News Archives - Forbes Baxter Associates

When “strategic” is not

July 10^th, 2020 in News

OK, so I don’t particularly want to pick on marketing in property, but the comments I’ve had from people when I mentioned my last post made me remember this image. I took this photo in August 2017. The wording struck me as rather over-blown even then. Isn’t it time for our language to get a bit more grounded? But maybe we’re more influenced by fancy words than I think. By the way, I don’t have anything against building. My house was green fields 30 years ago too.…

The Kano Model – sell the sizzle, scientifically

July 7^th, 2020 in News

The Kano Model is a scientific way to expand on an expression we all know: “sell the sizzle”. It means that we should try to sell the exciting things about our product/service rather than the mundane features that can be found elsewhere. It’s a way to differentiate ourselves from the competition and, thanks to research by Professor Noriaki Kano in the 1980s, there’s scientific backing to show that it works. Contents Threshold Attributes Performance Attributes Excitement Attributes Using…

Donated by cows…

July 2^nd, 2020 in News

Does this sum up why marketing has such a poor reputation? How can you give housing estates names like these? They flattened the oaks, parks and gardens to build houses. What next? Will we describe beef as “donated by cows”? Will we call leg amputations the cure for athlete’s foot? Marketing has to be about more than fancy words that gloss over the ugly truth.

TOWS Model Analysis – SWOT with actions

July 1^st, 2020 in News

The TOWS analysis model adds actions to a traditional SWOT analysis, making it a powerful summary of the future rather than a limited assessment of the present. SWOT analysis and its limitations. SWOT analysis in action. Going beyond SWOT with TOWS. TOWS analysis in action. Let’s compare the models. SWOT analysis and its limitations SWOT analysis has been with us for decades. It’s been helping companies identify their internal Strengths and Weaknesses and the external Opportunities and…

The Ansoff Matrix – deciding your growth strategy

June 21^st, 2020 in News

The Ansoff Matrix is an old business model that survives to this day because it still helps you develop a growth plan for your business. It won’t magically reveal an option you’d never thought of before but it will help you understand the difficulties you’ll face with different growth options. Contents Ansoff 1: Market Penetration Ansoff 2: Product Development Ansoff 3: Market Development Ansoff 4: Company Diversification Here’s the model. Imagine a matrix with products across the top…

The Three Step Bounce – better sales pitches

May 8^th, 2020 in News

The three-step bounce model is your route to better sales pitches and a technique for improving every brochure, email or webpage you write. It works because it’s all about what the customer is interested in. Here’s the model. Imagine a four quadrant graph. At the top, we have you. At the bottom, we have your customer. On the left, we have the past. On the right, we have the future. When you’re trying to sell or promote something to a customer, what do you think they’re…