“Spring has officially arrived.” So says the spam email I received from Brian at Phenix Investigations this morning. “It’s time to think about using surveillance to deal with employee-related issues.”
I don’t know Brian and have never heard of Phenix Investigations until today, but I did find it a rather curious email. For starters, spring officially arrived about five months ago. And frankly, I can’t think of a worse idea at any time of the year than spying on my employees, especially in the current business environment.
My curiosity moves me to do a little investigating on my own.
An increasing number of nonprofit organizations are mobilizing, calling for a change in the way they market their causes to a consumer public that is spending less and thus donating less. These marketing leaders will be sharing ideas and recommending different approaches at the upcoming American Marketing Associating (AMA) annual nonprofit conference to be held in Chicago on October 11-13.
According to Cynthia Currence, who is president of the AMA nonprofit group and will be chairing the conference, there is a need for their sector to reinvent and transform the way they approach marketing, especially now in a challenging economic environment, as it is tremendously underleveraged.
One of the most profitable and sustaining business models is the razor and the blade concept. In this model, there exists a synergistic coupling of two compatible products, one dependent upon the other, requiring a capital purchase (the razor) and then the continuing need for necessary consumable products (the blade), which is of course where all the money is.
The key to sustaining this model is the continued reinvention of both the razor and the blade. As consumers, we know this. Yet, because of our need to always have the next new thing, we invariably get sucked into the razor and blade syndrome.
Imagine my good luck at receiving a credit adjustment in the mail for $161.64.
Not knowing exactly what a credit adjustment is, I rip open the nondescript, official looking envelope to find that I have been included in a select group of individuals chosen for a special publisher’s offer on a three-year subscription to Motor Trend magazine — an offer not available to the general public.
The regular subscription price is $179.64, but with my special credit adjustment of $161.64, the price is only $6 per year. Wow.
