Category Archives: Campaign Strategy

Ascend2 Lead Generation Strategy Research

Research Report: Lead Gen Not as Easy as Marketers Think

I just returned from a few days at Dreamforce in San Francisco, the annual circus-slash-conference hosted by CRM leader Salesforce.com, and was struck by the wave of technologies on display that centered on analytics. Highlighted by the launch of Salesforce’s own analytics cloud, the current trend in marketing technology is… Read More

trade show leads

10 Tips for a Successful Trade Show Follow-up Campaign

Research has long suggested that the majority of leads generated by trade shows never receive follow-up by company representatives. A 2010 study concluded that fewer than 70 percent of exhibitors have any formalized plan or process in place for how leads are followed up after the show. In an era… Read More

Sungard AS brand transition campaign

Case Study: How One Tech Company Used Humor to Launch a New Brand

In early 2014, Sungard Availability Services (Sungard AS), a leading provider of managed IT, cloud, and recovery services, announced that it was splitting off as a separate company from SunGard Data Systems Inc. Sungard AS asked its demand generation agency, Spear Marketing Group, to help introduce business prospects within the… Read More

Don Draper

Is Technology Making Marketing Agencies Obsolete?

Over at the IDC Technology Marketing Blog, analyst Sam Melnick posted an article recently with the intriguing title: “Are Ad Agencies Keeping Pace with the Marketing’s (sic) Massive Digital Uptake? (Hint: Maybe Not)” Melnick posits his question largely on the basis of IDC research that shows the rate of growth… Read More

unsolicited email

In Defense of Unsolicited Email

Over at marketing automation firm Marketo, CEO Phil Fernandez just wrote a full-throated rant against the evils of unsolicited email and purchased email lists used indiscriminately: “How does anyone think that these are sensible emails to send to the CEO of a fast-growing public company? Do they really think that… Read More

marketing reality check

Give Your Next Demand Gen Campaign A Reality Check

We’ve all been there. The copy is winding its way through the marketing group and is now on its fourth revision. The CEO didn’t like the photo at the top of the email so it’s back to the drawing board, design-wise. The marcom director wants to change the headline so… Read More