Serfwerks co-founder, Nate Gibby, has been invited to present to Westminster College’s Institute for New Enterprise on November 11, 2009. The presentation will focus on some of the problems with the traditional marketing problems such as lack of data in decision making, tactics before strategy and unbounded creativity, including solutions to those problems.

When developing marketing collateral of any kind, too frequently marketers, designers and others involved in the process too often think more about developing a piece that is “creative” or “cool” rather than focusing on what is most likely to be successful. Don’t get me wrong, creativity is vital to good marketing. I appreciate good creativity as much as anyone. Each year when the advertising awards are presented by the various publications and/or associations, I eat them up with the rest of my colleagues.

However, it is the unbounded or unrestrained portion of the creativity that becomes a problem. This is where marketing is viewed as some sort of mystical process that magically generates business. You get a few really creative people on your team, leave them to their own devices, and “bam” sales come in the door, people give you money, and ideas are espoused. Continue reading →

Getting customers to respond to marketing efforts has been an age-old dilemma for all marketers. Many think that enticing customers with some sort of promotional offer or discount is the best way to spark customer interest or sales. There is no question the promotional offers can be effective for certain types of products or services. However, once promotional (money lost due to discounting) and actual (price of marketing the promotion) costs are combined in with the conditioning effect that can cause some customers to buy only when a product or service is on sale, the promotional offer can be far more expensive than you could have ever anticipated. Continue reading →

Coupons can be an effective way to induce trial. They can introduce a new product, maintain/ increase market share, attract first-time users and increase brand awareness and switching[1]. A recent study showed that key grocery shoppers in larger, middle-income households are more likely to use coupons[2].

However, there are some serious drawbacks to the practice of couponing. First, coupons decrease top-line revenue by decreasing the amount of money collected by a business through some sort of discount. Continue reading →

The chapter of the American Marketing Association at the University of Utah has invited Serfwerks co-founder, Nate Gibby, to present at its monthly meeting in October. Scheduled for October 21st, the presentation will focus on some of the problems with the traditional marketing process as well as how data-driven marketing solutions can create significantly improved marketing results. The location of the event will be determined