an effort to insure that controlling interest in the family founded company would be passed on to the next Heineken generation. Clearly the once unassuming and somewhat disinterested heiress to one of the world’s most formidable and successful companies has risen to the challenge to become, what husband Michael calls his wife, “The lady who throws the switch.”

Megyn Kelly grew up in a middle-class suburb of Albany, NY. She was the youngest of three children born to a father who was an education professor at the State University of New York at Albany, and her mother who ran the behavioral-health department at a Veterans Administration hospital. At age 15 her life and comfortable middle-class life-style was shattered by the untimely passing of her father. As a high school senior, Megyn listed her future hopes in three words: “College, government, wealth.” After a high-school aptitude test suggested that a career in journalism news would be well suited for Megyn, she sought to attend the communication program at Syracuse University, but after being rejected to the program she switched her major to political science and went on to receive a J.D. from Albany Law School and embarked on a successful career in corporate litigation.

But in 2003, Megyn decided to turn her focus back to her original career choice. Armed with an inert sense of purpose, personal enthusiasm and perseverance she reset her sights on a career in journalism news and cut a TV news demo tape with help from a friend and began cold-calling station managers. Bill Lord, then the news director of WJLA, the ABC affiliate in Washington had never given a job to somebody off the street with no experience, but Kelly’s tape and her subsequent interview motivated him to act. “She was very intelligent, there’s just no getting around it,” he said. “She was enormously confident. She seemed very, very motivated. She had ideas.” He hired her on a tryout basis which led to a longer term contract.

Today Kelly is the host of her own prime-time news program on the Fox News Channel. With an audience of 2.8 million viewers “The Kelly Files” became the highest-rated non-sports program in its time slot in all of basic cable in 2014. For Roger Ailes, the Fox News Channel chairman and chief executive, Kelly has become his “breakthrough artist,” the one who will define Fox’s future. Time magazine has named Kelly as one of the 100 “most influential people in the world” for 2014.

The entrepreneurial spirit can mobilize individuals under less than ideal circumstances to set an example of what hard work and passion can yield.  What’s your calling?

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Starting a new business venture is always fraught with challenges and risks, even in the best of economic times. The process of performing a thorough evaluation of all things to do with strategy, planning, tactics; and the struggle to align the principles enthusiasm perfectly with the realities of the math, are critical for the success of any new start-up. Timing is one important factor but it is not everything when it comes to launching a new business, though deciding when to pull the trigger on a new venture is the one factor that often creates the most consternation and hesitation among new business entrants. The past half-decade has produced an increased level of uncertainty and caution for those who seek to bring their new idea, product or service to market. As we begin to inch forward towards an improved economy many “entrepreneurs in waiting” are asking: What is the climate and opportunities for new start-ups for 2015?

The economy is beginning to move forward with some predictable and deliberate pace after an extended period of complacency. The improving stock market and rising consumer confidence is leading many entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and industry experts to predict 2015 as a favorable time to identifying new, untapped market opportunities and launch a new business. Current small business owners are the most optimistic they’ve been since early 2008, with several surveys indicating they also plan to expand and hire more workers in 2015.  “Despite some recent hiccups in the stock market, the economy appears to be churning along at a positive pace, with GDP, the unemployment rate and access to capital all headed in the right direction,” says James Noe, an analyst with Sageworks, a financial information company.  “As a result, now may be as good of a time as any to take the plunge into entrepreneurship.”

Acquiring start-up financing and attracting investor capital is essential to any new businesses viability. Last year was a very good year for venture capital investors who concluded more deals of higher value since 2001 and the coming year appears to be on pace with 2014 levels with little signs of abatement in investor enthusiasm. The strong numbers have analysts predicting a “strong level of investing” to continue in 2015, primarily in the technical sectors. As a general prediction private equity lenders are expected to grow lending levels in the coming year but bigger banks will continue to focus on larger sized businesses rather than startups, opening the door of opportunity for institutional lenders like; credit funds, insurance companies, family funds, and other yield-hungry, non-bank financial institutions. Low interest rates will continue to encourage the formation of new businesses in 2015. “Historically low interest rates and its impact on small business owners should not be overlooked,” says Gene Marks, founder of The Marks Group. “The U.S. Small Business Administration is zeroing out fees on loans of $150,000 or less through fiscal year 2015.”

Technology continues to drive down operational costs, provide even the smallest business with access to world markets and make expert knowledge easily and readily available to rookie entrepreneurs. “The internet of things” is on its way to becoming a $14 trillion industry providing previously unequaled opportunities for new marketers of previously non-existent products and services. But not all of the best ideas involve high-tech. According to Inc. Magazine some of the best industries for starting a business in 2015 include; fantasy sports services, relaxation beverages, Gamification services, food e-commerce, public-sector technology, physical fitness, agriculture software and even the newly created legal marijuana industry.

The truth is that there is no one “best time” to start a business, and while prudence and good judgment are always harbingers to making the best decisions, overt and unreasonable caution will only result in inaction.  Now may be as good a time as ever to make it happen.

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

It is hard to imagine a time in history when the art and science of connecting producers with consumers has experienced as dramatic and disruptive period of change as it has in the past few years. The wave of intense technological discoveries and the age of digital communications will continue to alter the science and the art of forming relationships and behaviors between sellers and buyers in 2015.

Digital marketing will continue to be the predominate vehicle used to complete the communication process. Once dominate print and video media will continue to exist but its predominate role will be part and partial of the digital environment, having little or no sustainable independent role apart from the digital realm. Former tactics of utilizing individual digital channels will be replaced with the need to create a common brand experience across the full spectrum of the digital experience.  The introduction of advancements to existing technology like mobile, wearable technology and data analytics will require the refinement of the creative effort.  We are entering a period where basic targeting of the right message to the right person will also demand the message be delivered at the right time and in the right place across multiple channels to include mobile; video, and social sharing.  “The industry will begin to evolve beyond marketing automation aligned around personas and the buyer journey to create a connected cloud of technology designed to gain a deeper understanding of customers,” said Tom Stein, CEO of Stein IAS Americas. “Right now there are a lot of unconnected technologies, everything from data management to predictive analytics. The next big leap is for us to connect all the relevant technologies in the interest of the customer experience and the customer journey.”

Predictors of the trends in 2015 are in agreement on at least one factor: Content is, and will continue to be, king. Consumers can’t wait to devour and share a brand’s content.  With this upsurge in content marketing, organizations are realizing that the quickest way to motivate an audience is through valuable content. But the content will need to be more inspiring, personal and entertaining to be relevant in 2015 and beyond. Personalization is expected to become a widely adopted practice in 2015, leading to the growth of one-on-one marketing which will help build relationships and humanize a brand.  “The use of videos and visuals will be on the rise”, says Tom Malesic, president and CEO, EZSolution. “Consumers are more likely to purchase after seeing a video than if there was no video at all. In addition, it shows that you are personal with your customers and that you care about your products and services.”

Social media has gravitated to top of the “must have list’ for marketers in 2014.  “With the upturn in the economy, small businesses have more potential for success than ever. The most significant increases will go to businesses that have a flexible and effective online strategy, and who can rapidly respond to changing desires of customers. The growth of social media as a platform for connection is causing more and more people to get their recommendations from others online. Businesses that have a significant online presence will be in the forefront of the new referral and relationship marketing systems,” says Pamela Bruner, business coach with Make Your Success Real. Jason Parks, owner, The Media Captain says, “As Facebook’s organic reach continues to decrease, small business owners are taking notice. If they want to get in front of their customers for 2015, I believe it will be essential that they start looking more into social media advertising to expand their online marketing efforts. Gone will be the days where companies allow employees to post content without conducting a deep dive into their audience first. Executives are getting more sophisticated and realize that unless their corporate social media plan is formulaic with clear, set goals, metrics and tools to provide those metrics, they’re paying top dollar for employees to spend time on online efforts that have questionable value.”

The importance of mobile will grow in each and every aspect of business in the coming year with many predicting that the mobile web will become even bigger than desktop usage. With the growth in popularity of mobile devices like smartphones, tablets and wearable technology, the most effective campaigns will be built to be mobile-first. With 80 percent of users deleting emails that aren’t optimized for the mobile screen, reliable and functional mobile technology has never been more important to reaching an audience. Being able to pay for purchases from an iPhone or send currency on Snapchat, Venmo, Text To Give, PayPal or Bitcoin will become more common-place in 2015 as technical and security issues are resolved and enhanced. Marketers will need to adopt new ways their customers can pay for goods and services.

The rise in popularity of wearable devises will generate exponential opportunities for sellers to capture and utilize real-time data to create entirely new ways for users to interact with their favorite brands. Micro targeting strategies are expected to dynamically rise in 2015 as marketers take advantage of the increased opportunities for data collection and its utilization for the creation and dissemination of instantly relevant advertising.

“Marketing is changing fast, and business leaders will be wise to consider these changes as they plan for 2015. First, marketing teams will need to be increasingly staffed with more technical personnel rather than just creative types. The creative side of marketing is critically important to develop clever ads and copy. However, marketing increasingly involves things like online advertising, re-marketing and social media promotion. Therefore, marketing staff will require more technical skills. Ideal candidates will have a balance of creative and technical skills,” says Dave Scarola, Vice President, The Alternative Board.

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net 

If enthusiasm and visions of grand scale success were forms of legal tender funding that great business idea would be easy and efforts to launch it and grow its future would be assured. But an entrepreneur’s great idea and euphoric visions of success, while critical to virtually all businesses success at some juncture, does not go far when tending payment for the costs associated with starting and scaling any new business venture.  Before any new product or service meets the consumer’s review, capitalizing the new business is the first sale to be made.

Obtaining financing to launch a new business has never been easy.  The financial meltdown of nearly a decade ago fundamentally changed and complicated the process of new business capitalization. Small business financing, once a staple product of commercial banking, has shifted to lenders and investors who are more accepting of the often higher risks associated with emerging businesses. Launching that new venture requires funding sources significant enough to sustain the operations until revenues begin to flow. Determining what source and when it is best deployed in the new businesses life cycle requires due diligence to assure the most favorable impact on the operation. So what are some of the best sources of financing that new business?

Individual bootstrapping or self-financing is usually most commonly used in the very early stage of business creation. Derived from personal savings, equity secured financing or other personal cash reserves, self-funding is often used to finance the costs associated with developing a product or service prototype or the pre-launch expenses that are experienced in establishing a marketable business plan. And while self-funding may be the most advantageous of financing options when it comes to maintaining owner influence over operations, few individual seekers of marketing success have extra buckets of cash just sitting in the corner waiting to satisfy the staggering financial demands of a new start-up.

Angel investors are generally small organizations made up of individual investors who combine their research and resources to provide capital for a business start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity. “The principal advantage of an angel investor is generally that you have a friendlier atmosphere and a quicker decision-making circumstance for a smaller amount of [money],” said Mark DiSalvo, CEO of private equity fund provider Semaphore. “You are likely to get an investor who has strategic experience, so they can provide tactical benefit to the company they are investing in.” Investments can range from $50,000 to $500,000 or more. Angels are serious investors who often have high expectations and who are looking for solid, timely returns on their investment.

Crowdfunding is a relatively new idea in business financing and is growing in popularity. Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet and is becoming an increasingly popular way for startup businesses and more mature firms to raise money. Online lending services such as OnDeck and Kabbage have become a popular alternative to traditional business loans. While crowdfunding may appear easy, it requires a sound strategy and solid execution to be effective.

The Small Business Administration offers several types of loans for start-ups and is a good source of funding for those with a proven business track record or positive personal credit history. The SBA also offers special business loan programs for military veterans and their spouses. Traditional SBA loans typically take 60 to 90 days for approval and are distributed in amounts of $150,000 or more but the loan process can be challenging to navigate and complete.

Later in the business life-cycle when some measure of operational success is achieved, traditional commercial bank lending and venture capitalists becomes reliable sources for business growth funding. For fast-growth businesses and those with an exit strategy, venture capital can be used to raise the millions of dollars needed to expedite a company’s growth and expansion. Venture capitalists focus on specific industries and can offer advice to the entrepreneur on whether the product or service is going to be viable and suggest ways to expand or bring it to market. Venture capitalists have significant oversight of operations and usually look to recover their investment within a three-to-five-year time window.

With the popularity of the internet on the rise, product presales are becoming a more common way to raise funds for small, product based companies. Selling products before they launch can be an effective source of financing. Priska Diaz, who was able to raise $50,000 for her company Bittylab, says “The biggest challenge was in coordinating the inventory delivery times from our supplier so that we could start fulfilling orders. Another challenge was forecasting the number of units we were going to presell, resulting in a shortage. We’ve now passed the presale stage and sold more than originally anticipated, resulting in back orders.”

Family and friends is a source many budding entrepreneurs consider using to bring their business some needed cash for start-up or expansion. Borrowing from friends and family presents an interesting alternative to traditional forms of financing and can have some advantages. It can however create some challenges on the personal relationship level. Communicating frequently on the progress of the business is essential to preserving the personal relationship.

Regardless of the source, advanced planning and a well understood strategy throughout the businesses life-cycle are essential for gaining and maintaining effective financing and will increase the odds for achieving business success.

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Developing a long-term plan to achieve an objective is not a ground breaking initiative by any stretch of imagination and any first year business student or budding entrepreneur will attest to being indoctrinated with the elevated importance of having a strategy for achieving their goals and objectives before starting out on the journey. After all, a strategy is nothing more than a long-term plan to achieve certain objectives. But in the process of developing and implementing an approach to marketing, many marketers are failing to fully consider the cost of their marking plan to the bottom line of their organization.

The ever broadening digital marketing environment requires a strategy that considers not only the total number of potential customers reached, but one that is based on attracting the best and most profitable customers. If it is costing a hundred dollars to land a fifty dollar sale, than the strategy is attracting customers that a company doesn’t want or cannot afford to serve; a concept that many volume driven marketers find difficult to adopt. But today, being effective is mostly about quality and less about quantity.

To the effort to avoid spending money randomly and acquiring low value customers begins with identifying who your high-value customers are and implementing a plan to target them by utilizing the most efficient marketing media and collateral. The effort requires collecting and analyzing real data to determine the most efficient way to reach high-value customer candidates. The process includes metrics that measure a strategies return on investment (ROI) and return on advertising spend (ROAS) to determine the real cost of customer acquisition. Calculating the “cost per acquisition” for all marketing spend, whether it is SEO, PPC, Email, Social Media or Display will pay big dividends and is essential to an organizations achievement of its overall goals and objectives.

The traditional assumption that throwing more money at the process of attracting customers will, by itself, lead to an organizations success and increased profitability fails to recognize the ever changing dynamics of today’s business environment.

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Are you completely confident, when you use one or more of the online ecommerce or social media outlets, that your personal data is protected from malicious hackers seeking to gather the information for ill-gotten gain? The recent hacking of the Ashley Madison website demonstrates the impact and vulnerability that a scandal can impose on online users. The growing sense among internet users is that regardless of any meaningful security measures, hackers will prevail.  A recent Associated Press poll found that 58 percent of people have “deep worries” when spending or conducting personal business online. But is all the noise surrounding the infamous breaches in securing consumers personal information causing us to hesitate doing some very simple things to help stop the unwanted activity?

It only takes a few simple, basic actions to help reduce your exposure to risks. “The strongest defense is educated consumers who know what they can do to keep themselves secure,” says Alexander Popowycz, vice president of information security at Fidelity. Consumers must remain diligent and be smart about how they are interacting with unknown and unseen online acquaintances. Always verify the legitimacy of any Web site that asks you for personal information. If you would hesitate to reveal the information to some stranger you encounter on the street, than why make it easily known to some unfamiliar website? A recent national survey conducted by Consumers Reports revealed that the study’s 3110 respondents said they have done nothing to protect their privacy on the Internet.

The most effective defense against an army of hackers is a well-informed and vigilant individual who takes personal responsibility while engaging in internet transactions. Social media sites have become a prime target for those who are looking to relieve you from your private information. Last year, 42 million passwords were exposed when hackers hit Cupid Media dating sites. Posting personal information on Facebook, Google Plus, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Twitter, can open up a vast opportunity for the community of internet miscreants. The sharing of some personal information to the world may be best shared on a “need to know basis.”

While many of the techniques users can employ to protect themselves are well known and readily available, it appears that consumers need to be reminded of their role in securing the internet. Many responsible internet companies have rallied to install and maintain the latest anti hacking software and devices to protect their customer’s data, but there is so much more to do. Consumer organizations’ security efforts are about more than just keeping hackers at bay with firewalls and algorithms. A new perspective recently published in the Deloitte Press says, ”Consumer product executives should consider viewing data privacy and security not just as a risk management issue, but as a potential source of competitive advantage that may be a central component of brand-building and corporate reputation. The field appears wide open for consumer product companies to differentiate themselves through a reputation for strong data privacy and security practices.”

The advancement of technology has far outpaced the protocols and processes required to protect and secure data. While Deloitte Press debates risk management versus competitive advantage, it might be time for all companies to consider it the new standard for doing business in this age of digital innovation.

For those who longed for a breather, even the briefest of respite, from all the mega pieces of data that is pouring from the seemingly endless number of sensors, trackers and locators that mine the digital landscape of commerce the past few years, there appears to be no letting-up in the coming year. The New Year promises to birth even more volumes of “big data” from even more sensors, trackers and locators that monitor consumers purchasing motions and promise to predict their every want, desire and position as they move about their busy days. All the data, and what to do with it, is not a new dilemma for marketers. Gartner IT forecasts there will be 6.4 billion internet-connected things in 2016, up 30% from 2015.  In the coming year advanced algorithmic / programmatic approaches will need to expand and become even more common as consumers continue to expand their usage of smartphones, tablets, desktops, smart TVs, and game consoles. Merging consumer behavior data from an ever expanding array of devises presents a formidable challenge to marketers going forward

If ever there was a great example of too much of anything to be good, the bountiful fruits of data collection rise to the top of the list. But do not despair, new, more efficient data analytics is trending forward. According to Forbes, only 15% of Fortune 500 companies are currently using big data analytics but one trade group reports that businesses are beginning to invest a larger share of resources into data analysis. Spending on efforts to make better sense of the data is expected to grow by 23% each year until 2019 and privacy issues will become a value to which customers will respond. How well a business handles of all of their personal information is more critical than ever as consumers elevate privacy issues in their list of importance. Nearly 33% of all online adult consumers have canceled a transaction due to privacy concerns. Organizations are warned to keep data security as an important element in their overall digital marketing strategy.

Social selling is poised to go main stream in 2016 as social media sites like; LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter initiate plans to enable social selling through their platforms. But creative, brand specific content will evolve to replace much of the “boiler plate” messaging currently blanketing the landscape. Businesses will need to sharpen and expand their message in order to be heard above all the noise. Quality of message will dominate quantity of message and those with the most original and compelling content will dominate all others in the space.  With 65% of buyers reporting that vendor’s content had an impact on their final purchase decision, cultural, customer centric content is imperative in order to capture a lion’s share of the data driven, consumer market. Loyalty programs will continue to be an effective tool but will need to focus more on improving participation while strengthening the bond between the customer and the brand.

With the threat of a shrinking global economy, “lean and mean” is an operations strategy poised for a reprise in the coming year. Innovation and optimization will be in the forefront of an effective and efficient operational strategy. Despite a few rare successes of flamboyant start-ups in the past year like: Airbnb, Dropbox, and Square, it is predicted that the IPO market is slowing down and investors becoming more risk adverse. Successful star-ups, as well as established firms looking to expand in the coming years will need to become fixated on getting the most out of every investment dollar.

Unfortunately for those seeking a pause to the chaos and disruption caused by the proliferation of new technologies, the immediate future is likely to produce even more of the same. Organization that embrace the challenge and advance their efforts to reap the benefits of creative solutions are most likely to be the businesses that move forward in the list of those who dominate their market.

As businesses embark on another year of battling on the fields and in the trenches of competition, the plethora of new and nearly new methods of connecting with customers and the marketing tools used in competing in this technological era is not only altering the tactical plan but also the overall campaign strategy. Traditionally a typical strategy would call upon the organization’s sales team to be dispatched to a specific market segment where a firm’s sales force utilizes techniques like personal cold calls, knuckles to the door or old fashioned telephone surfing of prospective customers.

The challenge for traditional marketing approaches in 2016 is to adapt to the “age of the consumer”. In an era where the customer chooses how they will engage with marketing messages, a traditional market approach must give way to a customer approach where the marketing process is driven to serve the customer, guide them to a purchasing decision, educate them or demonstrate your brand’s value. A successful “customer obsessed” strategy utilizes multiple channels, relies on quality of content over quantity and a focus on a process that values the needs of the consumer and promotes a seamless relationship between marketing and sales.

Strategy core components include; a firm’s brand reputation; a value added, authoritative voice; a clearly defined audience and seamless execution, regardless of channel, device, or method of delivery. Consistency and constancy of process rules!

For marketers who long for a breather from the intensity of a hyper competitive environment, or a “magic bullet” solution, 2016 will fail to deliver the bullet or offer little respite from the intensity of the battle. As Fred Brooks said, “There is no single development, in either technology or management technique, which by itself promises even one order of magnitude [tenfold] improvement within a decade in productivity, in reliability, in simplicity.” For company’s who dedicate their every effort to establishing a consistent and controlled “customer obsessed” culture, the future holds much promise.

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Winning an election, any election to public office, requires a candidate to capture at least 51 percent of the market. A bit daunting, to say the least particularly when even the most successful marketer has ever come close to capturing more than 50 percent of their market. With digital technology and social media platforms dominating the marketing landscape, effective branding is of paramount importance to selling anything, even a politician’s message. But even in the mostly analog times of the past, the ability to develop a winning brand strategy for a politician and their message ended up being the determining factor in who won or lost.

More than ever, candidates today must understand the social physics of what is most effective in motivating buyers or, in the case of public elections, voters into making a buying decision. While developing an intelligent, original and meaningful message that is distributed across the full spectrum of marketing collateral is fundamental to succeeding; the brands logo associated with a candidate may be the most important aspect of a successful political campaign. To be effective it must be representative of the candidate’s personality; be memorable and adaptable to all media platforms; and convey an immediate and impactful message. So how are the 2016 Presidential candidates doing with their branding strategies?

Hillary Clinton’s brand promotes experience and confidence and her 2016 campaign logo, a blue H with a red horizontal arrowhead, invokes a sense of forward movement and may represent an attempt to promote the message of moving forward to something better than what now exist. While the logo meets the memorable and architectural requirements of a good logo, some have been critical of the image for its simplicity. Others point out that her stated message of continuing the established policies of the current president and her previous experience as Secretary of State is contrary to the bold, forward looking promise of her brand. For voters who are looking for innovation and change in the next office holder, what hope is there for change and creativity with a candidate who espouses simple continuity?

Mike Huckabee’s sweeping, athletic, red, white and blue logo appeared to be a perfect fit for a bumper sticker but his “From Hope To Higher Ground” message, while effectively playing off President Obama’s successful message of 2008, fell short of defining his mission or the term “higher ground” for voters in the primary elections. Marco Rubio’s brand was youthful, trusting and experience and his logo was a fair representation of his message which attempted to brand him as the best choice for those seeking an experienced, inside outsider. The effort and his overly persistent messaging failed the persuasion factor.

To many voters, the Ted Cruz brand remains as much of a mystery coming down the primary stretch to the finish as he was when he sprung out of the gate at the beginning of the race. The candidate’s brand is most akin to the personality and behavior of every family’s eccentric uncle, who lives aside from the rest and takes seemingly immense joy in peppering the other members with pesky and critical zingers. Hoping to be the brand carrier for the Christian, evangelical and ultra conservative voter, his message has not yet translated into a substantial hit on its intended mark. The challenge for the Cruz campaign in the words of its manager Jeff Roe is, “Regardless of what you’ve got in the bank, you’d better determine the narrative of the campaign, and show that’s who we are, every day.’’ And many might add in response, NOW would be a good time to deliver a performing narrative. The Ted Cruz logo, a representation of the American Flag in the shape of a flame, successfully projects an aura of mystery instead of clarity of message. Its design has been compared to the logos of Aljazeera, the Onion and the Natural Gas industry, none of which can possibly hope to attract positive reaction among voters of any demographic looking for clarity of message. Artist Milton Glaser, the celebrated designer behind the “I Love NY” logo, expressed confusion at Cruz’s messaging in an interview with Business Insider recently. “This looks like another example of a flag burning to me. Is Mr. Cruz certain that is what he wants to say?” Be warned, in all things, perception is the most persistent form of truth.

And then there is Donald Trump. The consummate iconic egotist and entertainer, Mr. Trumps brand is that of the un-politician whose goal is to “Make America Great Again”. His out spoken and boastful personality and lack of filtering when speaking his mind is capturing votes among a large number of the electorate who are fed-up with career politicians and the current state of our nations representative marketplace. His message is overtly void of specifics on how he intends to make America great again, but his commitment to consistently conveying his brand to the market is resonating with voters to the amazement of all the political experts, political media pun dents and established marketing  mavens who have long predicted his early demise. His message is not so much defining the benefits of his policies but rather the negative and personal idiosyncrasies and capabilities of his opponents. Being different may be his most powerful enticement to capturing the masses.

In order to be successful, it has long been thought that a successful campaigner must identify itself with an appealing and accessible image that is compliant in every aspect to the brand. Usually simply creating a look and feel is not enough when making a logo, except if you’re Donald Trump. The modern font and common red, white and blue colors are a bit of a departure for the typical Trump business moniker but it is true to who he is and personifies his simply stated message.

For a Presidential candidate the task at hand is huge, no matter the message, the party or the brand, capturing 51 percent of sales on Election Day in a complex and diverse market is a tall order. A successful brand dictates a narrow focus but winning a national election demands a candidate who can connect with a wide and comprehensive electorate. The competing dynamics is about to play out, and the prize for the best brand is about to be awarded.

“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted,” Philadelphia department store magnate John Wanamaker was famously quoted as saying. “The trouble is I don’t know which half.” And while the markets, methods, media and advertising choices have changed dramatically amidst the digital technology revolution, most of today’s marketers continue to struggle with measuring the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. Regardless of size, advertisers need to formulate a strategy that will focus advertising spend to specific customers and market segments, while also instituting measures to evaluate the effectiveness and return on investment. The benefit of modern digital technology is revolutionizing the art of connecting with customers, reaching out to consumers were they work, play, live or shop. John Wanamaker would certainly be impressed with all the bells, whistles and pop-ups but would he be any more certain as to how much his advertising resources were going to waste?

Recently the confidence level in the metrics utilized by advertising firms and digital media outlets to measure the effective reach of their ads is taking a credibility hit. Ad blocking or ad filtering, the removing or altering of advertising content in a webpage by the reader is becoming pervasive in the web advertising space. Ad blocker software is hitting publishers hard and just at a time when they thought they solved the problem of generating an income stream from free news. Adobe says that $21.8 billion in global ad revenue will be blocked this year by consumers using one or more ad blocking software programs. The problem is that internet users, particularly younger ones, have decided they hate online ads. As one woman said in a recent Reuters report, “Online ads are obtrusive, obnoxious and annoying.” For the marketer, it would be easy to overlook the consumer’s complaints and the publisher’s problem with their business model, but the cost issue of ineffective advertising runs downhill, to the advertiser. As well, the negative impact on an annoyed and frustrated consumer would most likely manifest itself with the brands reputation not the publisher or advertising agency.

One allusive aspect of advertising is the question of how much is enough? At what rate of frequency is an optimal level achieved and at what point is the economic law of diminishing return crossed? When does more advertising produce less positive results with consumers? With the popularity of ad blocking software on the rise, it is fair to say that advertisers have, at the very least, crossed that threshold. Chris Payne, public affairs manager and head of the digital advertising unit at the WFA, says, “Ultimately, how we measure success within the industry will affect behavioral change. The industry has struggled to come up with metrics that reflect the real value of advertising in the eyes of the consumer. Current indicators of success, such as pay-per-view, aren’t necessarily indicative of a happy consumer.”

Dr. Johnny Ryan, head of ecosystem for PageFair, one of five major providers of ad blocking software, commented, “Hundreds of millions of users have rebelled against the status quo in advertising. We are seeing the collapse of the mechanism that has supported the diversity of content on the open web since the 1990s. Blocking is an opportunity to undo the mistakes of the first 20 years of advertising on the web.”

Wanamaker’s dilemma remains intact for advertisers, even today. The size of the advertising budget doesn’t matter. The only difference between a small operation and a mega business is the size of the numbers. In an intensely competitive environment, neither can afford wasted resources. Due diligence is imperative and a strategy focused on specific goals and objectives and measured by credible metrics is essential for the success of any advertising campaign. How much are you wasting?

A company’s website is a living, breathing entity on the internet and, in today’s digital marketing world, your audience’s first impression of your business. Protecting a brand image and maintaining access to your company and its services is critical to the success of any business entity. Stale or aging websites often become technically obsolete, are less engaging to users over time, can often result in lower search rankings and deliver lower traffic rates. Just like a weathered sign hanging over a business, a fresh coat of paint is necessary to properly project the desired brand image. A worn and aging website can project an image of being irrelevant with nothing new to offer.

With digital marketing fast becoming the leading factor in an organizations success, updating a website to respond to new mobile technology with user friendly functions and improved access to customers through your social media outlets can be critical to connecting with today’s digital savvy consumers.

Junction Creative Solutions (Junction) has recently redesigned their website to reflect the company’s evolving service offerings. An award winning strategic agency committed to creating high impact solutions for SMBS and Fortune 500 companies, Junction’s approach is to combine the intellectual capital of a business consulting firm with the creative execution of an advertising agency; creating a hybrid model for today’s business environment.

Julie Gareleck, CEO and founder says,” As the marketing landscape changes and consumer expectations evolve, it’s critical for companies to stay ahead of the trend. Whether it’s a brand logo or a comprehensive set of website solutions designed to support sales and marketing or a social media strategy to grow your digital footprint, maintaining a fresh and relevant website is a key component in a successful strategy.”

To view Junctions new website and learn more about how their experienced team can become a catalyst for developing and implementing a successful marketing strategy for your company, visit our website: http://junction-creative.com/.

Ask any veteran in business and you’ll hear stories about the ongoing war between the marketing function and the sales department. Many relationships between the sales and the marketing departments often resemble an efficient and effective circular firing squad. As sales slump marketing blames sales for not executing on its plan and sales complains that marketing has failed to listen to the sales team or the customer and therefore put forth a failed plan.

This lack of a shared connection to the teams and the common process hurts organizational performance, ultimately raising the costs associated with launching the product to the consumer. Recent studies indicate that organizations with successfully aligned marketing and sales efforts experience significant sales growth over organizations who fail to achieve a strategic alignment of the departments.

In order to achieve effective alignment, effort must be taken to navigate personal conflicting emotions, egos and an inevitable competitive environment to establish a set of clear organizational objectives and goals for both functions. Marketing should never envision its purpose as one which operates within a vacuum, but rather one that reaches out to form partnerships with sales and client services to successfully deliver on its business value. Working strategically to combine both marketing and sales will produce business growth.

Establish Common Goals and Objectives – Goals and Objectives must be set and agreed to upfront for both teams. For marketing and sales to form a new unified relationship both players must focus their objective on improving performance. Your customers are a moving target, the relationship between marketing and sales must also evolve constantly in order to consistently hit their target.

Develop a Strategy – An effective strategy begins with defining the company’s vision, mission and business goals and sets forth specific benchmarks to achieving those goals. It should be planned and developed in consultation between marketing, sales and other stakeholders. Its purpose is to describe your business and its products and services; identify and position your products and services in the marketplace; formulate the tactics to be used and design a method to measure and monitor progress and effectiveness.

Monitor and Measure Results – It is still true that what gets measured gets accomplished. Design a set of performance parameters that are simple to understand by all stakeholders but comprehensive enough to be meaningful. Review them regularly and adapt your plan to respond to the dynamics of the marketplace.

Adapt – Today’s business environment is the most rapidly evolving and revolving in history. Truly nothing remains the same for long and the only true absolute is the act of change. Recognizing the dynamics of the marketplace and adapting to meet the consumers demands is critical to success.  You must be able to pivot, adapting your strategy as the business environment dictates.

In some instances long standing inter-department tension can make transitioning to a truly strategically aligned team effort a formidable task. Initiating a partnership with an experienced outside organization with specific skill-sets to successfully marry the two internal functional departments may produce the best results. Junction Creative Solutions (Junction) is experienced strategic experts to mid-size and growth stage companies that can customize a strategy for aligning sales and marketing functions for you.

“Many clients who first approach Junction for a marketing strategy, end up needing organizational alignment first,” comments Julie Gareleck, CEO & Managing Partner. “We are able to work with all stakeholders across an organization to develop a smart and purposeful strategy, designed to achieve the goals and objectives of the business, sales, and marketing. It’s incredibly effective and impactful.”

To learn more about Junction’s success bridging the gap between sales and marketing teams, contact Julie at julie@junction-creative.com.

Much has been written and said about the importance of remaining true to who you are and being consistent in acting synchronously with your core values. Consistency, whether applied to personal behavior or your business can be the most challenging of the fundamentals of behavior or business management. In the face of pressure to grow sales, increase market share over the competition or meet arbitrary next quarter sales goals; staying true to who you are and what brought you to success can be a formidable challenge. Combine that with the one absolute that says, “in business to stand still in one place invites irrelevance in the market” and staying true to your brands identity can become a herculean task at best. Ralph Waldo Emerson is credited with saying, “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” Emerson wasn’t referring to business but the thought could just as legitimately be applied.

An organization’s core value is relative to that which it does best or that which it is best known for in a market. A product or service that has value to consumers can often include intangibles and anything else that consumers can associate with your efforts.  A company’s brand image is the total of all the perceptions held by customers about your specific product offerings and is an important component of your brands value. Straying too far from a core identity in search of increased profit or market position can be damaging.

Surveys have found that increasing the number or complexity of products will result in consumer confusion, a fact that is contrary to established marketing theory that more choices are better for consumers and will naturally lead to additional sales. New product offerings must be relevant to the core brand to be successful.

After years of unsuccessful efforts to appeal to a broader consumer market with non-traditional health-conscious salads, snack wraps, smoothies and low-calorie, fries, Burger King is finally realizing that it is all about the hamburger, and maybe the relevant hot dog. McDonald’s, after years of declining sales, is still searching for its former self, the one that got it to the top of the fast-food spectrum. Steve Barr, PwC’s US retail and consumer leader, says, “There are brands that know exactly who they are and they never ever try to be anything more than they are. I think, from my perspective, it’s less about history and more about relevancy, and even the best of brands, if they don’t maintain their relevancy, will lose their way with the consumer. The great thing about the classic brands is there really is a tremendous amount of trust. So when those brands do change, even as they’re constantly reinventing themselves, they’re always staying true to their purpose.”

The evolving advancement in technology and changes in consumer behavior are pushing companies to embrace new strategies to remain relevant in a dynamically changing marketplace. Those that are successful in meeting the new demands of its customers are those that remain focused on its core purpose. Are you consistent in your efforts to reach your audience? What has worked for your business?

As we approach the year-end, tradition demands that business leaders begin to focus on the trends in the economy and set-forth economic predictions for the coming year and propose strategies to enable businesses to respond effectively to those proposed challenges. While many of the “the sky is falling” predictions may be overstated, the accepted consensus of thought among leading economists is gravitating toward a likely recession sometime in 2017.

Some more extreme predictions promote an impending economic downturn greater than that experienced in 2008. “I think the end of 2017 or the start of 2018 is quite possible for a recession,” says Brad McMillan, chief investment officer at Commonwealth Financial. “All the indicators seem to be lining up for that time frame.” Hopes that a change in presidential leadership will defer such a down turn hold little promise. “Our expectation is the economy will be relatively weak. The next president is going to need a plan right out of the gate,” says John Engler, president of the Business Roundtable, the group that has spoken with both Clinton’s and Trump’s campaigns about ideas to spur growth. Coming out of the “Great Recession” of 2008 many business leaders expected a recovery typical of past economic declines but was surprised to experience a persistent, lagging time span and the overall weakness of the recovery. “We’re kind of stuck in a funk,” says economist David Beckworth of Western Kentucky University. “This is the new normal.” Whether we are to believe these pessimistic forecasts or not, now is the time for organizational leaders to formulate a business strategy for survival and growth in 2017.

The process of formulating an effective strategy begins with evaluating the current state of your business, syncing with who your best customers are and what solutions are most vital to them.  Remember, a plan is the road map to a future reality. A projected journey to protect a position and hold the line against the competition is not a plan for sustainability or growth in the marketplace.

No matter the pedigree or the validity of an economic forecast, a legitimate strategic plan requires the ability to monitor measure and respond to changes in original assumptions. An ongoing focus on the metrics of the plans progress will permit you to evolve your tactics to address a dynamic environment that may threaten a plans original projected outcome.

A responsible allocation of resources to any endeavor is critical to the success of any outcome. The results of any process can be linked back to the amount of resources directed at the effort. “Pie-in-the-Sky” goals and objectives in any economy is a certain detriment to a successful outcome. Reasonable, realistic and responsible projections set the foundation for a sound strategy.

Not all organizations are structured to develop, execute and manage a comprehensive strategic process. Forming a partnership with an experienced and skilled provider who is in the position to focus the necessary skills on the process can be essential to success.

Founder and CEO of Junction Creative Solutions (Junction) says, “We have already started the strategic planning process with many of our clients before the end of the year. We are assisting our clients with developing strategies such that we can respond in real-time to this volatile political environment and rapidly changing marketplace. Our team is constantly monitoring market trends to better inform our clients of how it might impact a specific market segment or target consumer. ”

Now is the time to prioritize, identified and develop a phased strategically smart approach to weathering the coming economic storm whatever its intensity.

At the coming of the end of each calendar year there comes a practice that appears to be an unavoidable part of our culture. It is understandable that at the end of something there certainly must be a beginning of something else, a sort of evolutionary ideology that mandates a certain continuity of things both past and present. Predicting outcomes of the future, whether by flight of fancy or scientific “guessimation”, has always had a certain risk of accuracy when measured in the hind-sight but it appears that the level of success has had little impact on stemming the seemingly unavoidable practice of prognostication as each old year ending approaches. So what’s coming ahead in the business of marketing in the New Year? How will it propose to be better or worse than from where we have just come?

The digital era will continue to dominate marketing efforts across the spectrum of business sectors. Consumers are dictating to marketers how they want to consume information. Users are no longer using 1 or 2 devices so mobile expansions for marketers is critical. This trend is likely to strengthen in the coming year as the technology continues to improve in scope and ease of use. In 2017, if you haven’t already, embrace mobile!

Content and marketers focused on providing quality content to audiences will continue to dominate the mainstream marketing environment. We have come a long way from the early efforts to first imagine the potential impact of social media marketing and then to follow through on its promises by mastering effective and more conversational and interactive content messaging. The conversation will continue to project the brands promise to seemingly individualized consumers while finding that efficiency sweet spot. The keyword in content will become “personalization”, which doesn’t fit in 40 characters or less.

The Influencer factor will continue to motivate consumers’ as confidence and trust rise in those who will be viewed as thought leaders. Selecting the appropriate influencer will be critical in establishing brand credibility.

Purpose Driven Marketing continues to extend marketing efforts beyond the sale and promotes a feel-good impression with customers. Look to see more brands form charity partnerships with non-profits in 2017.

Social media channels will continue to grow in quality and selection as yet unproven technology like livestreaming, virtual and augmented reality arrive to satisfy the appetite of 2.5 billion active social media users worldwide. Marketers will be challenged to identify and utilize those channels that work best for achieving their goals. Messaging apps will begin to find their utilization. Chad Martin, North American Director, Social and Emerging Media at VML, states that, “The idea of being able to engage with a customer in a one on one way is huge. The hurdle will be figuring out how to develop relevant content to so many.”

Given the surprises in the geopolitical world in 2016, we cannot underestimate the likelihood of something unforeseen and unpredictable in 2017, whether it’s new technology or yet undetected swings in consumer tastes. The unexpected can certainly arise. Whatever the reality of marketing trend predictions, it promises to be a very interesting and challenging time ahead.

Comprehensive Cancer Center

Technology and connectivity continues to disrupt how we access information. Once limited to a one-or two line posting in the local telephone Yellow Pages (remember those?) medical practitioners of all disciplines felt little incentive to promote their services any way other than personal referrals from current patients and an occasional advertisement in the local papers.

As an aging population ignited an increased demand for specialty medical practitioners, the competition among medical services including hospital systems, urgent care networks, private practices, cancer treatment centers, telemedical service providers and others has intensified. Today there is a greater reliance on more sophisticated marketing strategies to bring patients to the medical providers. Choosing a doctor is no longer a random or arbitrary choice but one easily researched from among many providers from the comfort the patient’s home or mobile device. John Socratous, Wizmotions CEO, says, “One of the biggest consumer segments we see moving to aggressive advertising are doctors. Explainer videos, SEO and online reviews seemed secondary in the medical field for many years. Today, that is no longer the case.”

At the Gettysburg Cancer Center (GCC) in Historic Gettysburg PA, the doctors understand the importance of being accessible as patients embrace the technology in learning about their illness and the expanding science of treatment and care. Even with their all-encompassing oncology and hematology programs providing a complete range of diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up cancer care, Gettysburg Cancer Center has launched a new website that is designed to educate and inform its patients. Dedicated to providing insightful, compassionate care to all of their patients, GCC understands that every person is unique as they strive to ensure every patient the highest quality care and best possible outcome for their cancer treatment. Their new website and strategic marketing initiatives now reflect that elevated commitment to cancer care.

Junction Creative Solutions, an award winning strategic agency committed to creating high impact solutions, was uniquely qualified to design and execute a successful implementation of social and digital collateral to satisfy GCC’s commanding presence in the cancer treatment center marketplace. With many years of experience in the telemedical, pharmaceutical, hospital and consultative medical services sectors, Junction is perfectly positioned to answer the creative needs of GCC.

Julie Gareleck, Founder and CEO, said, “As the marketing landscape changes and consumer expectations evolve, it’s critical to remain ahead of the trend, particularly in the healthcare field where connecting patients with the best possible care providers can often have life or death implications. Junction believes that an effective content strategy adds significant value to a business, particularly in an era where patients have access to information – and a lot of it.  Healthcare companies must focus on communicating with patients where they are accessing information.”

For more than 25 years, Gettysburg Cancer Center has been committed to providing cancer care in a community-based setting close to their patient’s home. Their caring and educated staff is dedicated to providing a caring environment for patients and their families with individualized treatment, utilizing the best technical approach, and recognizing each patient’s psychological, emotional, and spiritual needs during their journey with their illness and healing.

To see more about how Junction’s creative team of marketing specialist is helping GCC successfully connect with their patients, visit www.gettysburgcancercenter.com.

2017 promises to be a time of real economic growth and expansion, yet riddled with a dynamically changing political environment. All of this during a time where technology is expected to advance five times as fast as it has in the last 2 decades.  All of this requires that businesses remain agile and open to adapting new strategies and processes to support a more sustainable approach to growth.

“Since 2009, Junction Creative Solutions (Junction) has worked with more than 240 brands, to include small to mid-size, growth stage, and Fortune 500 companies,” comments Julie Gareleck, CEO & Managing Partner, Junction.  “We’ve been on the front lines with our clients, redefining strategies that work in today’s changing environment.”

In 2016, Junction effectively grew its client base by nearly 30%, further expanding its reach and strengthening its competencies across a multitude of verticals.  As many companies turn to Junction, the conversation is not just a marketing discussion but rather a business growth discussion. Junction’s extensive experience working across verticals enables us to effectively meet the demands of our clients. While marketing is a significant component to sustainable growth, it’s just one part of the overall strategy for success in 2017.  Junction’s breadth of expertise in healthcare, financial, professional services, SaaS, eCommerce, technology, consumer packaged goods, retail, among others, brings a unique perspective to its clients.

“We are very excited about our growth results from 2016,” comments Julie Gareleck, CEO & Managing Partner of Junction Creative, “But we understand from our experiences that as the business environment ahead becomes more dynamic, it’s critical to remain ahead of the trends in order to develop the most effective and comprehensive set of solutions to support our client’s sales and marketing initiatives. We look forward to driving even more results for our clients in 2017.”

If you are looking for a firm who will not only provide strategic insights but also assist in the effective implementation, contact us at 676-686-1125 or Julie@junction-creative.com.