If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make any noise? How about if a company makes a product and they fail to market it through a lack of communication with editors and/or an effective advertising campaign with the appropriate media. Unfortunately, it does happens and is one reason why marketers need to educate their corporate management against the perils of decimating a marketing budget.
This week we received the following e-mail.
Comment: Thank you for providing very interesting articles every month. We are making microwave switches for cellular phone these years and have a dominant share especially in smart phone market. However, there are no account of our switch in your "Microwave Jounal" Vol. 53, No11 while there is cover feature of microwave switches. We wonder if you are not aware of our company's unique technology and market share of our switches. We are willing to share it and exchange information with you.
When the Journal authors a product survey, we do so with a little bit of anxiety that we may inadvertently fail to adequately represent a particular vendor. In this case, the author - technical editor Pat Hindle - did include a listing of the company in question in a table of switch manufacturers, but clearly this was not the level of coverage that the vendor felt was appropriate. And perhaps they are correct. I mention this to remind marketing managers and our advertisers how important it is to maintain communications with the editors, especially with an eye on the editorial calendar. It is also important to stay on top of editorial 4 months out and beyond. While the content for a given issue is in flux during the 2 to 3 months before its publication, we are typically committed to key articles and so it is harder to accommodate the request to publish theme related articles on short notice.
It is also worth pointing out that the comments received on this particular cover story come almost two months after the article appeared. I mention this to remind advertisers of the longer shelf life of print products compared to the constant churn of the internet and social media such as Twitter, which remains a great way for engineers to tell their friends about a great switch article in the November Microwave Journal.
The MWJ editors will continue to solicit and generate the unique and relevant theme-related content that the industry craves. Keeping with my recurring theme – make sure your marketing efforts don’t miss the opportunity to be aligned with the Journal’s editorial. Here’s what coming in the next few months.
February – High Frequency Components, Boards and Systems. This issue is dedicated to RF/microwave sub-assemblies, hybrids and modules and related components and materials. Our lead story will look at the state of the art in microwave integrated sub-assemblies and various technologies designed to improve interconnect performance, reduce the size and weight of high frequency boards. Guest editorial includes a special report on new vector-receiver load-pull techniques critical for PCB-based PA designers, a 6 GHz dual RMS detector from Linear Technologies and our MVP for the month - a 2 to 20 MHz Micro-synthesizer from Phase Matrix. We also will feature a product feature on HFSS 13. Many defense related microwave systems utilize MIC technology and so this issue is a good follow-up to the January issue, further exploring the technology available to implement such systems.
March and March Supplement – The March issue is dedicated to RF/microwave measurement techniques and equipment. This past year saw the introduction of many new test instruments, so in March we will look at the capabilities of one specific class of instrument, the new breed of microwave frequency oscilloscopes. We will also have a special report on the state of PXI instruments and their vendors target microwave production testing. Contributions are expected from Agilent, Rohde & Schwarz, Tektronix, LaCroy, Aeroflex and National Instruments.
April – Amplifiers and Oscillators are the theme of this issue and they are at the heart of any RF front-end system, commercial or military. This year we will feature a cover story on the state of power amplifiers at millimeter-wave frequency were a lot of Microwave Backhaul is taking place. Liam Devlin of Plextek takes a look at the evolving technology and the markets that are driving innovation.