Ask Questions at Tradeshows to Build Awareness

The ROI from exhibiting or sponsoring a tradeshow is increasingly being questioned by marketing and business executives. And for good reason – Compare the number of leads generated from a $50,000 tradeshow stand versus a similar investment in web-based marketing alternatives (e.g. Google Pay-Per-Click). Justifying an exhibit or sponsorship has grown even more challenging in the wake of the macro-economic recession that plagued the world throughout 2008-2009.

Marketing Executives Should Begin to Think Cradle-to-Cradle

I believe that every marketing executive needs to become knowledgeable about the environmental crisis in order to effectively lead in today’s socially responsible corporations. Marketing leaders must ensure that product managers are considering sustainability as a key requirement for new offerings just as they do price, features and service levels. Communications professionals must understand the key principles of Corporate Social Responsibility as they evolve their brand promise to customers.

Four Types of Crowdsourcing

I recently finished reading Jeff Howe’s book Crowdsourcing. One of the key takeaways I gained from the book was that there are multiple approaches to crowdsourcing. Some depend upon active collaboration within virtual community of individuals, while others benefit from the opposite. For example, prediction markets maximize value not through collaboration, but from minimal interaction between participants. In the final chapter of the book, Howe describes the four primary types of crowdsourcing – 1) Crowd Wisdom; 2) Crowd Creation; 3) Crowd Voting and 4) Crowd Funding