Market Segmentation Lets You KISS Your Customers

I’ve decided to try a different medium/ So, here’s the latest post in a video format:

Thanks for listening to this “Daily Dose” of marketing science!

A Month of Voyeuristic Learning…

 

Remember the movie entitled The Wizard of Oz? Everyone in the Emerald City spoke in awed tones about the “great and powerful Wizard” who appeared as a gigantic, surrealistic, and very nonhuman disembodied head. Speaking in a thunderous voice heightened with intimidating lighting effects, the Wizard was fearsome, indeed.

 

That is until Dorothy’s dog pulled aside a curtain to reveal an ordinary looking man running a control room that electronically projected the fearsome images and sounds. And once the truth was revealed, the posturing could be eliminated and everyone could focus on accomplishing the original goal.

 

Sometimes technology can be intimidating. Sometimes it obscures the original goal that it was supposed to accomplish. Sometimes it’s good to slip behind the curtain and discover just how things actually work.

 

This month we will examine how real companies have tackled real problems with the technology at hand. Sometimes the efforts will be elegant. Sometimes, they will be little more than the technical equivalent of glue and string. But all of these mini-cases will push past any intimidating technology to reveal just how an important business problem was solved. So don your ruby slippers as DataDocsDailyDose.com leads you down the yellow brick road to uncover a month of business technology solutions.

–J.D. Mosley-Matchett, Ph.D.

“The Data Doc“

You have questions? She has answers!

 

 

 

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Writing the Next Great Novel

Everyone has a story that the world needs to know. But there has always been a prohibitive cost factor if you wished to share your story with people outside your circle of family members and acquaintances. Fortunately, current technology has not only simplified the process of publishing, but it has also reduced distribution costs to zero for aspiring authors.

Following Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press in 1440, little changed over the centuries. Granted that the twentieth century provided automation and power improvements, but presses remained the tools of mass communication and the improvements more directly benefited commercial ventures rather than individual writers.

The first technological breakthrough in personal publishing came about with the rise of the personal computer, laser printer, and desktop publishing programs. Even so, these tools lent themselves more to the production of report and pamphlets rather than bound volumes and novels. There was also the remaining problem of distributing the resulting tome beyond one’s immediate sphere of contacts.

In July 2005, online bookseller Amazon purchased CreateSpace which produced “on demand” DVDs for aspiring videographers. CreateSpace later expanded its production capabilities to include book printing on demand (POD). In August 2007, CreateSpace announced an on demand, self-publishing service for printed books, audio CDs, and video DVDs. Authors can use readily available layout programs to submit their formatted texts to CreateSpace. Amazon.com then lists the book and collects orders from interested buyers.

The physical books aren’t printed until ordered online by paying customers. And the final product is available in either a hardback or paperback version, regardless of whether one copy is sold or a thousand.

Because this POD system requires no advance payment or set-up fees from the author, you no longer have any excuses for keeping your “inner novelist” under wraps. So, get busy and start writing! Meanwhile, DataDocsDailyDose.com will be investigating a new communication technology to share with you tomorrow.

–J.D. Mosley-Matchett, Ph.D.
“The Data Doc“
You have questions? She has answers!

The Science of Business and Marketing Made Useful!

I live and work in the Cayman Islands. Before moving here in 2004, I was a professor at the University of Texas at Arlington–an institution of higher learning with a single-campus student population that surpassed the entire population of Caymanians.

Normally, a tiny island country would present a quaint and simplistic business community. But the financial industry that forms the basis of the local economy has fostered a robust and sophisticated commercial center that has elevated accounts of business in Cayman to mythical stature.

My first blog was created in 2004, back before Hurricane Ivan hit this country and seemingly changed its business modus operandi forever. In blog years, 2004 was a REALLY long time ago. In fact, it’s still online at www.BracDiary.com. I created it to let my friends and family watch my progress as I built my house on Cayman Brac, one of three islands that compose this country. I figured it would take me three months to get the house built…a “quick” summer project.

Well, the blog (i.e., “web log”) began in May 2004 and ended in April 2005–not because the house was finished, but because I tripped over the still un-installed garage door and broke my camera. (And you can just imagine how hard it is to replace electronic equipment on a 12-mile long tropical island with a population of less than 2000.)

Now, here I am in the year 2008 with MUCH better blogging technology at hand and a new communication mission: to help business people sort the pearls from the pebbles in the ever-expanding universe of marketing technology.

So, to paraphrase Bette Davis in the 1950 classic movie All About Eve, “Fasten your seat belts, it’s going to be a bumpy ride!” But together, we’ll tame that wild techno-beast and use it to out-pace our competition.

For the best and brightest thoughts about the science of business and marketing, click on the “Links” tab at www.informaven.com. If you have any links to add, let me know and I’ll pass them along…