AN OPEN LETTER TO READERS

I have always been inspired with marketing opportunities for ‘Can’t Be Done’ Challenges to create and direct targeted solutions that met and/or exceeded both the financial projections and client expectations of an assignment, project or campaign.

For me, ‘answers’ to my quest came when I saw the movie ‘Field of Dreams’ for the first time (as I’ve now watched it 24 times). The process for marketing success was presented to me with the following messages: Build IT and They (customers) Will Come. Go The Distance (timing is the key). Ease The Pain (answer the questions before they are asked) and Detachment (it’s not your field). The final visual scene in the movie answered the most dynamic question for me as a Marketing Director, “What happens when you follow this marketing process?” THE ANSWER: The People Come (first one, then a second and then an endless line).

I have read so many marketing books over the years, the latest being Marketing Outrageously, Radical Marketing and Blue Ocean Strategy.. They inspired me to write down marketing highlights, starting in 1971. Then it hit me, I could write a book. Is that a personal challenge or what?

One of the many things I have recently realized after all this research and front line marketing experiences is that the authors describe what someone else or a referenced company has done. Every time an author talked about how they were involved, what they were thinking and what they had to go through to make it happen, they drew me in.

Formula For
CHALLENGE MARKETING SUCCESS


Challenge
+
Marketing Strategy
+
Field of Dreams Theory
+
1-11 Theory
+
Experience
=
Technology-Enhanced
Solutions
That Generate Revenue

What Challenge Marketing Means To Me

The thing I love most about an auction is that there is a beginning, a middle and an end. Time is a critical element from the first moment. To be prepared, you must have been preparing. Did I mention that time is a critical element from the first moment you hear about the opportunity?

First, you must understand the challenge, in order to develop a marketing plan that has been designed to maximize productivity and the available resources of time, energy and dollars. Next, you must be able to define what it will take to meet and/or exceed revenue goals.

With an accelerated timeline, a well thought-out strategy with a well defined tactical implementation are key to meeting the challenges.
I was at my best from 1990 to 1993, as the Marketing Director for the disposition of diverse assets valued in excess of $3 billion; including, Industrial Machinery & Equipment, Construction Equipment, Single Family Homes, Commercial Real Estate and Non-Performing Loan Portfolios, from government agencies and corporations. With combined marketing budgets exceeding $3 million, I was able to employ state-of-the-art technology to enhance the presentation of the assets and the sale event. Our auctions were more than sales, they were events that commanded buyer and investor attention, participation and bidding.

The bad news for me (as a government inventoried asset marketing specialist) came in 1994, when the economy moved up and the major government auctions stopped. I have been waiting ten years for the cycle to come around again.

My personal challenge has been to ‘Be Prepared’ when the next time comes again. Challenge Marketing is my version of what it takes to ‘Be Prepared’ to meet the specific challenges of marketing assignments, projects and campaigns by maximizing the available and combined resources of time, energy and dollars, so as to deliver the greatest return on investment.

It’s not only what you know, but what you do with what you know. To meet the marketing challenges of the future, you must be able to enhance the experiences and revenue generating solutions of the past with eCommerce Technologies and Challenge Marketing ... a focused attention to getting the job done!