Parasitic Marketing

There was an article in the WSJ last week entitled "Marketing Strategy: Buddy Up". The gist of the article was the value of small companies sharing marketing campaigns with larger companies. There is an opportunity for synergy when teaming up with a bigger company, a friendly strategic alliance.

When I was with Blue Orb, we created what I called parasitic marketing, where we would attach our little promotional efforts to a larger host company. We hoped that our small diversion would go unnoticed by the sponsor of the bigger event or if noticed would not be worth the effort to make us go away.

Does anyone have other examples of parasitic marketing? Any problems with the ethics?

The impact of pitching the plan

Hi, I'm back
A colleague shared an article that appeared in Venture Capital back in July 2008. It is one of those academic articles where the findings fall into the "I could have told you that" category, which is: investor's interest is significantly related to the quality of the presentation.

It is my experience that an "ok" venture presented well will receive a more positive reception that an excellent business model presented poorly. Aspiring entrepreneurs often overlook the importance of persuasive communication. Being good at selling is a crucial skill for even the most technically astute entrepreneur.

Fortunately, developing skill at selling and giving effective presentations is a competency that can be taught. Students in the Rollins MBA program have many occasions to learn presentation skills. We need to augment the sales skills training.