Argentum Blog

Cage Match: Positioning v. Elevator Pitch

A while back, we taught a workshop for the Accelerator participants at the University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship about positioning statements and marketing plans. In the attached video segment, you can see how we helped the entrepreneurs differentiate between positioning and an elevator pitch, and to understand when and...

Jamming at Content Jam

Last week I had the opportunity to present at #ContentJam, Chicago’s premier content marketing conference. It was fun to tailor my positioning how to’s to a very specific marketing audience, and I was able to put one of my favorite examples, cheaplubes.com, to especially effective use. You can see the example certainly made an impact...

Ready to Start Spending on Marketing?

Last month I wrote about a lunch I had with Ankur Gopal, an entrepreneur whose B2B technology company, Interapt, is growing rapidly. He asked me two great questions: 1. TIMING: How will he know when it’s the right time in his business’ life cycle to bring in Argentum or a similar strategic marketing resource? 2. BUDGETS: Should he...

Time to Add a Marketing Strategy Resource to Your Team?

I recently had lunch with Ankur Gopal, an entrepreneur who whose B2B technology company, Interapt, is growing rapidly. It was exciting to hear about what he’s been learning as his business grows, and when our discussion turned to marketing, he asked me two great questions: 1. TIMING: How will he know when it’s the right time in his...

Be Everything to Everybody

One of the most memorable Saturday Night Live skits from my childhood was the commercial for the made up product Shimmer featuring Gilda Radnor and Dan Akroyd. Perhaps I can even trace my marketing beginnings to that long ago parody – it certainly stuck in my memory! The premise of the commercial was that NEW Shimmer could be used as both a...

Great Creative Needs Time

A friend recently shared this simple but brilliant video. It was created by the Hungarian marketing communications magazine, Kreatív, to help its clients understand why better work requires time. It’s been a great tool to help our clients understand the creative process a little better, and our agency partners love it. See the video.

[Podcast] How to Craft Your Company’s Positioning Statement

I was privileged to be a guest on a Vistage Executive Street podcast last week! In the podcast, I discussed market positioning with the program’s host, Srinivas Rao. We talked about practical steps companies can take to develop their positioning statement. We also talked about the parts of the positioning exercise that typically give our...

Positioning Process Overview

Last month I was preparing to conduct a positioning workshop for a client. The CFO sent me an email that said: “Is it possible to give me an example of what a positioning statement looks like? I think I understand the concept, but not sure how it looks or will be used…” It occurred to me that my response to him could be useful for...

More Powerful Elevator Pitches

I perfected my elevator pitch 6 1/2 years ago when I started my company. The marketing expert in me was proud that it is succinct, descriptive, and tied directly to my positioning. Last week communications expert Mark Wiskup poked it full of holes. OUCH. In front of a group of 20 potential customers and referrers. Double OUCH. But he was right....

Don’t Let Cool Be The Enemy Of Clear

When I was first starting my company, a friend was also starting a company at the same time. Her husband gave her a terrific piece of advice. He told her not to let great be the enemy of good. Let’s face it, there are many circumstances where good is a completely acceptable result. I see so many people spending precious time and resources...

Argentum's blog, Marketing Op-Ed, highlights interesting, real-world examples of marketing with a little bit (okay, a lot) of opinion thrown in. It's written by Susan Silver, President of Argentum Strategy Group, with the occasional guest blogger added to the mix.