Blog o' RAMA

February 26th: Join us for Pricing as a Competitive Advantage

RAMA's February event is a must attend luncheon. Sponsored by the Simon Graduate School of Business, this event will address a key issue troubling marketers today: pricing.  

Julie Meehan, Senior Manager at Deloitte Consulting LLP, will speak to the local Rochester Chapter of the American Marketing Association on using pricing as a competitive advantage. Her presentation will explore:

The Pricing Excellence Model: 6 Core Competencies

1. Pricing Strategy
2. Price Execution
3. Advanced Analytics and Price Setting
4. Organizational Alignment and Governance 
5. Pricing Technology and Data Management 
6. Tax and Regulatory Effectiveness

Fo location and more information click here to access our events page. Or, register today, below.

Please register here, today.  

Exciting Times in Marketing

With all the doom and gloom on TV, with all the bad news being circulated around the net, one would think it was time to pack up and go home. Except, according to daily news reports, for many there no longer is a home to go home to.

Rather than sit at your desk, head in hands, bemoaning the state of the economy, it behooves every person in every company - especially the CEO and Director of Marketing - to stand up and make a declaration. "We're not participating in this recession! Let's brainstorm some new, exciting innovative ideas - NOTHING IS OFF LIMITS!"

Rebuilding Corporate Reputation

Wal-Mart is the world's largest retailer. More Americans shop in a Wal-Mart every week than voted in the last Presidential Election.

For most of its existence, Wal-Mart as a corporation has stayed quiet, even in the face of an increasing number of attacks from various groups. After years of being on the defense, Wal-Mart has shifted its communications strategy to proactively tell the public and its customers the story of how it takes social responsibility very seriously.

On Tuesday, November 18th, Steven Restivo, will share how Wal-Mart is now talking about its advancements in employee health care, environmental sustainability initiatives and economic impact success stories. He will highlight how an integrated marketing communications and PR program is now one of the company’s key priorities for continuing success.

This breakfast seminar is co-hosted by the Rochester Chapter of the American Marketing Association (RAMA) and the Rochester Chapter of the Public Relations Society of American (PRSA).

Event will be held at Mario's. For more details and to register, visit our EVENTS page.

[or REGISTER HERE NOW]

Study Shows CMOs Need to ReThink and ReCalibrate

Just in from the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council today: "...the majority of global companies surveyed acknowlege significant deficiencies in their go-to-market capabilities and marketing and sales processes."

Shocking news? Probably not. The survey comes from more than a thousand senior marketing and sales execs from multiple industries, so the media alert I received told me. "This research was conducted in partnership with The Boston Consulting Group (BCG)," they went on. Together, the CMO and the BCG reported these findings:

The CMO Council and The Boston Consulting Group define the "go-to-market" process as comprising the strategic and tactical aspects of delivering and supporting a product or service offering in the marketplace. This includes product specification, pricing, distribution, marketing communications, sales, after-market support and customer experience management. The survey examines a broad range of marketing and sales variables tied to companies' go-to-market processes - including their strategies, functional competencies, operational processes, customer knowledge, relationship management practices, budgeting and level of innovation.

The survey revealed that a surprising number of marketing and sales executives at some of the world's largest and most respected corporations acknowledge a major disconnect between what they know they should be doing and what they are actually doing in terms of enhancing their go-to-market processes. What's more, respondents gave themselves decidedly low marks when assessing their existing processes.

For more information, or to download the report, visit the CMO Council website.

Marketing 2.0 - The New Kodak Way: March 18th

Jeffrey Hayzlett, Chief Business Development Officer and VP, Eastman Kodak Company will talk to us about how Kodak is using YouTube, NBC's Celebrity Apprentice TV show and other unique marketing tools to enhance the Kodak brand.

When: March 18, 2008
Where: Mario's Italian Steakhouse; 2740 Monroe Ave. 14618; 585-271-1111
Time: 7:30 am - 9:30 am
Cost: $20 for members $35 for non-members

Special Thanks to our event sponsor,
Partners and Napier.

Come and hear firsthand from Jeff and his team about the new mindset behind these ideas, how they're working, and what the implications are for marketers of all sizes.

In anticipation, we invite you to visit these links:

The Celebrity Apprentice Video Episodes

The Kodak 1000 Words blog

Register here...now..today!

February 8th - RAMA Presents A Market Research Boot Camp

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO INADEQUATE RESPONSE. WE INVITE YOU TO CHECK BACK FOR OTHER EXCITING AND EDUCATIONAL RAMA EVENTS IN THE PLANNING!

• Marketing researchers new to the field
• Seasoned marketers who need an update or an introduction to research
• Marketing practitioners who interface with research suppliers

Join Sanjob Misra and JJ Brakus of the Simon Graduate School of Business as they discuss:

• How to make your research work harder
• Ways to choose between qualitative and quantitative studies
• Statistics for non-statisticians, and many other important topics.

Time and Location:
February 8, 2008
8:00- 4:30
Simon Graduate School of Business
407 Schelegel Hall

New AMA Marketing Definition Reflects Individual Control

Hi, this is Bill Ward, Collegiate Relations Chair for the RAMA Board. I was pleased to see that the AMA announced an updated marketing definition. The AMA reviews the definition every few years and makes changes if necessary to reflect the dynamic and rapidly changing nature of marketing. I believe the new version more accurately reflects the interaction and control of the marketing process at the individual level (not just organizational) with the growing influence of online social media and consumer created content on society at large.

The new definition and the previous version are announced in Marketing Daily so you can judge for yourself.

The new definition reads: "Marketing is the activity, set of institutions and processes for creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large."

The previous definition stated: "Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders."

Golisano Shows His Charitable Side at RAMA Event

Hello everyone,

To those of you who weren't there, you won't believe what happened at our event today yesterday. As you know, RAMA chooses a charity for each event, and we donate $1 for every person who attends.  Our charity for this event was Rotary Camp Onseyawa.

Well, we were one-upped in a big way by our presenter,Tom Golisano. He raised $3,000 auctioning off an autographed Ryan Miller jersey, and $5,000 by offering a game and dinner for 8 people in his personal suite at a Sabres game. There were 2 representatives from the charity at the event, and they were ecstatic!

Tom's talk was great. I loved the way he used his business savvy to make the changes needed to bring the franchise around, and it is a great example of how to turn a business around.

Thanks to everyone who worked on this event to bring it to fruition. I am very proud of how RAMA was represented today.

Welcome new RAMA Members!

RAMA (Rochester Chapter, American Marketing Association), welcomes our new members for October.  We are very fortunate to have a strong professional and student membership base that is growing.  If you are not a member, why not?  You can join AMA and RAMA on the web.

Welcome to our new Professional members:
Joan Aiello
Alice Witherow
Jeannine Rossignol
Laurie Dwyer
Julia Price

Welcome to our new Student members:
William Brosi
Nicholas Angeline
David Koster
Revay Wilson
Brian Agro

If you want to learn more about membership in RAMA please email Barb Cote who can provide more information.

Tom Golisano to speak on Turning the Brand Around: The Sabres' Story

Local entrepreneur and esteemed business professional, Tom Golisano, will be presenting at our next  RAMA event, to be held at the Riverside Convention Center.

Golisano is best known for his outstanding success founding and building Paychex, the "second largest payroll processor in the United States (thanks to wikipedia)". He is also the owner of the Sabres hockey team, out of Buffalo, NY. It's hard, these days, to decide which he's best known for - but, known he is. And respected.

Regardless of your feelings about hockey, you'll want to attend this event and hear Golisano talk about the turnaround of this brand and how the Sabres jumpstarted their brand - almost overnight. I hear one lucky attendee could walk away with a Sabres' jersey!

Blueline sponsor is Golisano's Children's Hospital. 

The charity RAMA has chosen for this event is Camp Onseyawa.

"The mission of Rotary Camp Onseyawa is to provide a camping experience for 9-16 year old children with disabilities from the 4 county area, and to foster independence and acceptance of others through social, recreational and educational aspects of life."

Please visit the events page for more info.

Ready to register now? Click this link...