Verso Marketing

Movies in Marketing, now open to all businesses

2009-02-20T05:20:00.000-08:00

Charles Mapleston of VERSO Marketing looks at the benefits of digital technology

Hollywood reputedly spends as much money marketing a film as making it in the first place; but feature film marketing uses the scattergun approach, targeting everyone and anyone. Clearly this isn’t feasible in the business world, both financially and practically – but nor is it necessary.

A few years ago, I made a film for a British company making exotic ceramic aerospace components that was targeted at less than a dozen American executives working at Boeing and Lockheed, taking them on a virtual tour of a midlands-based factory. But it was still one hell of a challenge for the UK sales force to actually get in to see their target audience and show them the film. Today, with pretty much universal Broadband Internet access it's easy......more

Who's wasting time on the Web?

2009-01-23T06:09:00.000-08:00

Mike Farmers of VERSO Marketing takes a view

In a recent survey the CMI reported that 'cyber cynicism' was hindering engineering companies. Employers were failing to capitalise on the business benefits offered by new technology. The Chartered Management Institute report confirms a long held view that Internet policing is getting in the way of product development and that the vast majority of employers in engineering view the web as a '"massive time waster"
Well it's true isn't it?...... more

Tough times? Buy your Marketing in small affordable pieces

2008-12-08T12:43:00.000-08:00

Mike Farmers of VERSO Marketing takes a view of paying too much

Times are complicated. So forget expensive Agencies, forget new staff and take a look at the simple answer. The VERSO network of affordable marketing professionals.

Why affordable? Because you only buy what you need when you need it. And right now a bit of fresh thinking is probably what is needed most....more

The Big debate: Website or Direct Mail?

2008-12-08T12:15:00.000-08:00

Mike Farmers of VERSO Marketing takes a view

The argument has been bouncing around for a while now and will continue. Why? The Web is here to stay but it depends who you are and what you want as to the likely benefits and its place in your marketing mix. For the SME it's a mixed bag...more

How much trust do Brands generate now?

2008-12-08T03:55:00.000-08:00

Mike Farmers of VERSO Marketing takes a view of the Brand

We, the consumer, have become a bunch of cynics. We don't believe sales messages, we don't believe the offer is anything but a catch and we don't trust brands the way we used to. So are advertisers' budgets wasted, are messages pointless and do we have to find a new way?.........more

New Business, it's all in the software

2008-12-08T03:54:00.000-08:00

Mike Farmers of VERSO Marketing takes a view of prospecting

The idea of using software to point the way to your next piece of business is a thought that crosses every mind responsible for new business. Me too. But for some people the idea of whacking all you know and all you've sold into a giant sausage machine and expecting hot leads to come out the end, NO. Well not yet anyway. But there is a great deal you can do to improve your prospecting.......more

How do you feel about being an SME?

2008-12-08T03:51:00.000-08:00

Mike Farmers of VERSO Marketing takes a view about being small

Nearly 98% of all UK businesses are lumped under the title of SME, the classification goes from the micro business, two chaps a bucket and a ladder, right up to 50 souls onboard a managed turnover of £10m. Seems a fairly stupid nomenclature, you could even call it a label and we none of us like those.

What all us SMEs have in common is the learning curve of growth. That uneven progression up a corporate ladder with an unbalanced team pulling as best they can against uncertain odds. It's not surprising that most businesses don't make it further than 3 years.

As SMEs employ more than half the available labour in the country and provide half the GNP it's obvious that 'stable' is not the first word you would reach for when describing the future we all rely upon. Still the entrepreneurial spirit is not dampened and more start the process than fall off half way up. Statistically it is also true that most that do fall off start again in one way or another. Perhaps hoping to avoid the now known pitfall of their earlier attempt...more

Say it with BENEFITS

2008-12-08T03:48:00.000-08:00

Mike Farmers of VERSO Marketing talks about copy

I use a small exercise when talking to people who have the job of writing advertising copy. There is always a lot they must say, a lot of points to get across to the person they are selling to and it's here the problem starts. So this exercise helps sort things out....more

SME? Tap into a new resource network

2008-11-11T04:29:00.000-08:00

Mike Farmers of VERSO Marketing takes a view of the options for developing your Business

Over 90% of UK companies are classified as SMEs. Many will say these companies are the powerhouse of future British industry and the home of that innovative and entrepreneurial spirit we all read so much about these days. But when you are running one of these organisations the view can be very different.

Successes are great retrospective stories, however looking ahead and trying to find the way to grow your business into that success story is the difficult and sometimes depressing side of the struggle.

So what are developing companies short of? The answer is money and skills. The money buys the skills and the skills grow the company, easy isn't it? Not so, firstly more money is wasted than was ever put to good use and, secondly, money is always available if the investment is sound. So why are there so many under-developed companies still looking for ways to grow, can't all be the fault of the person in charge can it?

Hindsight is a great teacher so it makes sense to talk to those who have been there and done it. The government has always recognised the logic in this even to the point of involving captains of industry to straighten out government departments and policies. Where would the political parties be without their Ad Agencies to sell their electoral promises? Same with developing businesses.
Where do you find help and what does it cost? One answer is to find yourself a mentoring organisation, a group of skills that you may need in order to get ahead.

These come in many forms, from the government sponsored Business Link to your accountancy firm offering contacts that are knowledgeable. Many business people feel that opening a dialogue with other business skills is a long way round when they know that their answer lays in better marketing. They need a mentoring group that puts marketing ahead of but not detached from business skills. Now the options are less. Maybe you need look at Advertising and Marketing Agencies?

Seen as expensive options and difficult to talk to without a budget bigger than your turnover we have one answer to the question asked earlier. "Why are so many developing businesses not developing faster?" They are not all unapproachable and you don't need to shop at the lower end either.

Advertising and Marketing is a collection of skills that are unlikely to be resident in a local design company, or an agency that operates in markets other than yours. What you need is out there, finding it is the problem. What makes the search doubly difficult is that the selection process is two way, both parties have to think the relationship workable and likely to deliver mutual benefit.
Time to talk to networks that specialise in Creative Marketing for Developing Companies. I work for one such network and of course there are many others.

We specialise in B2B, anything from electronics to engineering, both manufacturers and service providers. http://www.versomarketing.co.uk

Verso Marketing now on the new server

2008-11-06T04:20:00.000-08:00

We are please to confirm that our address at Verso Marketing is now back to normal after a Host upgrade.

Our Blog will shortly be available in the website for all the latest information

Regards

Pete

Verso Marketing might be down for 12 hours

2008-11-04T04:42:00.000-08:00

To improve customer service and make the website load faster, we have decide to change hosting companies. This might result in our website being unavailable for a short time.

Regards to all our customers and potential new customers.

The Verso Team

Welcome to the Verso Marketing Blog and RSS feed

2008-11-02T01:58:00.000-07:00

We have just started this Blog and newsfeed to provide information about our company, our solutions and what is new in the UK Marketing Industry. Please visit our website at http://www.versomarketing.co.uk/ for the latest information.

Pete