Good Marketing Reading

Here’s a new round-up of good reading on marketing topics of interest to the scrapbook industry and its businesses:

Exhibitions Game: The Wall Street Journal talks about the value of attending and exhibiting at trade shows, even in a down economy, and explains why trade shows should not been seen as a luxury budget item.

Retailers Court Customers Of Failing Rivals and Macy’s Pursues Customers Of Fallen Rivals: It’s a sad reality that many businesses today are failing due to the tough economic times. These articles talk about what the survivors should do to make sure they secure the closed store’s customers as new customers for themselves when other stores close.

When Customer Loyalty Is A Bad Thing: This Harvard Business Publishing blog article will turn your idea of the paramount value of fostering customer loyalty upside down.

Moms Say Marketers Ignore Their Needs: Moms are a very critical part of the scrapbook market. This BrandWeek article provides some great market data about what it calls the “Power Mom” market segment and talks about how many companies are failing to understand the needs of this group.

Ignore Twitter? Major Brands Learn They’d Better Respond – And Quick: The LA Times details the lessons that several major companies have learned lately through the school of hard knocks about how to (and how not to) deal with a public relations crisis that is Twitter-based.

The New Social Engagement – A Visit To Zappo’s: The online shoe company that is renowned for its customer service got a visit from some Mashable bloggers, who describe the company culture and philosophy that makes the Zappo’s such a success.