Now THIS will make it harder for tobacco companies to brand their products

(Thankfully)

Australia is introducing legislation that will remove all branding from cigarette packages. So, the only thing they will be able to compete on is the best picture of lung cancer on the box. I can see the conversation at the cash register:

Customer: Can I get a pack with lung cancer on it

Sales Clerk: Sorry sir, we're all out of lung cancer. What about gum cancer? I have 96 packs of gum cancer left.

Read the story on CBC.ca.

Marketing isn't Advertising

Marketing is often confused for Advertising.

Advertising is a sub-set of Marketing.

Marketing is a broader discipline that covers:

• Brand - What does your company stand for?
• Product / Service - What are you doing to live up to the Brand?
• Communications - How do you engage in a conversation with your customers?
• Pricing - What is the right revenue management model to drive sales?
• Place - Where and how do you sell and service your product?
• Target Market - Who is your 'tribe' and where do you find them?

Just a part of the equation.

How much advertising $ is enough?

I recently read a very open-ended question that was posted on a forum. It was simply "How much should I spend on advertising?" That's a good question. But, you can only answer the question in the context of:

• What are your advertising goals?
• Who is your target market?
• Where is your target market?
• How do you enter the conversation with your market?

Is the answer multi-millions, and you are spending like crazy to promote new software (e.g. the Windows XP roll-out a few years back, or the Microsoft Bing roll-out of late), or is the answer almost nothing, and you build through word-of-mouth (e.g. Apple's iPad).

You can't know how much you need to spend until you set your goals, build a strategy and a plan.

The next big question, is what is your return on advertising spend? Advertising should be an investment, not a cost.