Richard,
I do not think there is any such limit, but may be wrong and would welcome an authoritative correction.
My exasperation and qualms over the delay matches most anyone's, but I do not think AXC is the first company to take a good long time to sell a complex asset. Sure would like to be privy though to what has actually been offered....what was removed from the table....and the whys of it all.
Here's an interesting marketing article I ran into this morning ....
<< Test Your Marketing IQ
By Brad Mehl
Chief Executive Officer of Leap Ventures
2/20/01
Build the brand NOW! Advertise on the Super Bowl! Get big fast! That was the mantra in the years preceding the dot-com crash. Times changed, but the marketing strategies employed by the failed dot-coms were too ingrained in their business models to successfully change with the times. So they burned cash and died.
I believe the reason for the shakeout was twofold: 1) too many companies with flawed business models got funded and 2) too many CEOs and those in the investment community did not understand the way marketing works. In my consulting work, dozens of chief marketing officers have complained to me that "everyone thinks they understand marketing -- but they really don't." If marketing is so easy, why are there so many failed companies that are, by definition, marketing-driven?
I believe that, particularly at smaller companies, a major job of any chief marketing officer is to educate the chief executive officer and the organization about marketing and how it works. In uncertain times more than ever, marketers need to deliver breakthrough programs that get results. But to do so, the organization must have an appreciation for marketing possibilities in tune with these new times -- e.g. new strategies, channels, partnership structures, media, and emerging technologies.
Below is a "Marketing IQ" test for marketing professionals to give to their colleagues who think they understand marketing. The rationale behind the answers is as important as the answers themselves. If your CEO and your colleagues "get it", then congratulations! Your job is easier! But if they flunk, you may have your work cut out for you in terms of education. A word of advice: take this test yourself and see how you do before passing it to others. If you flunk, you may also have your work cut out for you.
Q. True or False?
"Promotion" is an umbrella catch-phrase that describes any marketing program, e.g. "Let's increase the marketing budget, we need more promotion."
A. False. A promotion is a short-term, business-driving marketing program structured to achieve a pre-determined objective, e.g. a sweepstakes or contest (which are somewhat different programs). Promotion is one of the most misused marketing terms in the industry and is often mistakenly used to describe anything from a corporate advertising campaign to a direct mail drop. Sorry to be harsh, but many folks confuse the medium with the program.
Points to ponder: Have you used "promotion" and "marketing program" interchangeably? Do you know the difference between a sweepstakes and a contest? When is each of these programs appropriate?
Q. True or False?
Public Relations efforts are generally impossible to track; however they can be extremely effective.
A. False. It is true that a well-conceived PR plan can ignite corporate awareness and work wonders. However, the results of many plans can, in fact, be tracked. Before beginning any new PR campaign, marketers should conduct benchmarking studies to better understand their positions as they start. Keep in mind that the "amount of ink" is not the only thing that matters. Tracking programs that only count the number of media impressions gained can give too much weight to the quantity of impressions, rather than considering the quality of those impressions.
Points to ponder: Have you tried to track your PR efforts? Does your PR firm constantly emphasize the "amount of ink" over the quality of the ink? Is your PR done ad hoc or do you have well-developed (written) communication plans?
Q. Multiple choice.
"Search engine optimization" refers to:
The strategic process of determining which search engines or portals to advertise on.
Optimizing the marketing budget allocated to specific search engines.
Technologies employed to improve a company's ranking in search engine results.
The automotive industry's quest for an environmentally safe car engine.
A. C. Most companies should have a search engine optimization strategy in place because it helps existing and potential customers find your firm on the Internet. The technologies used are generally algorithms designed to improve ranking results. Search engines are aware of such efforts and take measures to foil the algorithms. Some have been known to even penalize companies who try to optimize their rankings. The best bet is to work with a quality online marketing agency and discuss an optimization strategy that works for you.
Points to ponder: does your company have a search engine optimization strategy? Do you know the difference between a search engine and an Internet directory?
Q. True or False?
In B-to-B environments, the sales force -- not the marketing department -- is primarily responsible for qualifying customer leads and turning them into relationships that drive revenue.
A. False. Due to advances in lead management and marketing software, there has been a trend toward marketing departments "nurturing" potential customers. The concept is that the marketing department stays in touch with prospects and engages them in a dialogue so that they eventually become qualified leads. Of course, the best sales people maintain contact with prospects and follow up, but they generally spend more time on closing the highest potential leads and focus less on nurturing those deemed to be of lesser potential.
Points to ponder: Are you sure that all of your "unqualified" leads are truly unqualified? Do you collect information about your customer prospects? How is that done and over what time frame? Have you investigated opportunities to automate lead generation, qualification and distribution? Is lead management integrated with other aspects of your company's selling process?
Q. True or False?
An "opt-in" list consists entirely of potential customers that have granted permission to a marketer to contact them. Such a list is valuable and effective because it contains customer prospects that welcome communications via e-mail or direct mail.
A. False. Or to be more precise, not entirely true. A significant number of people who opt-in to a list are unaware of what they signed up for. Most good list management companies conduct a "double opt-in" which means they contact a prospect deemed to have opted in, and confirm the fact that the prospect has granted permission to receive communications from a marketer. Still, even a double opt-in list will include people who will ultimately complain about being contacted. And an opt-in for e-mail does NOT imply that a prospect wants to be contacted by direct mail. More CRM databases should include a contact medium preference or the mode of communication that is preferred by a customer prospect. Regarding opt-in, the best bet is to contact your list broker or direct marketing agency and ask the right questions.
Points to ponder: Are your e-mail lists double opt-in? What is done with your "do not promote" list? For direct mail, do you mail prospects that have said, "do not promote"? Do you use an national change of address file or its equivalent in the online world?
Q. Multiple Choice
Which sequence below best ranks the extent to which each factor generally drives direct response. (with the most important coming first and the least important coming last).
The offer, The list, The creative/copy.
The list, The offer, The creative/copy.
The creative/copy, The list, The offer.
The list, The creative/copy, The offer.
A. B. To get the best results, a marketer should test and optimize all three factors. But e-mail is not unlike direct mail in that the list drives a majority of the response rate, followed by the offer and the creative execution. That explains why testing and optimizing of the list mix is vital to the success of a direct marketing program. Testing is relatively quick, particularly for e-mail where 90 percent of results come in within two to three days.
Industry wisdom says that reaching the right prospect with the right message is the most important driver of results, with the creative being the least important aspect. In an age of integrated communications, it IS vital that direct marketing creative/copy reflect a company's core brand message. Simply put, the message should be created with great care. But in the context of direct marketing, a disproportionate amount of energy is often spent on the copy, rather than on the list or the offer -- which really will drive more direct response.
Points to ponder: What kind of testing do you do? How much time do you spend on different kinds of testing? Do your test cells have a sample size large enough so differences in results can be deemed statistically significant?
About the Author
Brad Mehl (brad@leapventures.com) is CEO of Leap Ventures, a New York-based marketing consulting firm. He has directed marketing for two innovative technology companies and provided advice to a dozen others. Feel free to propose additional Q&As that can be used in future Marketing IQ tests. >> |
