Thursday, June 26, 2008

Air Travel Industry-How will Marketing Help Them Cope?

According to the Travel Industry Association (TIA), deep frustration among air travelers caused them to avoid an estimated 41 million trips over the past 12 months at a cost of more than $26 billion to the U.S. economy.
The aviation industry has never had it so bad, honestly. With American Airlines and others starting to charge by baggage, and with airlines even contemplating weight-based charge to airfare, it has never gotten so frustrating either. I am no lover of air travel—give me a clean seat in an aircraft that is on time and I will pretty much curl up in my uncomfortable state for up to 6 hours with just water to get me by [yeah, and we wonder how the ‘survivor’ contestants practice]. Long-distance travel, uhhh not so much. In anycase, much to the annoyance of the miles-guru at home, I am not part of any loyalty program and am therefore free to choose and ditch airlines at will. Nevertheless, the two main factors that stood out ensuring I repeated an airline remain the same across years—service, service, service!
All the supposedly newbie airlines had that going when they launched—United’s ‘Ted’ Delta’s ‘Song’ , JetBlue and more recently Virgin America. There was humor, a tad better service seat-to-seat and possibly a bit of fancyness to my journey [tv for every seat, ability to play games with random strangers in A23 and B44]. Food was still not a guarantee, and I suspect the ‘funny’ safety instructions gets jaded after the third time on the airline. But given equal costs, I would choose one of these rather than the legacy airlines.

But with factors that go beyond their control [airport issues, budget restrictions and cost-cutting measures], is service now more important than ever? With loyalty programs firmly tying customers to specific airlines, will service be crucial in moving customers away from competitors? Service is expensive , mind you. Will keep my eyes peeled for the next breakthrough marketing strategy in airline travel and service—till then, I will just desist all impulses to travel anywhere beyond a 10 mile radius.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Job Postings - from my network

Company: Nuance Communications, Inc. Job Title: Sr. Product Marketing Manager - Nuance On Demand
Description: Overview: Nuance Communications is the leading provider of speech and imaging solutions for businesses and consumers around the world with over $600M in annual revenue. Every day, millions of users and thousands of businesses, experience Nuance by calling directory assistance, getting account information from automated customer care centers, dictating patient records, and telling a navigation system their destination. Nuance Communications is headquartered in Massachusetts with offices worldwide including a large presence in the Bay Area.
One of our major areas of focus is developing highly innovative customer care solutions for the enterprise and call center markets. Nuance leads the industry in providing technologies and is looking to strengthen its position with next generation customer care solutions and services.
As a Sr. Product Marketing Manager in our Enterprise Division you will own and manage all product marketing facets of our On Demand Enterprise Customer Care Solutions. Bringing these solutions to market has the potential of positively impacting millions of consumers worldwide.
Responsibilities: • Work with senior management to define the company's long-term vision for Nuance On Demand's enterprise products and offerings to support profitable growth
• Define strategy and go-to-market plans to address specific business issues within company's target vertical markets
• Develop differentiated positioning and messaging supported by in-depth competitive analysis
• Write product marketing documents such as data sheets, product briefs and white papers • Plan and manage product launches globally
• Arm the sales organization with effective sales presentations, collateral, tools and training for Nuance On Demand products and services (i.e. business issue-specific product presentations, brochures, demos, and Web casts, data sheets, FAQ's.)
• Support strategic sales opportunities with key customers and prospects (e.g. RFPs and RFIs, sales presentations, product demonstrations)
• Conduct pricing analysis and develop pricing for existing and new products, and promotions • Evaluate market performance to help develop and update company goals and objectives • Recommend product enhancements and priorities based on market research, industry-specific requirements and new trends
• Work with marketing communications on outbound marketing deliverables, promotions and events.
Qualifications:
• BA/BS degree, MBA a plus
• 8-10 years experience in product marketing, direct marketing, and marketing program management for the Enterprise market.
• Deep understanding of Call Center, Customer Care and Speech Technology and Solutions
• Strong understanding of Software as a service and ASP business and delivery models • Passion for analyzing products, customers and market dynamics
• Experience in developing effective outbound positioning, communication, and collateral development
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills
• Demonstrated capacity for developing and understanding strategy
• Strong aptitude for determining the optimal way to position products in the market

Thursday, June 12, 2008

The Difference between Marketing, Advertising and PR


A handy little chart for those pesky questions you constantly encounter.

Job Posting

Forwarded by a friend.


On June 12, 2008, Kristine Latronica wrote: ------------------------------------------

Hi, I am looking for a Dir of Ad Sales in Chicago. Ringleader Digital is a mobile advertising start up, hq'd in NYC, with an office in San Francisco. We are growing fast and expanding to the mid West. If you know of anyone interested please have them email hrsales@ringleaderdigital.com or kristine@ringleaderdigital.com. Thanks for your help! Kristine 415-957-5836 x3301 Company: Ringleader Digital Job Title: Director of Mobile Phone Ad Sales (Chicago) Description: Must know online advertising and/or have experience selling to direct marketers and ad agencies.
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