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FAQs |
Twenty Questions
Q: What in tarnation is an SMO?
A: An SMO is a Strategic Marketing Organization. It is a concept coined and developed by Mr. Jamie Stanco to provide a dedicated resource to companies in need of Positioning, Messaging and Branding services. Progressive Marketing Group is the prototypical SMO.
Q: Does Progressive Marketing Group do everything in-house?
A: We are a full-service strategic marketing organization offering a wide variety of tactical items. All strategies and creative come from within. We do utilize outside tactical services such as photography, videography and occasionally art or spot multimedia.
Q: What kind of budget does a client have to possess to interest PMG?
A: What interests us primarily is the nature of each client’s business and their goals. Budget, though important is secondary.
Q: Do you work without budgets?
A: No. We believe in working within given parameters, not outside of them. We detest surprises. And the nature and extent of a budget helps pre-determine the scope of our strategic and tactical programs.
Q: What are your fee structures like?
A: Competitive and reasonable.
Q: Do you work on a retainer basis?
A: Yes and no. The circumstances dictate the working relationship.
Q: Do you work on projects in addition to strategic programs?
A: Yes. But even our projects are created from the strategic side.
Q: Do you concentrate on certain niches or industries?
A: In the broad sense, yes. Much of our portfolio is concentrated in healthcare, technology, electronics, defense and imaging. We have significant experience with Not For Profits and utilities. We also have vast experience with business machines, testing services, real estate, as well as the hospitality industry and the music industry.
Q. What are your geographies?
A. We service clients based in the USA as well as several foreign countries.
Q: You have won many awards for web design. Do you also host?
A: Yes. We can accommodate the needs of our clients in a number of ways.
Q: This site details what you do well. What do you not do well?
A: Promote ourselves. Why? We’re too busy promoting our clients.
Q. How do you conduct strategic research?
A. Every case is different. At the same time each is proprietary.
Q. What’s the most important reason for a prospect to choose Progressive Marketing Group for a program or project?
A. Bottom line success. The organization or individual will receive a proprietary real world strategy with a tactical program that will best achieve their stated goals.
Q. What’s the Branding Cycle?
A. We created the Branding Cycle to provide a concise overview of the process. It begins with Strategy and includes Positioning, Messaging, Articulation (creative), Implementation and Metrics.
Q. How important is strategy?
A. As we have been quoted as saying for years: “Strategy transforms dreams into visions.” Without a realistic strategy in place, dreams remain dreams and marketing tactics are often like rockets out of control.
Q. How important is Positioning?
A. Promoting a product, service or organization without knowing their strengths and weaknesses is foolish. Positioning is the process we use to determine realities before embarking on an initiative.
Q. How important is Messaging?
A. Reaching the right target audiences at the right time is only the beginning. Messaging is the tool that resonates with audiences most readily and most effectively, and needs to communicate most directly and fluently.
Q. How important is Branding?
A. All organizations need to differentiate between themselves and their competitors and build customer loyalty. Branding is the essence of this.
Q. What is Marketshare Through MindshareTM?
A. For one thing it is the name of our eNewsletter. But more importantly, it is part and parcel of our guiding philosophy. If you want to create or gain marketshare, you have to dominate through mindshare.
Q: What’s the capital of Botswana?
A: Gaborone.