Ahmad Kareh

Last year, Deloitte found that 42% of the executives at U.S. corporations and private equity investor firms who were surveyed indicated an increased interest in exploring nontraditional mergers and acquisitions.

Have you ever found yourself in a job interview being asked the dreaded question, "What's your biggest weakness"? Why do employers ask this? Is it to see how people react when pushed out of their comfort zone? Possibly, but the answer also sheds light on an individual's self-awareness. People with a strong grasp on their strengths and weaknesses seem a little more objective and, from what I've seen, are usually more confident in situations and coachable in others. They're typically good at planning a few steps ahead by zooming out every once in a while to recognize opportunities and challenges in their ecosystems. The same applies to organizations.

For marketers, research is a foundation for sound decision making. Data that's gathered from research can provide direction for new product development, AI, big data and marketing strategies. Good research is designed to answer a single research question. But in order to get there, marketers must first determine the right question to ask.

Does customer engagement lead to business success? Sure it does. Engaged customers tend to buy more than an average consumer, and as an added benefit, they advertise on behalf of companies. But is customer engagement enough? Not always. Connections are made with customers every day, but when surface-level strategies are duplicated by alert competitors, eventually, the connection fades away.

Most business owners get into business to make money, profit-seeking business owners welcome cost-based pricing for its straightforward path to calculating profit. All they need to focus on is targeting a sales price that is a markup over cost. Some business owners, however, possess a price sensitivity that leads them to assume their customers share in that trait. Combining price sensitivity with a desperate need to succeed, lead some to the misconception that they need to charge just enough to turn a profit. In either case, the problem is: there is more to pricing than just cost.

Growing up, the home phone was a permanent fixture that hardly ever needed to be replaced. It’s interesting to consider that keeping up with each iPhone update would mean you’re replacing your phone more often than an average light bulb.

There are three key components to any great advertising campaign: It must communicate a promise, be strategic and come across as effortless. People engage with brands that are real and authentic, not brands that try too hard to be cute or that don’t seem to care.

Marketing can be defined as the means to communicate value to customers or, more formally, as “the science of satisfying consumers’ needs profitably,” according to one of my former Harvard University professors, Nick Nugent. The concept of marketing remains the same but the marketing mix, or combination of factors that influence the delivery of value, has evolved considerably.

After talking to hundreds of business owners, I couldn’t comprehend why they stated that an online presence wouldn’t help their business, but it kept popping up. I noticed a recurring theme: It’s easy to get excited about where you want to be, but it’s easier to get discouraged when you hit your first obstacle.

Established brands and organizations have been trying to adapt their advertising strategies to appeal to millennials for years. Desperate for a solution, many businesses rush into traps following the temptation to win over this market. Failing to be inclusive, compromising authenticity and over-generalizing when addressing millennials often backfires.