Jay Conrad Levinson – Neil Sagebiel

Ad spending may be down (print ads in particular), but there are still those who believe in advertising. A friend of mine who is a business owner expressed his belief early this year, recalling the blunt statement of a Coca-Cola executive (paraphrased):

“When I advertise, my sales go up. When I don’t advertise, my sales go down.”

That seems like a no-brainer for a mega brand such as Coca-Cola. Even in leaner times they surely have a gargantuan advertising budget.

But Coca-Cola was also bullish on advertising in its early days when the fledgling soft drink company painted farmers’ barns at no charge throughout the South. All re-painted barns prominently displayed the Coca-Cola name in bright red.

Continue reading “The Advertising Downturn and Other Thoughts”

I remember once looking at Jay Conrad Levinson’s 100 marketing weapons on his Guerilla Marketing Web site. All 100 can stimulate your thinking on marketing tactics, whether you’re a solo practitioner or mega corporation.

I had been considering writing about benefits when I saw it on Jay’s list, No. 44.

Do you have a comprehensive list of benefits for your product(s) and service(s)? Have you updated it recently?

No matter what business you’re in, you’re not selling products and services. Well, maybe you are, but clients and customers are buying tangible or perceived benefits.

When you truly understand what those benefits are and present them in a compelling way, leads and sales will grow.