Oakley's Green Frame Olympic Branding Strategy

The 2014 Winter Olympics were full of amazing stories of victory and defeat. From the underdogs to the favored champions, the Sochi Olympics did not disappoint. 

Seize the Moment - Oakley's Gold Medal

With million of eyeballs watching, companies try to use creative marketing techniques to seize the moment. Oakley did it perfectly—it started with green. 

Branding in the Olympics - The Green Frame

The Olympics has many rules against marketing and branding. Logos have to be a certain size. Olympians can't have stickers and patches all over their apparel. Signs along side the venues only promote the host city's Olympic logo and graphics. 

Companies spend millions of dollars to be the sponsored apparel for athletes in each discipline. Oakley used a green frame product placement strategy to unite its athletes during the Olympics. In every discipline you saw the green Oakley frames. 

Why the Green Oakley Frames in the Olympics?

Simple—it was genius. Like any great marketing strategy Oakley's product placement strategy started with a why. The why helped carry their story and the why helped explain their cause. Oakley said, "Oakley introduced its first goggles in 1980. The green color honors a heritage of innovation as one of our first goggle colors. During Sochi, green will unite athletes from competing nations."

Their strategy was brilliant. Oakley put a stake in the ground—the best athletes around the world wear Oakley and unified they will accomplish big things. 

Check out some of the great pictures of the green frames. 

Three Reasons Oakley Wins Olympic Branding

1. The Why - Using green goggles and frames Oakley drove product awareness & branding around a cause—unify top athletes around the world. 

2. Bright Green - Brands are built on color. Oakley used a bright green color to stand out. The color's purpose was to celebrate 34 years of Oakley innovation supporting top athletes around the world.

3. Eyeballs - Millions of people watched as Oakley green goggles and frames stood out and were noticed. Announcers even commented about the cause and reason for green frames.

Each Olympics I watch for innovative marketers to take a different approach to marketing and branding. This year, Oakley was the clear winner. 

Nice work Oakley marketing.

A brand is summed up by every touch point and an Olympic touchpoint is gold.

If you liked this article you might like this article

 How Sol Republic Stole the Show in the London Games

Follow me on twitter here

3 Things Marketers Can Learn From Justin Timberlake's Launch

What can marketers learn from Justin Timberlake's new album launch? It has been awhile since Justin Timberlake produced a music album. Over the past years, Justin's number one question was, "You going to sing again or did you just quit?"

On January 10, 2013, with one tweet Justin Timberlake answered that question. 

Justin Timberlake's Tweet

"To whom it may concern...I think I'M READY! #JT2013." 

Within an hour, Justin Timberlike was trending on Twitter. The tweet contained a link to a YouTube video that showed Justin walking through multiple doors at a recording studio telling us why he has waited so long to do another album. In essence Justin said, "I don't want to put anything out that I feel like is something I don't love. You just don't get that every day. You have to wait for it." Then he walks through the last door and up to the mic and says, "I'M READY". Then the video routed you to a sign up page with a countdown (days, hours, minutes, seconds). Once you signed up you were directed to a letter from Justin telling you more about his new music venture.

I thought the execution was brilliant. I said to myself, "Nice work Justin. That was awesome."

Three Things Marketers Can Learn from JT's launch

There were three reasons I really like Justin's launch and think they apply perfectly to marketers.

1. The Why

The why is one of the most important parts of good brand positioning and a strong marketing campaign. As you watched Justin's video you understood why he had waited so long to launch his next album. I wish I could find the video, but it is no longer on the site. The why is an important part of telling a marketers story.

2. Exclusivity 

Exclusivity or what I define as the seat to the inner circle has always been a big part of creating music fans. Justin took this music & marketing principle and used it to his advantage. To kick off his campaign, he tweeted to his 15 million twitter followers. He did it with one tweet. Within the hour, Justin was trending on Twitter. Social media has really changed the game for the music industry.

3. Creativity

Without creativity marketing is stale or old (been there done that). I wrote another blog post how to find your creative genius here. Justin's approach was creative and definitely out of the box. He used new technologies like twitter to step out of the box and launch his campaign in a unique but exclusive way. 

Nice work Justin.

You can follow me on twitter here

Learn more about me here

Michael Phelps - Genius Olympic Product Placement

Last night just like many of the world, I watched Michael Phelps walk into his last Olympic race. The 4x100m medley relay. How would Michael Phelps, the Olympic's most decorated athlete, finish up the London 2012 games and his olympic career? Would it be gold in a race the Americans have never lost? Chances looked gold (good).

Something Different

I noticed something different last night as Michael walked into the London Aquatics Centre. Michael was wearing a hood to cover up his headphones that he had displayed proudly during his 6 other olympic races. There was even white tape covering the headphone's company name. So what was up? I knew, the Olympics finally noticed the genius product placement.

Genius Product Placement - The Simple Formula

Lets go back a few days and review the genius product placement. 

1. Millions of Eyeballs

The excitement of this Olympics has been its focus on Michael Phelps. How would he perform? Would he live up to his Beijing results? Would he become the most decorated athlete in Olympic history? These questions caused the world to pause and focus closely on Michael. Millions watched, dvr'd, tweeted, facebooked, and blogged about his every move. So what do you do with an athlete who wears headphones and is watched by millions? Well, you have him wear your company's headphones. Sol Republic did just that. 

Here is the simple marketing formula:

Millions of eyeballs + millions of brand impressions =  instant brand recognition & increased sales 

Which without Michael Phelps and the Olympics, the same formula would take years and millions of dollars.

2. Creativity (Olympic Sponsorship Rules and What Sol Republic did)

The olympic sponsorship rules are tight (read details here) and if broken can result in disqualification. 

What Sol Republic Did

Michael has been using over the ear headphones before races for years. It's part of his routine. So during his first olympic race, Michael appeared with Sol Republic headphones. Millions noticed. Millions were intrigued. Race after race Michael appeared with a new color. This was the genius of the product placement and Sol Republic seized the moment. 

Hand Slap

It looks like the Olympics took a little longer to catch onto the creative move by Sol Republic. During his last Olympic race, Michael wore a hood to cover up the headphones and placed a white piece of athletic tape over the Sol Republic logo. 

Dr Dre Beats was also trying to be creative and got there wrist slapped also. Read here 

Was it a coincidence? Phelps understands the importance of sponsorships and even studied sports marketing in college. Does anyone know what the Phelps/Sol Republic contract looked like? It had to be worth millions or shares in company ownership. It would be interesting to find out.

Shout out to Sol Republic

In a world where big companies have all the money for major paid Olympic sponsorships. It is great to see the creative marketing strategies and moves of the smaller companies who use out of the box thinking to get their brands and companies noticed. 

Also, I really like Sol Republic's product idea of interchangeable head phone pieces. Definitely a big move in a market that is getting crowded. #Brilliant   

4 Ways to Create "Brand Fanatics"

Every company needs "Brand Fanatics".

I define a "Brand Fanatic" as someone who loves your product or service so much, they promote it to their friends and family. They post about you on Facebook, make movies about you on YouTube, and become your marketing foot soldiers. They spread your product or service faster then any marketing campaign. I have seen this happen lately with companies like Evernote and Instagram.

I've even witnessed "Brand Fanatics" live at a Salt Lake Real Major League Soccer (MLS) game. Below is a video that sums up what I saw, true "Brand Fanatics".

This video was not created by the Salt Lake Real marketing department, but by a "Brand Fanatic". That is the power I am talking about. So how do you create "Brand Fanatics"? This might not be perfect, but I think these four ways are a good start.

4 Ways to Create Brand Fanatics

1. Solve their Problem (Their Deep Need) - There are a lot surface problems that are easy to see, but it is below the iceberg that really matters, the deep unmet need.

2. Build a "Kick Butt" Product or Service - You will know when you have it, because it will start to spread amongst your target audience. It has to be "Kick Butt" and solve a real need.

3. Care about the Experience - To build "Brand Fanatics", you can't forget to build the experience. Your product or service has to be awesome at every touch point.

4. Create community or identity - People want to be part of a group, help create that for them. Your brand should help promote community, unity, identify, this is what people really want.

What are some of your ideas about building "Brand Fanatics"?

Apple's Brand Positioning Santa TV Ad

A few days ago Apple launched its new iPhone 4S TV ad with Santa Claus. This TV ad is genius for two reasons:

1. Timing: Apple understands this perfectly. Marketing is an art form where timing matters. You have to deliver the right message at the right time.

2. Creativity: You have to think out of the box. Apple shows Santa Claus using Siri to accomplish his daunting mission on Christmas eve night. This type of marketing really resonates, because it quickly shows the iPhone value in the simplest form, the story of Santa Claus.

You can check out the TV ad below

Buying Process—Current and Future

A big part of developing a positive brand experience is knowing how buyers currently buy and how they want to buy. Being able to clearly understand the current and future buying process provides invaluable insights into developing a brand experience customers will talk about with their friends.

Steps

So step one, understand the current buying process of your customers and step two, learn how they want to buy.

A few months ago, I had an opportunity to go visit many of our customers and prospective customers with the goal of understanding how they buy and how they want to buy. We conducted hundreds of online surveys, phone interviews, and of course onsite meetings. The insights we gathered have been invaluable in designing new online marketing methods and journeys to prepare prospects for a better buying experience.

One of my favorite onsite visits was with ESPN. After conducting our interviews, we got a tour of ESPN. I got to stand and sit on many of the broadcast studios and got to meet many of the ESPN sport analysts.

I even got to see the office of Chris Berman.

Lady Gaga's Brand Positioning

Lady Gaga, what more can I say.


Over that last couple of years we have been accustomed to Lady's Gaga's crazy antics. You never know what she will be wearing or what she will be doing next, she is constantly keeping us on our toes. If she were a product, her go to market strategy would always be very guerilla and atypical. She understands her market perfectly. So why would she host a thanksgiving special on a night filled with family and turkey. Would she be wearing a turkey?

I was intrigued by how she might position herself during a thanksgiving special, I decided to watch it. Would her crazy antics be too much for parents and grandmas, this was no Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving Special.


I sat down to watch



Perfect Brand Positioning



So remember, families across the United States all gathered in front of the fire, stomachs full, to watch "A Very Gaga Thanksgiving". So how would Lady Gaga use this opportunity. All I can say is that she seized the moment. She knew her audience and positioned herself perfectly for those who would be watching.



She made Grandma proud by singing with Tony Bennett. She intrigued parents as she visited her old private school, prepared a meal with famous chef, Art Smith, and sat down with Katie Couric to answer important questions that many people have always wanted to know. She was not dressed in a turkey dress, but very elegant dresses that positioned herself as a rising starlit. Tony Bennett even called her the next Pablo Picasso. All I could think was how well she seized the moment and positioned herself perfectly for the opportunity she was given. I can see Grandmas across the country saying, "That Gaga isn't so bad"

.

3 Positioning Tips From Lady Gaga



1. Know your audience



2. Deliver a message specific to your audience



3. Deliver brand emotions that resonate with new markets



To say the least, I was very impressed by Lady Gaga's positioning

Harley-Davidson Brand Equity

Developing a strong brand is the goal of many companies and its marketers. As brands become memorable, recognizable, and seemingly superior to their generic equivalents they start to build brand equity. Companies with strong brand equity are able to charge more for their products and consumers are willing to pay more for their products.

Harley-Davidson Brand Equity

Harley-Davidson is a great example of a company that has built strong brand equity and is able to charge more for their motorcycles.

For years Harley-Davidson’s CEO argued that they sold an experience and the bike just happens to be a fundamental part of that experience. One of their execs is quoted as saying “What we sell is the ability for a 43-year old accountant to dress in black leather, ride through small towns and have people be afraid of him.”

Eventually the board of directors got on board the company concentrated on the goal of delivering this very specific experience and annual revenues grew from $1.5 billion in 1996 to $4.6 billion in 2003 and net income grew from $143 million to $761 million over the same period. When you buy a Harley-Davidson it’s not just the bike you’re buying, your buying into a lifestyle.

I took the pictures in this post while visiting a Harley-Davidson Store (shot with Canon T3i camera and Canon 50mm 1.4 lens)

3 Rules of Co-Marketing (Apple & Audi)

One of my favorite aspects of business is the development of go-to-market strategies and plans. Successful go-to-market strategies are supported by tons of business analysis and research. It is important to choose target markets and audiences based on financial and business. It is also important to understand the competition which helps you position, message, and launch products and services with big results.

Apple and Audi (Co-Marketing)

I am always interested in go-to-market strategies that include strong partnerships. Here are my 3 rules of partnership based go-to-market strategies. To share these rules, I am going to highlight a great example of Apple's product launch of Final Cut Pro X (June 21, 2011) which includes a strong partnership with Audi.

3 Rules of Strong Go-To-Market Partnerships

1. Similar Values

For a successful partnership to work you must have similar values. Take Apple, which values cutting edge technology and performance, who for their Final Cut Pro X launch developed a partnership with Audi which also values cutting edge technology and performance, mesh the two together, and you get a serious connection to performance and style.

The Final Cut Pro X go-to-market campaign features the Audi R8 which oozes high performance and cutting edge design, which is a perfect match for the new version of Final Cut which performs like a high-performance car for those doing post production video work.

2. Strong Brand Synergy

I really like this launch because of the synergistic partnership, you take the Apple brand and the Audi brand and you combine them to get serious brand equity. Both companies have built brands that represent cutting edge design, style, and performance creating a powerful partnership.

As you watch the Final Cut Pro X demo video click here, you see the synergy between Apple's new UI and game changing post production features and the performance of Audi's R8, which I think is pure genius. Make sure the partnerships you develop bring strong synergy to the product or service you are launching.

3. Win Win

The best partnerships are when both parties benefit (WIN WIN). In the Final Cut Pro X go-to-market strategy, Apple benefits from the strong brand and performance of Audi, while Audi benefits from surrounding its self around Apple brand and its new product which contains high-performance revolutionary post production features.

Great job Apple and great job Audi, this is a great example of a strong partnerships that strengthen brands and drive results.

Are there any other partnership rules you live by?

2011 Codie Award Win - Why Awards Sell

Why 3rd Party Recognition Matters?

Industry awards, analysts recognitions, and customer success stories are powerful ways to build confidence with prospects when they are deciding to purchase your product or service.

Think about the last product you bought, online or in the store, that was more than $100. You probably did not fully believe what the marketers were saying on their websites or what the sales people were telling you. You most likely wanted to find out what current users, reviewers, analysts, or the web was saying about the product or service you were about to buy.

It's easier to make a buying decision when supported by positive 3rd party recommendations.

2011 Codie Award - An Important Win

I have passion for marketing and am currently doing product marketing in a billion dollar industry called project and portfolio management software. Our company sells SaaS project management software and we deliver it in the cloud (on demand) saving companies thousands of dollars.

An important award for our company is the SIIA Codie Award for "Best Project Management Solution". The finalists for this award are usually are closest competitors and each year the race is tight to see who will be able to tout their product as the best project management solution.

Each year a panel of judges (industry experts) are selected. This year a colleague and I collaborated on a product demo we presented to the Codie judges panel. We focused on what made us different (The Why?) and how our product solved our client's challenges quicker and more effective than anyone in our market. Just a few weeks ago, we got the news that we won! This is the third time in four years that we have won this award and just like I mentioned above, the Codie is a an important win and a great 3rd party validation that helps our sales team and sales process.

I want to give a shout out to my colleagues Adam Michaelson and Ty Kiisel who were instrumental in this win. Great teamwork!

Apple's Product Positioning Against Android

About two months ago, I did a blog post on five marketing positioning strategies. You can read about the five strategies here. Since that blog post, I have been closely watching Apple's product positioning strategy against the Android phone market. Android has been using the front attack product positioning against Apple and the iPhone.

The Front Attack by Android

You probably have seen the commercial with the green Android flying around a bunch of consumer quotes. The quotes talk about how much people love Android phones over the iPhone. There is one caveat to front attack strategies, which is, they are an easily defeated.

Apple's Counterattack Positioning

So what does Apple do to defend this type of strategy? First, watch the following Apple commercial and then we will discuss their strategy and positioning.

Click here to view more of Apple's current product positioning

Apple's Flanking Strategy

Apple is using a flanking strategy. A flanking strategy shifts the focus of the customer's buying criteria to new or different issues that favor your solution.



Guidelines and Caveats



• Focus on business value

• Don't play by their rules


• Right timing


• Right target


• Right Issues



 • Don't open the "playing field"

Apple product positioning is brilliant. Here are a few of their key product differentiators and positioning from the above video:

If You Don't Have An iPhone...

"If you don't have an iPhone, then you don't have an iPod on your Phone. With your music and your playlists"

"If you don't have an iPhone, then you don't have iTunes on your phone, the world's #1 music store. With Genius, that recommends similar songs based on songs you already have purchased."

"If you don't have an iPhone, well, you don't have an iPhone."

Positioning strategies are always fluid and in constant motion, so it is important to understand how a competitor is positioning against you. By knowing their strategy you can counter position successfully.

Marketing Trends: Centralized vs. Decentralized Marketing

I have been doing some research on the top marketing trends for 2011. The #2 trend is developing a centralized marketing organization and #4 trend is developing a decentralized marketing organization. This made my laugh at first, but as I learned more about the two trends it became more apparent why these two trends are so high up on the list for 2011. As we know marketing organizations and strategies are in constant motion.

My blog today will discuss the characteristics of these two trends (centralized marketing vs decentralized marketing) along with their positives and negatives.

Centralized Marketing

Characteristics

Centralized decision making
Top hierarchy makes decisions on marketing activities
Strong marketing processes and best practices
Consolidation of marketing content and assets
Complexity of marketing programs

Positives

Consistent brand/messaging
Operational excellence
Standardized marketing programs
Economies of scale (cost effective)

Negatives

Lengthened decisions and approvals
Slow adaptability to market conditions and customers

Decentralized Marketing

Characteristics

Shared decision making
Front-line marketing managers make decisions
Many field marketing groups
Processes specific to region or areas
Closer to customers

Positives

Personalized messaging
Empowered marketers
Creative and flexible
Quick reaction to market and competitors

Negatives

Inconsistent brand/messages
Duplicated efforts (inefficiencies)
No economies of scale

I hope this helps shed some light on these top trends. You might even find your marketing organization somewhere in the middle. Marketing is in constant motion and that is why I love marketing, a marketer is always on his/her toes making things happen.

Foundational Online Marketing Strategies

Tonight I attended the American Marketing Association Utah Chapter. It's always great to rub shoulders with top Utah marketers. Tonight's meeting topic was "Online Marketing Strategies for Search, Mobile, and Social" presented by Jay Bean, CEO and Founder of Orangesoda. Orangesoda helps SMBs drive targeted traffic and leads to their businesses. The topic is very applicable to marketing professionals for two reasons:

1. Online marketing trends and projected spends are increasing
 
2005 - 3.4 billion 
2010 - 18 billion
2014 - 35 billion (projected)
 
2. Traditional marketing trends and projected spends are decreasing even though spend is still in the 100 billion range.

In 1999, Jay Bean founded ah-ha.com, a leading pay-for-performance search engine marketing company and remembers going to the same trade shows that Google attended when their founders maned the booths. Ah-ha.com was acquired by Marchex Inc. (MCHX in 2003).

In 2007 Jay founded Orangesoda with the goal to empower SMBs with the online marketing strategies and tools they need to drive traffic, leads, and business. Here are a few takeaways from Jay's presentation on online marketing strategies for search, mobile, and social:

Jay Bean's Online Marketing Tips:
Your need to build a strong foundation of online basics: Like doing anything in life, being good at the basics is required before you can really see powerful online results.
Here are a few of the basics:
 
Website Basics:
1. Write good content that resonates with your target audience.
2. Make sure their are clear actions - the goal is to motivate action on your website.
3. Have your phone number on your website - people still call.
4. Incorporate optimized website lead forms that help capture leads.
5. Make sure you have clear offers/coupons that drive the customers to act now.
 
Social Media Basics:
1. #1 deliver great content, don't just post offers or coupons, that is a social media sin.
2. People follow on Twitter and friend on Facebook companies and products that deliver content that helps them fulfill a need or interest. Be that source!
3. Develop a thought leadership tone to the content you deliver over social media sites.
4. People turn to social media to learn best practices and tips for their industry. Share best practices!
5. Listen and interact with your customers - I like tweetdeck to track the conversations that are occurring about your company and products.
 
Mobile Basics:
1. Make sure your optimize your website for all mobile platforms.
I know this sounds so basic and so easy, but you would be surprised how many companies don't do a good job of following the basics.
What are some of your basic online strategies?
Another great event with strong marketing leaders and business professionals. Don't miss out on the next American Marketing Association Event. Click here to know when the next event will occur. I am excited to see the new AMA website next month that is being designed, created, and developed by Eli Kirk.

Positioning - Audi (Front Attack Strategy)

In my last blog post, I discussed the 5 Key Competitive Positioning Strategies. Here is a real-world example of a Front Attack positioning strategy.

Front Attack Strategy: A front attack strategy is a direct approach based on the customer's perception of your overwhelming superiority in solution, price or reputation.



Guidelines and Caveats



 • 3:1 advantage


• Requires size, speed or surprise


• Resource intensive


 • Blatant/obvious


• Most often used and easily defeated strategy

Real-World Example

Market: Luxury Cars
Key Players: BMW, Lexus, Audi, Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, etc.
Company Positioning: Audi
Campaign Name: The Spell
Positioning Strategy: Front Attack
Competitors Being Attacked: Ferrari, Lexus, BMW, Mercedes Benz
True Statement to Support Attack: "Audi is growing faster than BMW, Mercedes, and Lexus." - based on change in U.S market share from 2008 - 2009

Watch Audi's execution below of the positioning strategy - Front Attack

I really thought this positioning was strong and effective. Many of us don't buy a luxury car to be predictable, but you got to love how Audi positioned itself against its main competitors with that thought in mind.

5 Marketing Positioning Strategies

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about the different types of competitive positioning strategies. The types of strategies that help to differentiate your offering and create value for your market. Short and sweet, the types of strategies that help you carve out your spot in a competitive landscape and help focus your company.

5 Key Competitive Positioning Strategies

1. Front Attack: A front attack strategy is a direct approach based on the customer's perception of your overwhelming superiority in solution, price or reputation.

Guidelines and Caveats

• 3:1 advantage
• Requires size, speed or surprise
• Resource intensive
• Blatant/obvious
• Most often used and easily defeated strategy

2. Flanking: A flanking strategy shifts the focus of the customer's buying criteria to new or different issues that favor your solution.

Guidelines and Caveats

• Don't play by their rules
• Right timing
• Right target
• Right Issues
• Focus on business value
• Don't open the "playing field"

3. Fragment: A fragment strategy divides the opportunity into smaller pieces and focuses the customer on a subset of the issues that you can address.

Guidelines and Caveats

• Leverage your position
• Requires support of your product or service
• Pick the correct base for the future
• Monitor the cost of each sale

4. Defend: A defend strategy protects your position from the inevitable assault from your competitors

Guidelines and Caveats

• Articulate your credibility
• Articulate your business value
• Beware of isolation
• Keep your eye on your competitors

5. Develop: A develop strategy establishes a position for a possible future

Guidelines and Caveats

• Not in the position to compete
• Establish presence for the future
• Focus on credibility
• Qualify your business value

I will be writing a few blog posts focusing on each positioning strategy.

Top Marketing Thought Leaders

I thought I would share my favorite marketing thought leadership websites and blogs I read to stay on top of current marketing trends, strategies, successes, and current challenges. Like you, I know there are many principles of marketing that will never change, but always changing are the new ways in which we can effectively deliver the marketing mix to our target audience.

Top Marketing Sites

CMO.com
CMO Council
Adage - CMO Strategy
MarketingVox
MarketingProfs
Marketing Serpa
American Marketing Association
Marketing Charts
Marketing Magazine

Top Blogs by Marketing Thought Leaders

Seth Godin - A Blog by Seth Godin
Chris Brogan - Solving Business Strategy Challenges with Social Media
Joe Pulizzi - Content Marketing Guru
Laurel Papworth - The Business of Being Social Media
Jeremiah Owyang - Social Media, Web Marketing

These are a few of my favorites. What are your favorites? Is there something you read regularly that you would add to this list?

Building a Value-Added Organization

Tonight I had the opportunity to hear Carine Clark, Symantec's Chief Marketing Officer, speak at the American Marketing Association Utah Chapter Event. Carine is responsible for global campaign and field marketing, partner and product marketing, branding and marketing communications as well as public relations and analyst relations for Symantec.

Building A Value-Added Marketing Organization

Carine shared six ways to build a value-added marketing organization. It was awesome to spend 40 minutes hearing from one of the world's best marketing executives. There was even a Q&A at the end of the event where we asked Carine questions.

Here are her six suggestions:

1. Make sure you build an awesome team: Hire talented and smart people who will give 110% to your organization and the team. Carine said, "It is important to grow people in your business."

2. Make sure you focus on growth: As marketing professionals it is important to focus on marketing activities that drive revenue, strong revenue growth. You need to make sure that every dollar counts and delivers significant ROI.

3. Make sure that you're are aligned with sales: You need to develop a strong partnership with Sales, enable them to do what they do best, sale. As a marketing professional you need to do what you do best, drive pipeline and shorten the sales cycle.

4. Be willing to lose to win: As you build a value-added organization you sometimes need to give up something now, to win something better later.

5. Be a master of the math: There is power in numbers. You need to know your business and metrics better than anyone in your organization. You need to understand ways to drive the needle and make money that drives business forward.

6. Have fun: You need to have fun, take moments to enjoy what you do and celebrate with your teams.

It was inspiring to hear from Carine Clark tonight at the Utah Chapter AMA Event. I look forward to more great events from the Utah AMA Chapter.

There is No "I" in Team Blog Series 3 of 3

This is the final post of the blog post series, "There is No "I" in Team. You can read the other blog posts in the series below:

1. Develop Roles and Responsibilities

2. Facilitate Synergy

The Final Post: #3 Enable Greatness

Once you have developed roles and responsibilities for each member of your team and reaped the benefits from creating an environment where strong team synergy lives, you will have positioned your team for greatness. The kind of greatness that confronts challenges and obstacles with smiles and projects with big milestones with passion. The kind of greatness where team members contribute maximum value and are recognized for their efforts. The kind of greatness that makes the impossible, possible.

Impossible, Possible

Think of a project that may have seemed impossible, but with teamwork, determination, and tenacity was made possible. What do you think made the seemingly impossible, possible? List the top 3 things that contributed to your successful outcome. You will find that vision, clear roles, and teamwork might have been some of the keys to your success.

Greatness Enabled

In 2010, my team and I conceptualized, planned, and executed our companies 2nd ever user conference. The event included detail logistics plans, program development (breakouts sessions and keynotes), company-wide resource allocation, and a big product announcement. Each member of the event team was given a role and responsibility. This ownership provided synergy as we set forth to make the conference a success.

Event marketing team with Jonny Moseley

The conference, like any major event, carried with it a lot of moving parts, there were some obstacles and challenges we had to overcome. As a team, we confronted each challenge with determination to succeed.

The "Triumph" Feeling

After the end of each day at the conference, we gathered around as a team and talked about the successes that each team member had for the day. This created a "Triumph" feeling, a feeling of success as we recognized and celebrated the wins of the day. The success of the conference was because of teamwork. Our team in marketing and across the company worked in tandem to make sure that our clients and prospective clients were well taken care of during the conference.

AtTask 2010 User Conference results included:

1. YOY 133% increase in paid conference attendees.
2. 90% of all conference attendees said they would return next year
3. 92% of conference attendees would recommend AtTask to a friend
4. 9.1 out of 10 overall conference rating
5. Over a million dollars in business

Conference Highlight Video

Scott Johnson, Jonny Moseley, Fraser Bullock

Scott Johnson (AtTask CEO), Jonny Moseley (Olympic Gold Medalist), and Fraser Bullock (COO, 2002 Oylmpics) keynote speakers at the 2010 AtTask User Conference.

Attendees networking with industry-leading professionals

Fraser Bullock during his keynote address at the conference

Fraser Bullock was COO of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and is currently the co-founder and managing director of Sorenson Capital.

Jonny Moseley signing autographs for AtTask clients

Stream product announcement

AtTask experts helping clients maximize the use of AtTask in their organizations