It’s a simple, yet complicated question: is there a social coupon bubble?

Let’s just review the numbers on the growth of Groupon: they’ve been around since late 2008 – a little over two years. In that two years, the company has grown to over 3,000 employees in 29 countries. They recently secured nearly a billion dollars in financing. Guesstimates of the company’s annual revenue are in the range of $2 billion.  Last month, they turned down a $6 billion offer from Google, and will consider an IPO instead. These are stellar growth numbers, to be sure – but are they a little too stellar? Read More »

Were you at Dreamforce in early December?  If you’re like 30,000 other people (and many MLC members) the answer is yes.  If you’re like me, the answer is… not exactly.  We were busy writing our surveys on customer behavior (B2B members, it’s not too late to get great insight into your customers for free—just email me at <freemank at executiveboard dot com> if you would like more information, or take a look at this document).  As a result, I had to attend virtually.

Thankfully, it is pretty much fully available online, so I’m fully prepared to offer 3 marketing trends observed from Dreamforce – with MLC resources to help you get after them – as well as my opinion about the most interesting salesforce.com announcement for B2B marketers. Read More »

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Coca-Cola is holding its annual marketing meeting at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. While this may sound surprising at first, it makes more sense when you consider some powerful statistics: 71 million Americans use a mobile device to access the internet every month and, in a recent study, 38% of US shoppers said they used their mobile devices to help make a final decision for an in-store purchase.

This helps explain the recent explosion of mobile marketing: According to eMarketer, mobile advertising spending is expected to top $1 billion in 2011, with the spending being equally distributed across messaging, search and display. Read More »

In the coming year, MLC will be exploring how mobile and social media are disrupting consumers’ decision making processes.  Members are telling us that stated purchase intent is less predictive than it used to be, and that more consumers are changing their minds at the last minute.  A recent McKinsey study supports these observations, finding that 40% of consumers change their mind at the point of purchase and end up buying something they hadn’t intended to purchase. We’re going to be testing a few hypotheses around why consumers aren’t following through on intentions and exploring what the best companies are doing to increase follow-through. Read More »

“The most effective coupons aren’t the ones that save you money on things you’d buy anyway; they’re the ones that come from out of nowhere, giving you license to buy something you otherwise wouldn’t.”

–Matt Schwartz, writer for Wired, paraphrasing Groupon founder Andrew Mason’s view of coupons

Okay, okay, you’ve heard the news.  Google offered $6 billion to Groupon, which is something like 12 days old but has 5 billion customers.

Point of advice #1: if someone offers you $6B, take it (I’m kidding, of course—always double down and hold out for more)

Point of advice #2:  If you’re a marketer at a mass brand—and no one is offering you $6B so you can call in rich tomorrow— it’s worth your while to understand why Google is offering $6B for Groupon. Read More »

’Tis the season of buy, buy, buy. But more and more people are asking Why, why, why? It’s in trying to answer this question — what’s the why behind the buy? — that Iconoculture recently launched a new macrotrend, one we call Mindful Matters. The idea underpinning this macrotrend is that people are mindfully re-prioritizing what they buy, who they do business with and even how they live. They’re adding “simplicity” and “manageability” to their personal wishlists instead of iPods or flatscreen TVs. Read More »

What can moscato teach us about marketing planning and skillsets of socially-savvy marketers?   More than you might imagine.

This sweet wine sourced from the Muscat grape was a rounding error on annual wine sales in the US.

Until Drake came along. Read More »

Seinfeld is one of the most popular shows in the history of American television, and is in many ways emblematic of the 1990’s. But have you ever considered that the show has a lot to teach about marketing strategy?

It’s true. Seinfeld was noted by critics for its unique focus on mundane human interactions, a large number of which included buying and selling stuff. From George’s Russian hat to the muffin tops to the famous J. Peterman catalogue, Seinfeld featured consumerism as a key element in the plotlines of many episodes, the result of which is a show that’s rich in lessons for marketers.

Here’s a look at a few key marketing strategies explored in Seinfeld: Read More »

By Kirsten Robinson

When I think of Thanksgiving, I picture my family, turkey, mashed potatoes—and, on Television, enormous balloons floating down the streets of New York. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade is so iconic that the Macy’s brand itself is practically synonymous with one of America’s biggest holidays.

But this branding feat is more than 80 years in the making, and we’ll probably never see anything quite like it again. Read More »

On December 1, CEB will release our Executive Guidance for 2011, Achieving Intelligent Growth. In it, we argue that what separates stable from volatile enterprises is a relentless focus on “intelligent growth” – a long-term pattern of above-industry performance in both revenue growth and efficiency – that persists in all economic climates. Our research teams examined nearly 1,800 global companies across all industries, and found that only 143 companies fit the bill. The Executive Guidance report examines why, and how, those companies got there. Read More »