MIT Sloan Management Review

Young consumers have been notoriously difficult for advertisers to reach. Mobile marketing might provide the answer, but only if companies understand some basic principles.

People are connecting with one another in increasing numbers, thanks to blogs, social networking sites like MySpace and countless communities across the Web. Some companies are learning to turn this growing groundswell to their advantage.

With a clear definition of what a customer need is, companies are able to get the inputs that are required to succeed at innovation.

The benefits of engaging customers in product development, product support and related activities are increasingly visible. Having the right technology-based system can enhance the customer experience and help companies improve both their innovation and customer relationship management capabilities.

By unpacking the idea of a good or bad reputation into a profile of what the media says about their company, executives and public relations managers can understand and then influence their corporate reputation -- and with it, their company’s real performance.

Many executives talk about corporate reputation and brand as if they are one and the same. They are not, and confusing the two can lead to costly mistakes.

Information technology remains a terrible bottleneck to growth in most companies, mainly because executives focus on the wrong remedy for their IT problems

Many large and mature firms -- which still form most of the economy -- have difficulty analyzing the opportunities and difficulties created by the Internet. Here is a planning process, validated at several established companies, that puts e-business into perspective and helps make it manageable.

Companies create product versions from multiple components. The big challenge is how to take the available components and combine them into the product versions and product lines that will maximize profits.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, there is a key set of fundamental metrics -- which can be actively managed -- linking the health of brand to revenue and consumer commitment.