Well in my quest to find the latest and greatest marketing trends, I stumbled upon a product that I believe will  be a runaway hit for a number of reasons - some obvious, some not so obvious.

Bong Vodka

Okay, everyone say it in unison... "Thank You Captain Obvious!"

What kind of party animal doesn't have visions of vodka-filled bongs dancing through their heads?

These guys have got a winner on their hands.

Hailing from the Mecca of all things "bongish", Holland, the vodka import is not available all over the US - and I can imagine that some of the states with a more... shall we say... draconian approach to their liquor licensing will be inclined to take a pass on the product.

But I the company has keyed in on some pretty interesting marketing fundamentals.

First of all, aside from the appeal for the environmentally conscious who will... {ahem}...  jump at the chance to recycle wherever possible, the snazzy art designs just scream at the collector market. They've recruited some serious design talent.

Of course, there's the whole subculture appeal... the snickering and winking when someone buys a bottle. Pure marketing segmentation genius.

I mean... the whole thing makes for some great marketing.

Now before the rumors start flying... I haven't poured myself a glass of anything heavier than the monthly pint of Flying Horse beer that I split with my wife at an area Indian food joint (joint... haha.... very punny) since probably 2005.

And even though my libertarian sensibilities are pretty tolerant of those who engage in "botanical" varieties of recreation, I haven't indulged in anything of the sort for a very, very long time.

"WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE... we had to pay $80 for a Grafix bong and it didn't come filled with vodka as a bonus prize!"

But being an almost tea-totalling fuddy duddy these days doesn't preclude my ability to see a trend and give props to the "coolness" factor when I see it.

In fact, a little Google searching will even bring up YouTube videos of some Weird Al Yankovic looking guy that teaches viewers how to convert the bottle.

I'm sensing the bastard child of Seth Godin and Malcom Gladwell all rolled up into one fat bowl of marketing goodness here.

Let’s be really honest here, your B2B sales prospects truly don't want more “friends”, which is an all too common sales approach. They barely have time now for the ones that they’ve already got. And a new “friend” that’s only recently appeared with the intent to sell them something isn’t very high on their priority list.

Part of the problem is this thing called "being incongruent". If you’re trying to befriend someone, but your ulterior motive is to sell them something, then you’re not really their friend. So all the baseball game tickets, lunches at the racket club, and social stuff is just a giant put-on, and your prospect knows it. You know it. That’s why you don’t...

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I was recently asked a question about ROI of social media for lead generation vs. ROI of Pay-Per-Click advertising.

Lead costs certainly vary across channels. The main number that I am concerned with overall in any of my consulting is the Cost Of Acquisition - What does it cost to acquire a new customer on average?

Some lead generation tactics will be ...

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I’m not quite sure why so many businesspeople view direct marketing and response marketing as some kind of low brow garbage. Sure, junk mail and infomercials can be campy, with shady characters running amok with their pitchmen frothing. Serious business wants nothing to do with the marketing and advertising equivalent of a carney barker in the aisle at a flea market. They prefer pristine branding campaigns that convey sophistication, eloquence, professionalism, and polish.

Hey that’s great. But the last time I checked, you couldn’t really split test a brand image. You spend all your money on a campaign and pray, hoping that it pays off. If it doesn’t, well guess what? It’s a career decision that can make or break the ...

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I figured that I could keep TELLING everyone about strategic marketing process development, and that's okay.
 
But it would be 1,000,000,000 times better if I just SHOWED everyone first hand.
 
So, what I did was go out and practice what I preach, and signed up a consulting client to a very special deal. In fact, this is the deal of a lifetime for this company.
 
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We hear a lot of discussion about "developing a relationship with your list."

It gets said frequently, but I also see a lot of people questioning what that really means.

I also see a lot of marketing people paying lipservice to the concept, but doing nothing but treating their list like a digital version of an open air market vendor in a third world nation trying to sell shiny things to the tourists. "Here, buy this.... okay, buy this... okay, buy this..."

A lot of internet marketers act like pure salespeople, only focusing on the segment that wants to buy right now - because that's where the cash is at, right?

But what percentage of the list actually buys any given promotion?

It might be controversial, but it looks like Google is going to start hammering on Black Hat SEO techniques and the sites that promote their use...

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All this social media this and that... everyone is a wannabe internet marketing guru this or that... it's enough to make me crazy sometimes.

So I started looking around for people in smaller, non-marketing related niches that are kicking butt with their social media presence, and I found two that you have probably never heard of - both leveraging social media to the hilt, and both in completely different, unrelated niches.

Anyone who knows me to any level beyond text on the screen, knows that one of my trademarks is my Aussie boonie hat. I've finally worn out the old Panama Jack that I have been sporting for the past 3 years, and I thought it might be time to splurge on a newer lid for the melon.

So, I embarked on this quest to find me a new safari style hat, maybe in leather. I looked at a whole bunch of online retailers, but still didn't find anything that tripped my trigger.

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There's a solid strategy to compete in a very crowded market that sort of has it's roots in the "differentiate or die" era. However, product-centric differentiation is just that - all about the product, not the customer.

These days, the way to penetrate a crowded market is split the crowd. Narrow the scope and fire the rifle.

If I were to start a tennis shoe company marketing running shoes to people, I am probably not going to be...

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Let’s do a little imagination exercise. Let’s pretend you’re in the market for a new car. You go down to the auto dealership, and instead of going into the showroom to talk to a sales representative, you go into the dealership service department and just order every single part that goes into the model of car you want.

Is that how we buy automobiles? Seems a little absurd, huh?

A few days later...

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What if you got all of your customers together in the same room so they could compare their experiences with each other. How many of them would share the same experience?

A Big Mac tastes the same in Paris, France, as it does in Paris, Texas, because McDonalds has a standard. It doesn’t matter who is at the counter or who is on the grill. Your experience as a customer should be the same. Customers want consistency, they want to know what they can expect.

If you can’t articulate your customer’s journey when buying from ...

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