On a call today discussing marketing in our sector - and how there is very little of it. I had to take a look at what companies spend on marketing. Here is the list of the top 20 advertisers.
- AT&T - $3.6bn
- Samsung - $3.3bn
- NIKE - $3.2bn
- Google - $3.2bn
- T-Mobile - $2.9bn
- Verizon - $2.7bn
- Chase - $2.7bn
Chase and Nike are to give you an idea what big brands spend. Granted that AT&T and Verizon have revenue of $155B and $120B per year, respectively. The ad budget is just about 2% of revenue. Most B2B companies are spending 10% of revenue on marketing (that includes advertising, digital, direct, social, etc.).
I understand that Branding is tough, but brands are valuable. Ask AT&T or Coke. SBC bought AT&T but canned the SBC brand.
You have to do some marketing especially in the crowded me-too space we are in. At the very least, you have to do PR.
When Google or Amazon or Apple do something - let alone launch a product - they get a ton of hype, buzz, mentions and attention. Unfortunately, Joe's UC Service will have to figure out how to manufacture some attention. The buzz has been that Amazon Echo will change UC. Even f it doesn't, you have to be innovating and marketing. Peter Drucker said so.
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