Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs

On a recent trip with my Mom to Sin City (a.k.a Las Vegas) she stopped in our hotel's crowded, maze-like casino as we headed toward the door to the Pool and Gardens. She asked me how I was always able to get us where we needed or wanted to go. I guess she had been amazed at my ability to successfully negotiate our small party through crowded airports, trams, hotel lobbies, and casinos. I told her that I locate the relevant signs that identify our final destination (i.e., coffee shop, elevator, etc.) and then I simply read the signs and follow their guidance.

Sometimes, I get the same question from clients I work with about how I can identify for them ways that marketing can improve their efforts to increase sales and profits, get new customers, or to retain current customers. The answer is the same. I read the signs. For the most part, airports and hotel lobbies the world over use standard conventions and protocols for signs. Unlike Mom, I do a fair amount of travelling so I am familiar with -- and can use -- these signs to quickly and effortlessly get us where we want to go. Take away the signs and I'd be lost!

The business world -- the world over -- also uses standard conventions and protocols for measuring business results. These measurements along with the answers to a few straightforward questions (see below) give us signs that illustrate the status and direction of the company and its marketing effort. Unlike the day-to-day employees at a company who are sometimes too close and involved with the work at hand, I can objectively locate, assess and use the appropriate signs to provide more effective marketing solutions for a client. Again, without the signs, I'd be lost!

So what kinds of signs does Mosaic typically look for when it comes to assessing how well the marketing function is working for a company in reaching its goals or destinations? These vary given the situation a company is currently experiencing as well as their ultimate destination. In general, though, just a few signs to consider are:

What is happening to sales and profits overall? By product category? By user category?

When was the last time the company conducted end-user market research?

What changes or trends are occurring in your market place?

What does the company know and understand about what the customer really wants and needs as a result of using your product or service? (Note: We're talking results NOT bells and whistles, patents, etc!)

What does the company know and understand about who its customers are and why they presently buy from that firm?

What does the company know and understand about how it is different from its competition in ways that are imnportant to current and potential customers?

Or how about these?

What does your company know about its key competitors? (If you think your company doesn't really have any competition - I strongly recommend you rethink that.)

Does your company know who your key customers are this year? Are they the same as last year? Why/why not?

Does your company know which of your products are making up 80% of your sales and profits this year? Are they the same ones as last year? Why/why not?

If your company is experiencing diffliculties reaching its destinations, if you're ending up at the pool when you really wanted to play blackjack, or vice versa, it could be you need some help identifying, reading, and following the signs of your business and your marketing efforts. Give us a call, we're good at that at Mosaic - just ask my Mom! Or better yet, ask our clients.

— by Rosemary Walter

Marketing Tips to Clip

This quarter Maxine Lans Retsky, a partner in the Chicago office of Greenberg Traurig clarifies the confusing topics of trademarks, service marks, patents, and copyrights. Maxine's practice covers all facets of intellectual property, advertising, and promotion law. Ms. Retsky can be reached at 312-456-8426 or retskym@gtlaw.com.

More Than One Way To Protect Your Products

Intellectual property law includes trademark, patent, and copyright laws. Sometimes a product or service can be protected by all three at the same time. For example, the design of a car may be copyrighted, its engine parts protected by patents, and the car's brand name can be registered as a trademark. It can be confusing to try to figure out the differences between these laws.

Trademark protection: A trademark is a distinct word, name, symbol, or combination, used to identify and distinguish tangible goods. Product names, advertising slogans, and designs can also be trademarked. A service mark is a trademark used to identify an intangible service (e.g., a restaurant).

Trademark laws protect an owner's right to distinguish the source of origin of its products from competing products. Protection begins with use and trademark protection lasts as long as the mark is properly used. Trademark protection may be available even if a mark is not registered.

Marks should only be used as adjectives followed by the generic name of the product or service, i.e., Kleenex facial tissue.

Copyright protection: Copyright laws protect original expressions, e.g., pictures and designs, once the expression is fixed in a tangible form. This protection lasts for the life of the author plus 50 years. To obtain copyright protection, the subject matter must contain at least a slight amount of original, creative text or pictorial material.

Patent protection: Utility patents protect functional features. Patent laws are intended to encourage inventions and to promote their disclosure to the public to advance technology. The U.S. government grants the inventor a temporary monopoly in exchange for making his or her invention known to the public.

This is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. It is important to get good legal advice regarding products, packaging and advertising as early in the development process as possible. In the long run, it will save time and money, while maximizing your asset protection.

This & That

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Rosemary has been published again! This time in The Crucible Voice for the Aluminum and Brass Casting Industry. "Six Steps to Increasing Sales and Profits" appeared in the July/August 2002 issue. Call or e-mail for your very own reprint copy. Do any of the trade associations you belong to need great marketing or business management articles?

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MOSAIC HAS MOVED! New address: 309 E Rand Road #330 Arlington Hts, IL 60004-3103. New phone: 847-483-5018. New fax: 847-483-5019. New E-mail: RGW@MosaicMM.com.