Re:don't expect this to power your laptop just yet
on
Banana Power!
·
· Score: 2, Funny
Think of the possibilities for other electronics devices:
Introducing the new bPod from Apple!
No need to send in for a new battery... just let the old one decay, then peel yourself a new one!
Re:So that's what you do with them
on
Banana Power!
·
· Score: 3, Informative
Err, well bannana bread fodder is not rotten, per se... just mushy, soft and oxidized to where they turn brown. Give them a few days and they will start stinking up the place, though.
Time flies like the wind, fruit flies like bannannas. - Groucho Marx
Amen. Marketing isn't evil. The goal is simple: in a busy, infomation-rich environment, to connect people with needs to people willing to pay for solutions.
Done ethically, it's a perfectly respectable process. Done unethically, and it's as harmful as can be. Blame those who abuse the discipline, not the process itself.
I see your point... perhaps such a work is 'too little, too late' for many. I don't think that obviates the need or focus of this book, however.
I think the author's point, and the reviewer's reson for enthusiasm, is the good the book would do were it read by someone still pondering "Can I do this?" I wholeheartedly agree: someone in business should have looked at marketing before opening up shop.
Even if one has money or access to money (access? sounds sinister... whose money are you accessing?) and plans to hire outside expertise, knowing about marketing is important for a variety of reasons.
First is simply understanding what's involved. Routinely, engineering types (I speak from experience) underestimate the effort and focus required to take a widget and convince someone to buy it. Having a brief understanding of the problem will allow for better project planning, bugeting and preparation, greatly speeding time to market.
Furthermore, if a marketing group's strategy and focii do not align with the prodct company's, such a mismatch is unlikely to produce a smoothly-running marketing campaign. Knowing enough about marketing to understand what marketers do (and evaluating how well do it) will allow you to select a provider and manage their efforts effectively. If the product company won't manage those wild-eyed creative types in marketing (who throw facts to the wind and revel in vague hype-speak; again, I speak from experience), who will? They will likely end up managing more than one would like, or else they give up in frustration; neither option will sucessfully increase business.
Finally, paying attention to marketing (rather than just the 'it's done, throw it over the fence' attitude commonly evidenced) is a proactive, agressive stance that helps eliminate factual, technical and tactical errors which can lead to costly reprints, embarassment in the marketplace, poor reception and possibly litigation due to misrepresentation.
As a marketing hack, I absolutely rely on the informed input of our engineering staff. I take time to learn the product so I can represent it fairly. The good ones in engineering take the time to learn what my group does so that they can support the work. The better our partnership is, the better represented the product is. One could almost graph it as a linear relationship.
To many, marketing is almost as unpalatable as politics, but it's a necessary evil. Knowing the rules and order of the game can be the difference between a sucessful, profitable experience and unmitigated, bank-draining disaster, no matter which group of over-dressed Powerpoint-wielding mercenaries is hired to do the dirty work.
A fairly lengthy story on NPR yesterday presents an 'outsiders' view of RPGs; Includes brief audio from D&D co-creator Dave Arneson and adult players of the game.
They do cover the crossover and influence on computer games, one interveiwee labeling the game "the first virtual reality". Worth a listen.
Slashdot Mirror
Introducing the new bPod from Apple! No need to send in for a new battery... just let the old one decay, then peel yourself a new one!
Time flies like the wind, fruit flies like bannannas. - Groucho Marx
Done ethically, it's a perfectly respectable process. Done unethically, and it's as harmful as can be. Blame those who abuse the discipline, not the process itself.
I think the author's point, and the reviewer's reson for enthusiasm, is the good the book would do were it read by someone still pondering "Can I do this?" I wholeheartedly agree: someone in business should have looked at marketing before opening up shop.
First is simply understanding what's involved. Routinely, engineering types (I speak from experience) underestimate the effort and focus required to take a widget and convince someone to buy it. Having a brief understanding of the problem will allow for better project planning, bugeting and preparation, greatly speeding time to market.
Furthermore, if a marketing group's strategy and focii do not align with the prodct company's, such a mismatch is unlikely to produce a smoothly-running marketing campaign. Knowing enough about marketing to understand what marketers do (and evaluating how well do it) will allow you to select a provider and manage their efforts effectively. If the product company won't manage those wild-eyed creative types in marketing (who throw facts to the wind and revel in vague hype-speak; again, I speak from experience), who will? They will likely end up managing more than one would like, or else they give up in frustration; neither option will sucessfully increase business.
Finally, paying attention to marketing (rather than just the 'it's done, throw it over the fence' attitude commonly evidenced) is a proactive, agressive stance that helps eliminate factual, technical and tactical errors which can lead to costly reprints, embarassment in the marketplace, poor reception and possibly litigation due to misrepresentation.
As a marketing hack, I absolutely rely on the informed input of our engineering staff. I take time to learn the product so I can represent it fairly. The good ones in engineering take the time to learn what my group does so that they can support the work. The better our partnership is, the better represented the product is. One could almost graph it as a linear relationship.
To many, marketing is almost as unpalatable as politics, but it's a necessary evil. Knowing the rules and order of the game can be the difference between a sucessful, profitable experience and unmitigated, bank-draining disaster, no matter which group of over-dressed Powerpoint-wielding mercenaries is hired to do the dirty work.
A fairly lengthy story on NPR yesterday presents an 'outsiders' view of RPGs; Includes brief audio from D&D co-creator Dave Arneson and adult players of the game.
They do cover the crossover and influence on computer games, one interveiwee labeling the game "the first virtual reality". Worth a listen.