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R.K.Laxman's Common man!
Showing posts with label Analysis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Analysis. Show all posts

20 Vital Sales and Marketing Metrics

Today, we have abundant data, better information, fair knowledge and poor insight. Encountering wisdom is a rare occurrence! 
The data is out there on our spreadsheets, databases and hard disks.
Here are 20 simple effective metrics for a Sales Manager and a Brand Manager.
It is not all these metrics, probably an ideal combination of one or two of these metrics for a given business problem can show a direction - The right direction. 
The wisdom is finding out the combination. I leave the choice to you.
Lastly, as someone aptly puts it,
  • A collection of data is not information.
  • A collection of information is not knowledge.
  • A collection of knowledge is not wisdom.
  • A collection of wisdom is not truth.
Do not hesitate to click the link and download the PowerPoint.

Which half of the ad spend?

This post is for those brand managers and Market research professionals who want to explore…
Everyone in marketing knows the famous quote from John Wanamaker -
“ I know that half of my advertising dollars are wasted … I just don’t know which half ”
Probably you can try some tools which can either reduce the wastage or improve the effectiveness but still,you will not be able to find out which half!
One such tool is Tobii .
The whole tool is a combo of Hardware and Software.
The hardware captures the moment of eyeballs and the software analyzes it!
So , the result is that you will get the six honest serving-men - Viz. Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How.
At the end, you can understand Who will see What and Where they see and When they see, How long they see ... Propably tells to Why they see what they see and Why not?
Not understood? Confusing?
Downlod the white paper on An introduction to eye tracking and Tobii Eye Trackers on the Home page of Tobii.
When you have the next ad ready for your brand , you can test in the near real world scenario, understand the customers better and make changes as per the results of the research!
Watch the Videos to see the demo.
I know it does not cost a bomb. So you can try……I tried it!


Google Insights

When people have internet access, What do they do? They Google!
Google captures the words that are used to search...
so with the power of the words that are used to search, Google can predict and plot trends.
Simple isn't it?
With this power, Google predicted the flu trends  even before Centers for Disease Control and prevention could present the flu trends.
Google showcases the power of word searches in a simple and amazing tool called 
Google Insights for Search
Go and get the insights.
Here are the videos.. get a hang of it...and Explore....
Watch this video for an overview of Google Insights for Search.

Watch this video to learn how to create effective advertising messages using Google Insights for Search.

Watch this video to learn how to evaluate brands using Google Insights for Search

Watch this video to learn how to measure the impact of your campaign using Google Insights for Search.

Data in. Brilliance Out. Tableau.

That’s the promise of Tableau…and indeed it lives up to its promise….
Tableau Public puts all spreadsheets to shame with its brilliant capabilities…
If you are in to serious analytics … Tableau public is a must!
Watch the Video….
Download the PowerPoint…Click the links….
Watch the Videos….
Learn… Get amazed …..and amaze others…..
It’s truly….
Data in. Brilliance Out.


Trendline to tales…

The most uncomfortable situation for a sales manager is to predict next month sales with near accuracy. The paradox is that he is always confident and comfortable in predicting sales after two years…
Conversely in Mathematics, It’s just the other way round. Unless it’s MathemaTRICKS!

You come across this incongruity every now and then in the domain of sales.
The use of Trendline is one of the good methodologies to forecast sales with a fair degree of certainty. 

That's why it a prerequisite to understanding trend lines to learn to forecast.
Here is a PowerPoint presentation for you to understand better.

The easiest way to create trend lines without much ado is to use God’s gift to the corporate citizen, "The spreadsheets". I used excel for this.

Do not hesitate to click the link and download the PowerPoint.
Copy it, Use it, Distribute it.

Data calisthenics with Motion Chart

Have you seen Hans Rosling’s presentation on TED? This was my earlier post!
If you missed it… watch it…
You may consider watching a 5 Minute video 

 

After recovering from the awe-inspiring presentation, the immediate question that strikes the mind of a data geek is ....can I use my own data for similar data calisthenics? 

The answer is Yes! 
Hans Rosling uses software called Gapminder conceptualized by him. This was bought by Google. It is available as free desktop download that can be used even without Internet connection.
http://www.gapminder.org/desktop/

 This original Gap Minder has fixed data sets and these cannot be edited.

So what’s the alternative ?
Google showed the alternative…called Motion Chart!
In addition ,there is another free Option…
So, now we have two free Options
  • Motion Chart by Google (it’s a Google Gadget for Google Docs)
  • Trend Compass by Epic Systems.
  • now a day you can use Tableau Public also
Other Options include the use of crystal Xcelsius or even Excel. However, both these options need skills of high order!
For the time being let’s limit ourselves with free and easy options.
Before trying to use the software, it’s worth while to read the one page basics and play around with the outcome.
One page basics and Guide
http://www.gapminder.org/GapminderMedia/wp-uploads/tutorial/Gapminder_World_Guide.pdf

Here is a video to watch
Here is the Motion chart I have created with GDP and Population of BRIC-TM countries.

 Play with the data to understand the use of motion Chart.
If the motion Chart does not open on the website,Click the link Motion Chart Link to go to the Google doc and open "Gadget1"on the left bottom of your screen.
Now that you know basics of Gap Minder, use the alternative free option from Google.
Follow the steps given below
  • Go to Google docs and open a spreadsheet (You need to log in with a Google account)
  • The most vital part of Motion chart is preparation of spreadsheet
  • Create the spreadsheet with your data
  • The data you want to show as a bubble should be in the first column (e.g.: Countries, States, Territories Etc.)
  • The year should be in the second column
  • The data to compare should be in next columns
  • Once the data is in place, go to insert and add gadget
  • Select Motion chart Gadget
  • Bang! your Motion chart is ready!
  • Play!
  • You can publish your work by copying the HTML code for your blog or company site…or else have an Internet connection while presenting the data
Here below is a sample Sheet and Link

For more details click and visit the link
http://docs.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=91610
The other Option is Epic System’s Trend Compass
Here is the link.
http://epicsyst.com/trendcompass/TrendCompass.aspx?home=1
All the best… Happy exploration…

TED Talks : Ideas worth spreading

Ted is a non-profit organization devoted to ideas worth spreading.
Ted's mission is spreading Ideas!
It's indeed a feast out there on TED website
http://www.ted.com/

The website hosts videos - eminent personalities of the world sharing their ideas.
the videos are awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping and ingenious.
Here I present you a video - "Hans Rosling shows the best stats you've ever seen".