George Silverman

By: Alain Thys

by: George Silverman

Marketers listen to lots of focus groups. But they don't always know what to listen for. In the past, I have provided long checklists, but to experienced people, the lists probably come across as either a little condescending (that means talking down to people — just kidding!),  unnecessary or — on the other side of it — a little bit overwhelming.

by: George Silverman

In an article last Monday in the Wall Street Journal, reporter Emily Steel described the growing trend of using online social networks -- both existing and company-encouraged -- for marketing research. It's a very dangerous trend, as I point out in my letter to her. Many companies are headed for disaster if they give undue weight to the opinions expressed on their online networks.

Emily,

by: George Silverman

The New Hampshire Primary is a cautionary marketing tale.

The polls missed the Clinton victory by a mile yesterday, yet they were right on target with the McCain victory. Why?

No one knows exactly what happened for sure yet, but several possibilities illustrate some of the pitfalls in marketing research.

by: George Silverman

Either you’re supporting the customer’s decision making, or you’re creating clutter and obstructing it.

Prospects make dozens of little decisions as they move through the decision process:

by: George Silverman

I found the WOMMA (Word of Mouth Marketing Association) conference in Washington last month both exhilarating and disturbing. I’ve been worrying about the current state of word-of-mouth marketing ever since.

by: George Silverman

Here's a great example of word-of-mouth marketing, on many levels.

by: George Silverman

One of the most frequent questions I’m asked in my speeches and interviews is, “Don’t all the word-of-mouth tools, such as feeds, blogs, the proliferation of other web sites, etc. cause chaos? There is so much crap out there, how do people sort it out?”

by: George Silverman

by: George Silverman