It’s become the mantra of the moment: “A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.” Leaders everywhere are struggling to make sense of the worldwide economic crisis, to learn lessons that will guide them and their companies going forward. My worry is that too many leaders are learning the wrong lessons—they are becoming conservative and risk-averse, they are searching for every opportunity to scale back and do less, they are cutting first and asking questions later.
It’s a natural response—and a huge mistake. Yes, a crisis has a way of concentrating the mind. Economic crises tend to focus the minds of business leaders on inputs: labor costs, capital spending, marketing budgets. My one plea to leaders in 2009 is that they not lose focus on the most critical output of their organization—the strength of its bonds to customers.
As the business environment gets tougher, meaner, more unforgiving, customers are going to get even more selective about whom they do business with. And what’s more important, in a world of shrinking demand, smaller margins, and scarce resources, than the depth and quality of your connections with customers? Now more than ever, companies and their leaders have to figure out how to stand out from the crowd, how to stand for something special, how to offer a positive alternative to the status quo. Customers want to do business with companies that share their values—and customers look to how organizations behave in dark times as a test of their values and character.
Am I suggesting that leaders rule out layoffs, investment reductions, or budget cuts? Of course not. But I am proposing one simple discipline, to balance out the urge to purge with a zest to invest. Make it mandatory that every time a brand or department or business unit moves to scale back and reduce costs, it also moves to stand out and strengthen relationships. Every tangible cost cut must be matched by a tangible burst of creativity that makes a meaningful statement to customers about what the company stands for. The good news: The best ideas cost little or no money, so it’s possible to satisfy budget demands without disappointing customers. Not easy, but possible. Small gestures of kindness, good cheer, surprise and delight, can send huge signals—especially in perilous economic times.
For years now, as I have address executive audiences around the word, I have urged leaders to ask themselves one simple question: If your company went out of business tomorrow, who would really miss you and why? I first heard this question from advertising genius Roy Spence, who says he got it from strategy guru Jim Collins. Whatever the original source, the question is as profound as it is simple—and worth taking seriously as you evaluate how to navigate through this economic crisis.
Why might a company be missed? Because it’s providing a product or service so unique that it can’t be provided nearly as well by any other company. Because it’s forged a uniquely emotional connection with customers that other companies can’t replicate. Precious few companies meet any of these criteria—which may be why so many companies feel like they’re on the verge of going out of business, even in good times.
Today, with times as bad as they’ve been in decades, this simple question becomes more urgent than ever. So eliminate waste, slash budgets, reduce headcount if you must. But balance every financial cut with an investment of creativity aimed at customers. Remember, in an age of excess supply and shrinking demand, if your customers can live without you, eventually they will.
Source: http://www.mavericksatwork.com/
Monday, December 29, 2008
Friday, December 19, 2008
Low-Cost-High Impact Marketing Strategies for a Slowdown
Today more and more marketers are beginning to perceive that, counter-intuitively, what is needed during a slowdown is increased investment in marketing to boost flagging sales, as well as to gain competitive advantage. As During a slowdown, the marketplace is less cluttered and you can use marketing to make an impact and steal a march on your competitors.
1. Focus on managing and satisfying your existing customers:
A slowdown is, in fact, the right time to strengthen already existing relationships by focusing on your current customers, offering them value-added services and showing them that they can continue to rely on and trust you. Use the customer data at your disposal to design measurable and effective CRM programs. If needed, make extra concessions to your existing customers and they will remember this once the market goes into an upswing.
2. Use lead management to maximise the value of each lead:
Invest in lead management tools, since you need to ensure that every dollar spent on a lead helps you get the most value out of that lead. Use lead nurturing to develop relationships with qualified prospects.
3. Adapt your products and services to suit the new environment:
Changing product attributes making it to suitable to customer basic requirement at the time of slowdown gives them more reason to takethe product or services. Marketing of these offers and strong product attributes to right prospect is the key here.
4. Internet use:
The most cost-effective marketing tool in these king of contidition. It is also the medium which is growing. Specially marketing of product like IT, ITES, Travel etc are suitable. The internet also offers a variety of innovative tools – viral marketing, blogging and other social networking tools, online press release distribution and Google adwords – allowing you to use a combination of these to keep your marketing vibrant and creative; all at a fraction of the cost of advertising or offline PR. Web 2.0 should be included with marketing activities.
5. Invest in measurable marketing tools like direct marketing:
Cut down on channels that do not lend themselves easily to ROMI, such as advertising, and instead focus on channels like direct marketing.
6. Tweak your marketing strategy to include ‘proof’ of your products and services:
Promote your offerings as low-risk, reliable and credible; in short that you are a ‘safe bet’. Focus on building credentials – your marketing communicating should revolve around customer references, expert opinions, awards and recognition, and strategic partnerships and alliances.
So, bottom line is don't stop investing in marketing. Instead use the lean market and invest in low cost marketing techniques.
1. Focus on managing and satisfying your existing customers:
A slowdown is, in fact, the right time to strengthen already existing relationships by focusing on your current customers, offering them value-added services and showing them that they can continue to rely on and trust you. Use the customer data at your disposal to design measurable and effective CRM programs. If needed, make extra concessions to your existing customers and they will remember this once the market goes into an upswing.
2. Use lead management to maximise the value of each lead:
Invest in lead management tools, since you need to ensure that every dollar spent on a lead helps you get the most value out of that lead. Use lead nurturing to develop relationships with qualified prospects.
3. Adapt your products and services to suit the new environment:
Changing product attributes making it to suitable to customer basic requirement at the time of slowdown gives them more reason to takethe product or services. Marketing of these offers and strong product attributes to right prospect is the key here.
4. Internet use:
The most cost-effective marketing tool in these king of contidition. It is also the medium which is growing. Specially marketing of product like IT, ITES, Travel etc are suitable. The internet also offers a variety of innovative tools – viral marketing, blogging and other social networking tools, online press release distribution and Google adwords – allowing you to use a combination of these to keep your marketing vibrant and creative; all at a fraction of the cost of advertising or offline PR. Web 2.0 should be included with marketing activities.
5. Invest in measurable marketing tools like direct marketing:
Cut down on channels that do not lend themselves easily to ROMI, such as advertising, and instead focus on channels like direct marketing.
6. Tweak your marketing strategy to include ‘proof’ of your products and services:
Promote your offerings as low-risk, reliable and credible; in short that you are a ‘safe bet’. Focus on building credentials – your marketing communicating should revolve around customer references, expert opinions, awards and recognition, and strategic partnerships and alliances.
So, bottom line is don't stop investing in marketing. Instead use the lean market and invest in low cost marketing techniques.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Marketing during Recession
"Companies that have been looking at marketing as an investment, and not an expense, and have been running their business through customer knowledge are the ones that are going to come out of this [recession] really, really well."
Three common thngs one need to do marketing in this situation are:
1. Value Marketing: Knowledge of how to do it.
2. Confidence: Company culture to do it
3. Money: Offcourse without which you cannot do it, rt?
Example of value marketing during earlier recession kind of situation: Intel launching “Intel Inside” during the 1990-1991 recession.
As per the Harvard Business School professor John Quelch-Companies should bear eight factors in mind when making their marketing plans for 2008 and 2009:
1. Research the customer: Instead of cutting the market research budget, you need to know more than ever how consumers are redefining value and responding to the recession. Price elasticity curves are changing.
2. Focus on family values
3. Maintain marketing spending: It is well documented that brands that increase advertising during a recession, when competitors are cutting back, can improve market share and return on investment at lower cost than during good economic times.
4. Adjust product portfolios
5. Support distributors: In uncertain times, no one wants to tie up working capital in excess inventories. Early-buy allowances, extended financing, and generous return policies motivate distributors to stock your full product line
6. Adjust pricing tactics. Customers will be shopping around for the best deals. You do not necessarily have to cut list prices, but you may need to offer more temporary price promotions, reduce thresholds for quantity discounts, extend credit to long-standing customers, and price smaller pack sizes more aggressively. In tough times, price cuts attract more consumer support than promotions such as sweepstakes and mail-in offers.
7. Stress market share
8. Emphasize core values. Although most companies are making employees redundant, chief executives can cement the loyalty of those who remain by assuring employees that the company has survived difficult times before, maintaining quality rather than cutting corners, and servicing existing customers rather than trying to be all things to all people.
The most likely route or the most-effective route one can take is to have a judicious mix of advertising, direct marketing, public relations and channel relations depending on the kind of customer one targets. Reducing the budget below a threshold level will prove to be counter productive and can actually favour competition by giving them a clear run of the market.
While there have been differences interms of opinion on the approach to be taken and components of that approach one aspect all the executives agreed on is that slowdown presents an excellent opportunity to showcase one’s offering in a cost-effective and focused manner using tools like PR, direct marketing and focused advertising, so that the brand is ready for the upswing when the recession is over
Three common thngs one need to do marketing in this situation are:
1. Value Marketing: Knowledge of how to do it.
2. Confidence: Company culture to do it
3. Money: Offcourse without which you cannot do it, rt?
Example of value marketing during earlier recession kind of situation: Intel launching “Intel Inside” during the 1990-1991 recession.
As per the Harvard Business School professor John Quelch-Companies should bear eight factors in mind when making their marketing plans for 2008 and 2009:
1. Research the customer: Instead of cutting the market research budget, you need to know more than ever how consumers are redefining value and responding to the recession. Price elasticity curves are changing.
2. Focus on family values
3. Maintain marketing spending: It is well documented that brands that increase advertising during a recession, when competitors are cutting back, can improve market share and return on investment at lower cost than during good economic times.
4. Adjust product portfolios
5. Support distributors: In uncertain times, no one wants to tie up working capital in excess inventories. Early-buy allowances, extended financing, and generous return policies motivate distributors to stock your full product line
6. Adjust pricing tactics. Customers will be shopping around for the best deals. You do not necessarily have to cut list prices, but you may need to offer more temporary price promotions, reduce thresholds for quantity discounts, extend credit to long-standing customers, and price smaller pack sizes more aggressively. In tough times, price cuts attract more consumer support than promotions such as sweepstakes and mail-in offers.
7. Stress market share
8. Emphasize core values. Although most companies are making employees redundant, chief executives can cement the loyalty of those who remain by assuring employees that the company has survived difficult times before, maintaining quality rather than cutting corners, and servicing existing customers rather than trying to be all things to all people.
The most likely route or the most-effective route one can take is to have a judicious mix of advertising, direct marketing, public relations and channel relations depending on the kind of customer one targets. Reducing the budget below a threshold level will prove to be counter productive and can actually favour competition by giving them a clear run of the market.
While there have been differences interms of opinion on the approach to be taken and components of that approach one aspect all the executives agreed on is that slowdown presents an excellent opportunity to showcase one’s offering in a cost-effective and focused manner using tools like PR, direct marketing and focused advertising, so that the brand is ready for the upswing when the recession is over
Web 2.0=Marketing 2.0
Marketing 2.0 is a play on words on which parallels Web 2.0. As you know Web 2.0 allows for an interactive experience on a web site (blog, social network, podcast, wiki, etc.)
In Marketing 1.0 we approach our prospective buyers through various advertisements, direct mail, email messages and cold calls.
In contrast, Marketing 2.0 shifts power to the buyer, where they have the ability to engage in conversations on the web with others who share common interests to learn, research and hear from others about products and services of interest. Before a buyer makes a purchase decision he/she has an unparalleled ability to hear from others who have made a similar purchase decision.
Finally, As marketers we have to be aware of this shift of power and engage our buyers in sincere and authentic conversations. A conversation is two way. We need to speak with, not talk (shout) at them.
In the old 1.0 world marketers blasted messages out. Marketing 2.0 is speaking with your buyer in conversations, getting engaged and listening to them.
Benefits:
--> Web 2.0 presents opportunities to use the internet in new and interactive ways to deliver an unprecedented amount of information and choice to unprecedented audience numbers.
--> Making Web-based marketing the norm, rather than the exception, will help optimise overall marketing spend.
--> Faster way to reach the audience
--> Positive impact of brand image of the company in the mind of customer for using new technology.
--> Faster and reliable feedback system
--> Audience participation leads to better understanding and hence fast response.
In Marketing 1.0 we approach our prospective buyers through various advertisements, direct mail, email messages and cold calls.
In contrast, Marketing 2.0 shifts power to the buyer, where they have the ability to engage in conversations on the web with others who share common interests to learn, research and hear from others about products and services of interest. Before a buyer makes a purchase decision he/she has an unparalleled ability to hear from others who have made a similar purchase decision.
Finally, As marketers we have to be aware of this shift of power and engage our buyers in sincere and authentic conversations. A conversation is two way. We need to speak with, not talk (shout) at them.
In the old 1.0 world marketers blasted messages out. Marketing 2.0 is speaking with your buyer in conversations, getting engaged and listening to them.
Benefits:
--> Web 2.0 presents opportunities to use the internet in new and interactive ways to deliver an unprecedented amount of information and choice to unprecedented audience numbers.
--> Making Web-based marketing the norm, rather than the exception, will help optimise overall marketing spend.
--> Faster way to reach the audience
--> Positive impact of brand image of the company in the mind of customer for using new technology.
--> Faster and reliable feedback system
--> Audience participation leads to better understanding and hence fast response.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Building and Maintaining an Effective Database Marketing System
Today's fast moving economy demands that enterprises leverage database marketing techniques efficiently to drive corporate revenue, profits, and brand awareness among customers and prospects. A well-structured and maintained database is the most valuable tool in a company's marketing arsenal.
Good People and Good Systems = Good Database
The value of a database comes not from a computer program, but from the information that is tracked. The most important component in a good database system is people who understand the importance of gathering information and of thinking proactively, and who are dedicated to keeping the information up-to-date.
Please note that regular data entry and maintenance may significantly change your present organizational procedures, depending on who enters the data, what the scale of operation is, and training requirements. It is of the utmost importance to support the person(s) who maintain the database (i.e. the people who input the data). This should be a priority job, not an after thought or a "when-you-have-time" task, and not something to think about late in a database adoption process. Without full and initial support of this person or persons who will primarily input and manage the data, your database, no matter how well designed or how highly thought of it is by IT experts, will fail to meet your organization's needs.
Few points:
Check validity
Capture everyone
Backup data
Update time to time
Build on different parameters
Good People and Good Systems = Good Database
The value of a database comes not from a computer program, but from the information that is tracked. The most important component in a good database system is people who understand the importance of gathering information and of thinking proactively, and who are dedicated to keeping the information up-to-date.
Please note that regular data entry and maintenance may significantly change your present organizational procedures, depending on who enters the data, what the scale of operation is, and training requirements. It is of the utmost importance to support the person(s) who maintain the database (i.e. the people who input the data). This should be a priority job, not an after thought or a "when-you-have-time" task, and not something to think about late in a database adoption process. Without full and initial support of this person or persons who will primarily input and manage the data, your database, no matter how well designed or how highly thought of it is by IT experts, will fail to meet your organization's needs.
Few points:
Check validity
Capture everyone
Backup data
Update time to time
Build on different parameters
Monday, November 24, 2008
Smart marketing key in times of slowdown
“Spending on marketing is critical during a slowdown. In such times, companies should become smart marketers, focusing on brand building rather than boosting sales promotional activities. The brand building effort during slowdown pays off when the economy revives."
In my view company should not stop the marketing spend but spend it efficiently.
There is no doubt tha India is effected by the global recession or slow down but still have the capacy to grow at 7-8% GDP. Although we are seeing lowering of demand but not all section of sector is effected, for example luxury items like high end cars etc are growing at 50%.
India will be one of the fastest to recover after the recession is over. Customer like to be continuously reminded of offering even in recession. Hence instead of completly shutting the marketing campaign, an organisation should build their brand in this situation which will create a good image in customer mind and can be fruitful in future.
In my view company should not stop the marketing spend but spend it efficiently.
There is no doubt tha India is effected by the global recession or slow down but still have the capacy to grow at 7-8% GDP. Although we are seeing lowering of demand but not all section of sector is effected, for example luxury items like high end cars etc are growing at 50%.
India will be one of the fastest to recover after the recession is over. Customer like to be continuously reminded of offering even in recession. Hence instead of completly shutting the marketing campaign, an organisation should build their brand in this situation which will create a good image in customer mind and can be fruitful in future.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Blue Ocean marketing strategy
Question: What are the key principles of Blue Ocean Strategy?
Ans: To win in the future, companies must stop competing with each other the traditional way. Instead, a change in paradigm is needed -- the only way to beat the competition is to stop trying to beat the competition. The concept of value innovation, which places equal emphasis on both value and innovation, is the cornerstone of Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS). This is done by creating a leap in value for buyers and the firm, thereby opening up new and uncontested market by aligning innovation with utility, price, and cost positions. Blue oceans are thus created in a sustainable manner by simultaneously driving costs down while driving value and differentiation up for the buyers.
Q: How is BOS similar to or different from marketing strategy?
Ans: In terms of customers, BOS is similar to marketing strategy in that both aim to assemble products or services that can satisfy the target consumers. The difference is that traditional marketing strategy looks at existing demand and satisfying current customers, while BOS is not competition-based, and it looks at non-customers and captures new demand in an uncontested market space.
In terms of competition, both traditional marketing strategy and BOS need to compete, however, traditional marketing strategy aims to beat existing competition by gaining market shares while BOS tries to create new value to make existing competition irrelevant.
In terms of company, traditional marketing looks at incremental improvement in revenue and profit, while BOS looks at a giant leap of value, thus giant leap in revenue and profit growth. Also, profit-wise, traditional marketing strategy seldom looks at how to reduce cost while BOS is both differentiation and cost-based. Thus, while the whole system of an organization’s activities in traditional marketing strategy is aligned with differentiation; BOS is aligned with both differentiation and low cost simultaneously.
Q: Does my company/business really need this Blue Ocean strategy? We’re doing all right with our current promos. Are there Filipino companies adopting this strategy?
Ans: A lot of companies are suffering in red oceans -- they continuously try to outperform rivals by competing on price or promo, grabbing a piece of the existing known market space without looking at other viable options. Their promo does not even help them build their brand equity. Many also have a wrong concept of a low-price offering. They focus too much on the competition and brand switching without looking at what customers really need and want. They should continuously be alert asking one simple question -- what fundamental change in offering level buyers receive will make the competition irrelevant?
HBC is one of my favorite examples of a Blue Ocean Strategy company in the Philippines. From an obscure retailer mixing incompatible grocery products and beauty care products, they dropped groceries and canned products and focused on pushing beauty products. From selling brands of multinational manufacturers, they successfully built their own multi-brand private label lines now accounting for over 60 percent of their total sales; thus enabling them to be both differentiated and have low-cost at the same time. Instead of competing with the traditional beauty care “vaciador” stores, they have repositioned themselves and attracted new customers who used to visit retail shops selling imported and branded beauty care products, transforming them from a retailer losing money four years ago to winning the Most Outstanding Retailer award given by the Philippine Retailers Association.
Another example is "C2," with great value innovation -- green tea brewed and bottled on the same day, matched with great taste, great image at an affordable price. Universal Robina Corp. positioned it against soft drinks that at the time of launch were 47 times bigger than ready-to-drink (RTD) tea and four times bigger than the company size of URC. Today, C2 sells much more than the original market size of RTD tea when the product was launched.
"C2" is a blue ocean strategy launch because instead of looking at the existing RTD tea market as competition, it looked at alternatives and competed in a relatively uncontested market space. Instead of beating the competition, they made the competition irrelevant. Instead of exploiting existing demand by simply convincing people to switch RTD tea brand, "C2" created and captured new demand from those no longer drinking soft drinks -- people who are health conscious or those who would like their family members to drink something healthier than the usual soda. And because Universal Robino is part of the JG Summit conglomerate, the synergy from the bottles and the sugar supplied by their sister companies made the product both differentiated and low-cost at the same time, breaking the traditional value-cost trade off.
Ans: To win in the future, companies must stop competing with each other the traditional way. Instead, a change in paradigm is needed -- the only way to beat the competition is to stop trying to beat the competition. The concept of value innovation, which places equal emphasis on both value and innovation, is the cornerstone of Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS). This is done by creating a leap in value for buyers and the firm, thereby opening up new and uncontested market by aligning innovation with utility, price, and cost positions. Blue oceans are thus created in a sustainable manner by simultaneously driving costs down while driving value and differentiation up for the buyers.
Q: How is BOS similar to or different from marketing strategy?
Ans: In terms of customers, BOS is similar to marketing strategy in that both aim to assemble products or services that can satisfy the target consumers. The difference is that traditional marketing strategy looks at existing demand and satisfying current customers, while BOS is not competition-based, and it looks at non-customers and captures new demand in an uncontested market space.
In terms of competition, both traditional marketing strategy and BOS need to compete, however, traditional marketing strategy aims to beat existing competition by gaining market shares while BOS tries to create new value to make existing competition irrelevant.
In terms of company, traditional marketing looks at incremental improvement in revenue and profit, while BOS looks at a giant leap of value, thus giant leap in revenue and profit growth. Also, profit-wise, traditional marketing strategy seldom looks at how to reduce cost while BOS is both differentiation and cost-based. Thus, while the whole system of an organization’s activities in traditional marketing strategy is aligned with differentiation; BOS is aligned with both differentiation and low cost simultaneously.
Q: Does my company/business really need this Blue Ocean strategy? We’re doing all right with our current promos. Are there Filipino companies adopting this strategy?
Ans: A lot of companies are suffering in red oceans -- they continuously try to outperform rivals by competing on price or promo, grabbing a piece of the existing known market space without looking at other viable options. Their promo does not even help them build their brand equity. Many also have a wrong concept of a low-price offering. They focus too much on the competition and brand switching without looking at what customers really need and want. They should continuously be alert asking one simple question -- what fundamental change in offering level buyers receive will make the competition irrelevant?
HBC is one of my favorite examples of a Blue Ocean Strategy company in the Philippines. From an obscure retailer mixing incompatible grocery products and beauty care products, they dropped groceries and canned products and focused on pushing beauty products. From selling brands of multinational manufacturers, they successfully built their own multi-brand private label lines now accounting for over 60 percent of their total sales; thus enabling them to be both differentiated and have low-cost at the same time. Instead of competing with the traditional beauty care “vaciador” stores, they have repositioned themselves and attracted new customers who used to visit retail shops selling imported and branded beauty care products, transforming them from a retailer losing money four years ago to winning the Most Outstanding Retailer award given by the Philippine Retailers Association.
Another example is "C2," with great value innovation -- green tea brewed and bottled on the same day, matched with great taste, great image at an affordable price. Universal Robina Corp. positioned it against soft drinks that at the time of launch were 47 times bigger than ready-to-drink (RTD) tea and four times bigger than the company size of URC. Today, C2 sells much more than the original market size of RTD tea when the product was launched.
"C2" is a blue ocean strategy launch because instead of looking at the existing RTD tea market as competition, it looked at alternatives and competed in a relatively uncontested market space. Instead of beating the competition, they made the competition irrelevant. Instead of exploiting existing demand by simply convincing people to switch RTD tea brand, "C2" created and captured new demand from those no longer drinking soft drinks -- people who are health conscious or those who would like their family members to drink something healthier than the usual soda. And because Universal Robino is part of the JG Summit conglomerate, the synergy from the bottles and the sugar supplied by their sister companies made the product both differentiated and low-cost at the same time, breaking the traditional value-cost trade off.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
IT cos may spend more on marketing-India
Like the shopkeeper painting the billboard more brightly during a downturn, IT companies are set to spend more on sales and marketing as the going gets tough.
For, they have evidence that it might just work, Cognizant, which spent 8-9% more in marketing compared to other big firms such as Infosys and Wipro, added more clients than any other member in the Big Five.
In the past three quarters, Cognizant added 182 clients compared to 138 by TCS, 129 by Infosys, 107 by Wipro IT services and 99 by Satyam Computer Services.
Analysts and company officials attribute it to Cognizant’s higher spend on its sales, general and administrative (SG&A) component, which is the highest among the top five players. Cognizant’s SG&A is in the 23-24% range, which is almost an 8-10% differential investment compared to Wipro or Infosys. Considering that the biggies did not make any big-ticket acquisition during this period, the bulk of the customer addition is organic.
Indications are that others in the top five will improve spending in this segment. In a recent earnings call with analysts, Infosys officials said SG&A investments is one of the levers it would use as its clients go through a period of indecision in the next few months.
At the same time, Satyam CFO Srinivas Vadlamani told ET: “In nascent markets, the objective would be to invest in front end for customer acquisition while in mature markets, we would look to mine customers, especially when we have around 185 Fortune 500 customers. To achieve these objectives, investments would not only be made in front end sales and marketing to strengthen relationship management but also in brand.”
Analysts ET spoke to say a relation can be drawn between a company's marketing effort and the impact it has on client addition.
“Normally higher selling and marketing expenses help in client acquisition. The lead-time in getting new clients for Indian IT companies has usually been 6-9 months. However, in the current economic scenario, the results from these spends will take time to materialise,” said Dipen Shah, VP, Private Client Group-Research, Kotak Securities.
Gartner India’s principal research analyst Diptarup Chakraborti added, “The leaders in the industry might go for that kind of aggressive strategy, but not the smaller firms.” The situation confronting the Indian IT industry can be linked to the age-old market research problem of what an executive will do when he lands in an island where no one wears a shoe. Does that mean there is no market or is there 100% share up for grabs?
Similarly, when companies are not eagerly spending on IT, does it mean there’s no market or does it mean it’s a market waiting to be tapped? If you take the second view, you will invest a lot in marketing and that’s what the top IT players are planning to do
For, they have evidence that it might just work, Cognizant, which spent 8-9% more in marketing compared to other big firms such as Infosys and Wipro, added more clients than any other member in the Big Five.
In the past three quarters, Cognizant added 182 clients compared to 138 by TCS, 129 by Infosys, 107 by Wipro IT services and 99 by Satyam Computer Services.
Analysts and company officials attribute it to Cognizant’s higher spend on its sales, general and administrative (SG&A) component, which is the highest among the top five players. Cognizant’s SG&A is in the 23-24% range, which is almost an 8-10% differential investment compared to Wipro or Infosys. Considering that the biggies did not make any big-ticket acquisition during this period, the bulk of the customer addition is organic.
Indications are that others in the top five will improve spending in this segment. In a recent earnings call with analysts, Infosys officials said SG&A investments is one of the levers it would use as its clients go through a period of indecision in the next few months.
At the same time, Satyam CFO Srinivas Vadlamani told ET: “In nascent markets, the objective would be to invest in front end for customer acquisition while in mature markets, we would look to mine customers, especially when we have around 185 Fortune 500 customers. To achieve these objectives, investments would not only be made in front end sales and marketing to strengthen relationship management but also in brand.”
Analysts ET spoke to say a relation can be drawn between a company's marketing effort and the impact it has on client addition.
“Normally higher selling and marketing expenses help in client acquisition. The lead-time in getting new clients for Indian IT companies has usually been 6-9 months. However, in the current economic scenario, the results from these spends will take time to materialise,” said Dipen Shah, VP, Private Client Group-Research, Kotak Securities.
Gartner India’s principal research analyst Diptarup Chakraborti added, “The leaders in the industry might go for that kind of aggressive strategy, but not the smaller firms.” The situation confronting the Indian IT industry can be linked to the age-old market research problem of what an executive will do when he lands in an island where no one wears a shoe. Does that mean there is no market or is there 100% share up for grabs?
Similarly, when companies are not eagerly spending on IT, does it mean there’s no market or does it mean it’s a market waiting to be tapped? If you take the second view, you will invest a lot in marketing and that’s what the top IT players are planning to do
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
The Art of Communicating Effectively
On Preparing for a Presentation:
Start with the Last Slide! That's right, when you are ready to create your presentation, forget the details for a minute, forget the presentation's organization, instead:
Write out your conclusion or summary slide first!
The Basic Rules of Good Presentations:
KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid
Rehearsing the Presentation
Don't memorize
Use your notes very sparingly
Dress for success
Pace yourself - don't go too fast, or too slow
Creating Support Materials
Fear of giving presentation:
Solution: If you are that nervous going into a presentation, one old technique we've heard before: Get out there, look around, close your eyes for a moment, and picture the people in the front row, either naked or in their underwear.
Controlling your Audience, not your computer:
-Face your audience
-Observe them
-Make eye contact
Enthusiasm -- Absolutely nothing will help your presentation more than communicating your passion and confidence
The Power of Language:
The words you select will dramatically impact your audiences reaction -- to both your ideas and your effectiveness as a presenter.
Your word processor has a thesaurus -- learn to use it -- effectively. Use "power" and "command" words to get your audiences attention and to give the impression of confidence and competence.
A few examples: Instead of "I think you will agree" try "I am certain you will agree" I hope you will consider vs. I recommend you to consider.
Address your audience in second person. "You" is a very powerful word, generally audiences react much better to being addressed as "you" than in the third person as they. "As a participant, you will benefit" vs. Participants will benefit.
Not only should you put a thesaurus to work to find "better" words with more impact, but also to prevent excessive use of the same word over and over again. (Throughout this web site we have suffered from excessive use of the words need, requirement, and solution, even with the thesaurus, we enjoyed little relief, but still we probably reduced the use of "need" be 50%. Other than that, "requirement" and "requisite" make a more powerful impact.
Humor
The right amount of humor - used judiciously, can go a long way to build rapport with your audience, and keep your audience interested and attentive.
As a rule, don't tell jokes for their own sake, drop in your humor where it fits, relating to a point, or a break between sections. Small amounts of humor or a irreverent comment from time to time can go a long way to liven a presentation. Remember, a sleeping audience remembers little.
Don't push your luck! Rehearsing your presentation in front of real people is a great way to test the "acceptability" of your humor.
Quotations
Appropriate quotations can make a noticeable impact on your audience. It's not always possible to find quotes that are directly relevant to your presentation, but it is often easy to find a series of quotes that complement or promote concepts that are part of your presentation.
One presenter I know, in the Multi-level marketing business, likes to put a series of quotes from computer "visionaries" including Thomas Watson (IBM), Ken Olson (DEC), Bill Gates (Microsoft)...in his presentations.
These quotes go back many years:
->Thomas Watson (former Chairman of IBM, didn't think computers would ever be popular.
->Ken Olson (founder and former president o DEC) couldn't figure out why anyone would want a computer at home.
->Bill Gates thought that 640K of memory would be enough for everyone.
With the less than stellar credibility much of multi-level marketing is perceived to have, these quotes which are all "way off the mark" provide a cautionary tale that tells you that perceptions are not always right.
Better still, after the first couple of quotes, the audience is "looking" for more -- they are having an impact on the audience.
Bottom line: Make your Quotations relevant -- and interesting!
What is the difference between your audience and an elephant? The elephant never forgets -- the audience occasionally remembers!
Five things to do when you are done
-Thank them!
-Make materials available
-Make yourself available
-Provide them with a method of reaching you
-Get feedback -- Find out what they thought of you, what they learned, what they were hoping to learn but didn't, how you can improve your presentation, how to improve your communication skills.
Start with the Last Slide! That's right, when you are ready to create your presentation, forget the details for a minute, forget the presentation's organization, instead:
Write out your conclusion or summary slide first!
The Basic Rules of Good Presentations:
KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid
Rehearsing the Presentation
Don't memorize
Use your notes very sparingly
Dress for success
Pace yourself - don't go too fast, or too slow
Creating Support Materials
Fear of giving presentation:
Solution: If you are that nervous going into a presentation, one old technique we've heard before: Get out there, look around, close your eyes for a moment, and picture the people in the front row, either naked or in their underwear.
Controlling your Audience, not your computer:
-Face your audience
-Observe them
-Make eye contact
Enthusiasm -- Absolutely nothing will help your presentation more than communicating your passion and confidence
The Power of Language:
The words you select will dramatically impact your audiences reaction -- to both your ideas and your effectiveness as a presenter.
Your word processor has a thesaurus -- learn to use it -- effectively. Use "power" and "command" words to get your audiences attention and to give the impression of confidence and competence.
A few examples: Instead of "I think you will agree" try "I am certain you will agree" I hope you will consider vs. I recommend you to consider.
Address your audience in second person. "You" is a very powerful word, generally audiences react much better to being addressed as "you" than in the third person as they. "As a participant, you will benefit" vs. Participants will benefit.
Not only should you put a thesaurus to work to find "better" words with more impact, but also to prevent excessive use of the same word over and over again. (Throughout this web site we have suffered from excessive use of the words need, requirement, and solution, even with the thesaurus, we enjoyed little relief, but still we probably reduced the use of "need" be 50%. Other than that, "requirement" and "requisite" make a more powerful impact.
Humor
The right amount of humor - used judiciously, can go a long way to build rapport with your audience, and keep your audience interested and attentive.
As a rule, don't tell jokes for their own sake, drop in your humor where it fits, relating to a point, or a break between sections. Small amounts of humor or a irreverent comment from time to time can go a long way to liven a presentation. Remember, a sleeping audience remembers little.
Don't push your luck! Rehearsing your presentation in front of real people is a great way to test the "acceptability" of your humor.
Quotations
Appropriate quotations can make a noticeable impact on your audience. It's not always possible to find quotes that are directly relevant to your presentation, but it is often easy to find a series of quotes that complement or promote concepts that are part of your presentation.
One presenter I know, in the Multi-level marketing business, likes to put a series of quotes from computer "visionaries" including Thomas Watson (IBM), Ken Olson (DEC), Bill Gates (Microsoft)...in his presentations.
These quotes go back many years:
->Thomas Watson (former Chairman of IBM, didn't think computers would ever be popular.
->Ken Olson (founder and former president o DEC) couldn't figure out why anyone would want a computer at home.
->Bill Gates thought that 640K of memory would be enough for everyone.
With the less than stellar credibility much of multi-level marketing is perceived to have, these quotes which are all "way off the mark" provide a cautionary tale that tells you that perceptions are not always right.
Better still, after the first couple of quotes, the audience is "looking" for more -- they are having an impact on the audience.
Bottom line: Make your Quotations relevant -- and interesting!
What is the difference between your audience and an elephant? The elephant never forgets -- the audience occasionally remembers!
Five things to do when you are done
-Thank them!
-Make materials available
-Make yourself available
-Provide them with a method of reaching you
-Get feedback -- Find out what they thought of you, what they learned, what they were hoping to learn but didn't, how you can improve your presentation, how to improve your communication skills.
Top 5 Presentation Tips
#1 - PLANT YOUR FEET SQUARELY ON THE FLOOR
Distribute your weight evenly between your legs, and plant your feet firmly on the ground. Shifting your weight from one leg to another communicates to the audience a lack of confidence.
#2 - GET PUMPED UP
The idea is to begin your presentation in an absolutely great state. Do this right and the audience will follow your where you want them to go.
#3 - WARM-UP THE AUDIENCE
Another thing big rock stars do before coming out on stage is they have warm-up acts. The job of a warm-up act is to get the audience in a mood will be receptive of the main act's energy.
#4 - BEGIN WITH AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
The more rapport you have with an individual or a group, the more receptive they will be to your message. One way to build rapport with your audience is by asking questions of your audience during your first few minutes on stage.
Ask a question or two that most people can easily answer (but don't put anyone on the spot too much). Questions such as "How far did you come to get here?" and "How long have you been working in this field?" easily get conversation going and begin creating a relationship between you and your audience.
#5 - SUSTAIN EYE CONTACT WITH INDIVIDUALS
Maintain your concentration on what you want to say next by fixing your visual focus for short periods of time. Do this by completing a thought or a sentence (whichever you find easier) while sustaining eye contact with one person. Move eye contact to a new person with each new thought or sentence.
Distribute your weight evenly between your legs, and plant your feet firmly on the ground. Shifting your weight from one leg to another communicates to the audience a lack of confidence.
#2 - GET PUMPED UP
The idea is to begin your presentation in an absolutely great state. Do this right and the audience will follow your where you want them to go.
#3 - WARM-UP THE AUDIENCE
Another thing big rock stars do before coming out on stage is they have warm-up acts. The job of a warm-up act is to get the audience in a mood will be receptive of the main act's energy.
#4 - BEGIN WITH AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
The more rapport you have with an individual or a group, the more receptive they will be to your message. One way to build rapport with your audience is by asking questions of your audience during your first few minutes on stage.
Ask a question or two that most people can easily answer (but don't put anyone on the spot too much). Questions such as "How far did you come to get here?" and "How long have you been working in this field?" easily get conversation going and begin creating a relationship between you and your audience.
#5 - SUSTAIN EYE CONTACT WITH INDIVIDUALS
Maintain your concentration on what you want to say next by fixing your visual focus for short periods of time. Do this by completing a thought or a sentence (whichever you find easier) while sustaining eye contact with one person. Move eye contact to a new person with each new thought or sentence.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
THE ROLE OF PR IN MARKETING
PR is a piece of the overall scheme of marketing. It plays a huge role in setting the image of your company. The PR department is responsible for handling the good and the bad press of the company. The PR department is responsible for setting and maintaining the overall image of the company. They decide how your company will become successful and how it will look in the marketplace.
PR is a huge chunk of your overall marketing strategy. Along with advertising, PR is responsible for how you look in the marketplace. With a bad PR group, certain situations will not be handled properly and it could spell disaster for your company. Be sure to take the time to have your PR team sit down with your marketing team and discuss how you can market to benefit both teams. Come up with some situations and how you think they should be properly handled.
Designate one person on the PR team to be the official spokesman for the department. They will be in charge of facing the media in bad times and good times. Designate 2 or 3 individuals to send out press releases on the good marketing and handling bad PR for the company as well. Just be sure to keep open communication between the departments to keep everyone on the same page. Keeping the PR department ready for any situation will be a great benefit to the overall good of the company.
Advertising is a highly expensive piece of marketing. Having a good PR department helps reduce the advertising costs by setting the image of the company.
PR is a huge chunk of your overall marketing strategy. Along with advertising, PR is responsible for how you look in the marketplace. With a bad PR group, certain situations will not be handled properly and it could spell disaster for your company. Be sure to take the time to have your PR team sit down with your marketing team and discuss how you can market to benefit both teams. Come up with some situations and how you think they should be properly handled.
Designate one person on the PR team to be the official spokesman for the department. They will be in charge of facing the media in bad times and good times. Designate 2 or 3 individuals to send out press releases on the good marketing and handling bad PR for the company as well. Just be sure to keep open communication between the departments to keep everyone on the same page. Keeping the PR department ready for any situation will be a great benefit to the overall good of the company.
Advertising is a highly expensive piece of marketing. Having a good PR department helps reduce the advertising costs by setting the image of the company.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Marketing to India: The New Frontier for American Business
In 2007, American exports to India increased an astonishing 73.4% over the previous year. India is already among the top 20 trading partners for the United States and will rise to the top 10 in the next decade. Indian entrepreneurs have just begun unleash their prowess in an economy that began to liberalize in 1991, 13 years after China's did.
If you had any doubt in India's potential, the groundbreaking $1.2 billion deal between Hollywood legend Steven Spielberg and Indian billionaire Anil Ambani (worth $42 billion according to Forbes magazine), should get your attention. Ambani is investing $500 million to help Spielberg and friends make DreamWorks SKG a private, independent company again.
Marketing executives and entrepreneurs alike have rushed to China in the last decade. Yet, today, India offers an excellent, although somewhat misunderstood, alternative
As home to Asia's oldest stock market and the world's largest democracy, this country of 1.1 billion holds enormous profit potential for companies and executives alike. But only if they go in with the right attitude and an open mind.
Let me shatter some myths and then share a few nuggets from my many years of helping Americans win in India.
The Myths
Myth: There are 350 million middle-class Indians waiting to buy my goods and services.
Though the Indian government may legitimately claim that a third of its population is "middle-class" by its own standards, it's ridiculous to base a marketing plan on an imaginary 350 million Indians with single-family homes complete with white picket fences, 2.1 cars, and a dog.
By American standard, there are probably only around 60 million Indians who qualify as middle-class. Now that that is still a huge market and you can't ignore it.
Some of these 60 million Indians are ready to send their son or daughter to an American college (more college kids come to the US from India than any other country); and it's those 60 million Indians who are buying their first cars (from GM, or Ford, if not Suzuki or Hyundai). Some of those 60 million Indians want to take a vacation to Disneyland. Or eat at Subway Sandwich. Or fly in a Boeing airplane.
McKinsey and company predicts that by 2025 there will be 500 million middle-class Indians. But let's be realistic about our current projections; it's not 350 million Indians who can afford this sort of consumption just yet.
Myth: Indians speak English, so I will have no trouble selling in India.
First, 90% of the Indian population does not speak English fluently. Second, there are 23 distinct, "official" languages spoken in the country. Bengali is as different from Malayalam as French might be from Turkish. Third, the way people speak English in India might confuse you even further.
What it is more important to understand is that Indians think differently from Western people. For example, time is viewed as cyclical and plentiful, and punctuality is not held in the same high regard as in the West. Experts call this view "polychronic time," as opposed to the way time is viewed in the West, where we are slaves to Microsoft Outlook's calendar function.
Many Indians value subtlety and indirect communication, and often find the blunt American way to be jarring, almost crude. Americans sometimes mistake this subtlety for weakness or deceit.
Myth: Since India's legal system is based on a British foundation, similar to the American system, I can be assured that my contracts will protect me.
It is true that protection for confidentiality and intellectual property is quite high in India compared with other emerging economies. However you cannot make the leap that Indian courts offer you (or anyone) much in terms of real protection.
Lawsuits can take years to come to trial and a decade or more to reach a decision. Appeals are frequent and relatively inexpensive. Collecting on a judgment is another long road.
For most pragmatic business people in India, protection in the form of strong trusted relationships (cultivated over time) is as important as signed contracts. Invest in those relationships and nurture them. It can be quite profitable in India.
Nuggets of Knowledge: The Six Cs in India
Credit, which became prevalent among consumers only in the last 15 years is a key driver.
So are Cars, but the societal impact is different from post-war America's; most Indians who can afford cars can also afford chauffeurs, given low labor costs in India. So, comfortable back seats are far more important to Indian buyers.
Condominium ownership is driving a whole new market for goods and services that work well in compact, vertical living; urban land is too scarce for most Indians to own a single family detached home.
Indians are beginning to take vacations (known as Chhutti) for recreation; in years past an Indian would go on either a pilgrimage or a visit to stay with cousins, aunts, and grandparents. Today's Indians look forward to weekend motel trips, and weeklong vacations to Switzerland. Throngs of tourists from India also visit Niagara Falls, Disneyland, and San Francisco.
Two of my six Cs have exploded beyond the middle class in India:
Cable television is now watched by over 100 million Indians. Viewers young and old depend on TV for their brand information, and you if you visit India you will find creative and edgy commercials in multiple languages. Virtually all advertising in India is produced locally: politics and religion are not taboo in India, even in commercials. Condoms ads are not controversial in a society that most outsiders consider quite conservative.
But cell phones are causing by far the greatest impact on Indian consumer today. As India leaps across the United States and China in new cell phone connections for 2008, a whole new class of consumers is acquiring modern technology for the first time. Remember that as the installed base nears 300 million, virtually everyone who got a new phone in the last year has never had a landline or a television or a personal computer. So the cell phone is a transforming social influence in their lives, in ways that marketers and sociologists have not even begun to fathom. India has the lowest calling rates in the world. Unlike the US, incoming calls are free and most accounts are prepaid. Poor people can get a cell phone and most charges are paid by the calling party.
American companies can thrive in this dynamic environment, provided they know how to understand India and Indians. And this is never easy for any outsider, since the country is so diverse and complex. But the rewards are huge to those who can invest the time and hire the guidance.
Americans, American brands, and American companies are welcomed in India today. The Pew Center's latest Global Attitudes Survey confirms this: 63 percent of Indians have a positive feeling toward the United States. Only 41 percent of Chinese do, according to the same survey, released earlier this year.
-----source: http://www.marketingprofs.com
If you had any doubt in India's potential, the groundbreaking $1.2 billion deal between Hollywood legend Steven Spielberg and Indian billionaire Anil Ambani (worth $42 billion according to Forbes magazine), should get your attention. Ambani is investing $500 million to help Spielberg and friends make DreamWorks SKG a private, independent company again.
Marketing executives and entrepreneurs alike have rushed to China in the last decade. Yet, today, India offers an excellent, although somewhat misunderstood, alternative
As home to Asia's oldest stock market and the world's largest democracy, this country of 1.1 billion holds enormous profit potential for companies and executives alike. But only if they go in with the right attitude and an open mind.
Let me shatter some myths and then share a few nuggets from my many years of helping Americans win in India.
The Myths
Myth: There are 350 million middle-class Indians waiting to buy my goods and services.
Though the Indian government may legitimately claim that a third of its population is "middle-class" by its own standards, it's ridiculous to base a marketing plan on an imaginary 350 million Indians with single-family homes complete with white picket fences, 2.1 cars, and a dog.
By American standard, there are probably only around 60 million Indians who qualify as middle-class. Now that that is still a huge market and you can't ignore it.
Some of these 60 million Indians are ready to send their son or daughter to an American college (more college kids come to the US from India than any other country); and it's those 60 million Indians who are buying their first cars (from GM, or Ford, if not Suzuki or Hyundai). Some of those 60 million Indians want to take a vacation to Disneyland. Or eat at Subway Sandwich. Or fly in a Boeing airplane.
McKinsey and company predicts that by 2025 there will be 500 million middle-class Indians. But let's be realistic about our current projections; it's not 350 million Indians who can afford this sort of consumption just yet.
Myth: Indians speak English, so I will have no trouble selling in India.
First, 90% of the Indian population does not speak English fluently. Second, there are 23 distinct, "official" languages spoken in the country. Bengali is as different from Malayalam as French might be from Turkish. Third, the way people speak English in India might confuse you even further.
What it is more important to understand is that Indians think differently from Western people. For example, time is viewed as cyclical and plentiful, and punctuality is not held in the same high regard as in the West. Experts call this view "polychronic time," as opposed to the way time is viewed in the West, where we are slaves to Microsoft Outlook's calendar function.
Many Indians value subtlety and indirect communication, and often find the blunt American way to be jarring, almost crude. Americans sometimes mistake this subtlety for weakness or deceit.
Myth: Since India's legal system is based on a British foundation, similar to the American system, I can be assured that my contracts will protect me.
It is true that protection for confidentiality and intellectual property is quite high in India compared with other emerging economies. However you cannot make the leap that Indian courts offer you (or anyone) much in terms of real protection.
Lawsuits can take years to come to trial and a decade or more to reach a decision. Appeals are frequent and relatively inexpensive. Collecting on a judgment is another long road.
For most pragmatic business people in India, protection in the form of strong trusted relationships (cultivated over time) is as important as signed contracts. Invest in those relationships and nurture them. It can be quite profitable in India.
Nuggets of Knowledge: The Six Cs in India
Credit, which became prevalent among consumers only in the last 15 years is a key driver.
So are Cars, but the societal impact is different from post-war America's; most Indians who can afford cars can also afford chauffeurs, given low labor costs in India. So, comfortable back seats are far more important to Indian buyers.
Condominium ownership is driving a whole new market for goods and services that work well in compact, vertical living; urban land is too scarce for most Indians to own a single family detached home.
Indians are beginning to take vacations (known as Chhutti) for recreation; in years past an Indian would go on either a pilgrimage or a visit to stay with cousins, aunts, and grandparents. Today's Indians look forward to weekend motel trips, and weeklong vacations to Switzerland. Throngs of tourists from India also visit Niagara Falls, Disneyland, and San Francisco.
Two of my six Cs have exploded beyond the middle class in India:
Cable television is now watched by over 100 million Indians. Viewers young and old depend on TV for their brand information, and you if you visit India you will find creative and edgy commercials in multiple languages. Virtually all advertising in India is produced locally: politics and religion are not taboo in India, even in commercials. Condoms ads are not controversial in a society that most outsiders consider quite conservative.
But cell phones are causing by far the greatest impact on Indian consumer today. As India leaps across the United States and China in new cell phone connections for 2008, a whole new class of consumers is acquiring modern technology for the first time. Remember that as the installed base nears 300 million, virtually everyone who got a new phone in the last year has never had a landline or a television or a personal computer. So the cell phone is a transforming social influence in their lives, in ways that marketers and sociologists have not even begun to fathom. India has the lowest calling rates in the world. Unlike the US, incoming calls are free and most accounts are prepaid. Poor people can get a cell phone and most charges are paid by the calling party.
American companies can thrive in this dynamic environment, provided they know how to understand India and Indians. And this is never easy for any outsider, since the country is so diverse and complex. But the rewards are huge to those who can invest the time and hire the guidance.
Americans, American brands, and American companies are welcomed in India today. The Pew Center's latest Global Attitudes Survey confirms this: 63 percent of Indians have a positive feeling toward the United States. Only 41 percent of Chinese do, according to the same survey, released earlier this year.
-----source: http://www.marketingprofs.com
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
developing an integrated marketing communications strategy
Implementing an integrated marketing communications strategy can provide a competitive advantage for your business. However, many companies still employ a linear direct marketing process in which products are developed, messages created and incentives are added to the mix. The products are then pushed through various media or a salesforce to consumers. This methodology relies on behaviour assumptions that all consumers follow the same decision process: Awareness – Knowledge – Evaluation – Purchase.
This strategy worked well a few years ago because targeting and smart advertising gave companies the edge over consumers with limited product knowledge. However, buying behaviour has become more sophisticated since consumers acquired access to technology such as the Internet, mobile phones, iPods, search engines and on-demand TV. This technology has made the traditional linear marketing and communications process (product/brand – channel – media – customer) redundant. Because consumers can now block out marketing messages using spam filters, pop-up blockers, remote controls, “do not mail” lists or the regular trash can.
>>Why do consumers need to learn about your product/service now when they can
just Google it?
>>What are you going to tell consumers that they don’t already know or cannot
find out for themselves via an online product comparison site?
A consumer-controlled communication landscape has emerged with a faster dynamic consumer learning process. The outcome is declining efficiency rates and increased costs from traditional direct marketing activity. Thus companies now need an integrated marketing communications approach that combines traditional media, online channels, PR, affiliate partnerships, products, people and social networks to be successful.
How can your organization develop an integrated marketing communications model?
Don Schultz, Professor of Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University suggests companies can coordinate their marketing resources and supply customers value-added information to create engagement and build long-term relationships. Start by using what I call ABCD resources -Audience, Brand (Product/Service), Content, Delivery. You then need to find the optimal mix based on your industry and competitive position.
Audience – a key ingredient is to use extensive data and analytics to understand your target segment. Creating pen-portraits of your core customers including demographic and lifestyle information will help optimize your media targeting strategy.
Brand – your product or service must have a unique selling proposition to provide a competitive advantage. It must deliver superior value for the audience and be clearly differentiated on features, service or price.
Content – with most competitors using the same linear marketing strategies targeting the same consumer segments, content can now become a point of competitive differentiation. When you supply value-added content you provide consumers a reason to engage with your brand and connect your products or services.
Delivery - You then need to connect new digital media channels with traditional channels to create a push-pull system. Consumers must become engaged with the media employed or your content delivery will be unsuccessful. To achieve this ensure the content is linked to your brand positioning to make the emotional connection with your product or services.
Traditional measurements systems do not work well with integrated marketing, but most companies have all the data and just need to align it. Problematic areas can include breaking down internal silos and defining measures of success –site traffic, new sales, revenue per customer, return on capital, NPS (Net Promoter Score) etc.
The customer experience now occurs during the interaction with your products, online channels, customer service and content. If companies can optimize the synergy between the ABCD resources and employ an integrated marketing communications strategy they can drive improved returns from their marketing investment.
Achieving strategic agility in unpredictable markets
Some companies seem to have a knack of embracing new ideas and innovations faster than others. In many industries growth and profitability is determined by speed-to-market with new product development. So what makes these companies better at seizing opportunities?
Professor Don Sull, from London Business School,proposes that organizations start off as nimble and agile, but when they grow large it’s how they transition between agility and absorption that determines success.
>>Agility - the capacity to seize opportunities faster
>>Absorption - the capacity to sustain change and deliver long-term shareholder return.
To use a boxing analogy, Mohammad Ali early on in his career had great agility to “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee” but later on lost some of that speed and had to absorb more punches from his competitors, eventually losing the title.
When companies become larger, growth begins to stall as markets mature. Professor Sull suggests that firms can develop absorptive capabilities allowing them to seize opportunities when the perfect storm arises. Some examples are;
>> Diversified cash-flow (General Electric)
>> A war-chest of cash (Microsoft)
>> Powerful tangible and intangible assets (Procter & Gamble)
>> Excess resources and staffing (JPMorganChase)
>> Lock-in via exclusive partnerships or integration (Oracle)
>> Compete in protected markets (Royal Bank of Canada)
>> Strong local market or low cost position (Cemex)
These absorptive capabilities mean companies can outlast others in a war of attrition or scale new innovations quickly. Diversification, strong brands or patents can provide the beachheads to reinforce and attack other customer segments. Strict government regulation and exclusive partnerships can limit new entrants. Finally, a strong local market or low cost position may allow you to absorb price volatility and downturns in international markets.
To increase agility in your business you can outsource or acquire it. Outsourcing requires you find the right partnerships that compliment your core business. Whereas acquiring agility involves you keeping the hardware and rewriting the software by changing organizational structure, key management personnel and culture.
------------- source: www.innovationreactor.com
Product diffusion and adoption
The adoption process can be described as:
Awareness-->Interest-->Evaluation-->Trial-->Adoption-->Post-adoption confirmation
• Innovators tend to be opinion leaders who are the first to purchase and these are basically the same purchasers as those who purchase at the introduction phase of the product life cycle. They are likely to be younger and better educated from reasonably affluent, high social status, family backgrounds. Their knowledge of the product tends to come more from their own feelings than from the efforts of marketing people. They represent the first 2.5% of the entire market - which is two standard deviations to the left of the mean.
• Early adopters possess similar characteristics to the innovators, but they are slightly more cautious and less gregarious. They tend to belong more to ‘local’ groups, but as opinion leaders they are influential. These comprise 13.5% of the entire market.
• Early majority purchasers tend to rate slightly above average in terms of their social class and now that the product has become more established, they rely principally upon marketing information before making their purchases. This group represents 34% of the market.
• Late majority purchasers tend to be more cautious, but are more prone to social pressures to adopt the product for the first time. This group comprises 34% of the total market.
• Laggards are the final 16% category and they make up the cautious group. They tend to be older and more conservative, generally coming from a lower socio-economic class.
Diffusion is of course closely related to the adoption process of individual customers and it has been found that five particular facets of products will lead to a more rapid and wider adoption:
• Relative advantage in terms of the greater the perceived advantage of the new product to customers the faster it will diffuse.
• Compatibility relates to the greater the extent to which the new product is compatible with existing products, the faster it will diffuse.
• Complexity is a disadvantage, because the more complex the new product is, the more difficult it will be to understand in the marketplace and the diffusion rate will thus be slower.
• Divisibility means the greater the ability of the new product to be used or tried on a limited scale before full commitment on the part of the purchaser, the faster it will diffuse.
• Communicability means an ability of the new product to be demonstrated or communicated by early purchasers to later potential purchasers, then the quicker will be the rate of diffusion.
The Whole Product Concept
1. Generic product is considered to encompass the basic requirements—such as features and form factor—that the customer associates with the tangible product.
2. Expected product tends to be the intangibles, such as expected reliability, service expectations, and feature enhancements as compared to the generic product.
3. Augmented product describes those things that differentiate the expected product from competitors' offerings. The augmented product consists of intangible things such as enhanced customer service, as well as tangible things, such as features not offered by the competition.
4. Potential product provides the consumer with a glimpse of the future by offering a view of tomorrow's augmented and even expected product.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Creating Product message
When creating your product message, put Kipling's "six faithful serving men" to good work. They will help improve and sharpen your product message:
"Who" Are You Marketing To?
While creating your product message, first clearly identify who you're marketing to. Then write your message for this audience. Don't write a message that tries to appeal to everyone - it is highly likely it will end up appealing to no one.
"What" Does Your Product Do For Them?
Tell your target audience what your product does for them in plain English. Do not use jargons or unnecessarily complex language - many B2B software companies are especially guilty of this.
"Why" Is Your Product Better Than Other Solutions?
Odds are your audience has several other means to achieve the same thing that your product does. Tell them why your product is better. Why they should consider your product instead of the other solutions.
"How" Can You Prove Your Points?
Provide concrete, tangible information that proves your points about what your product does and why your product is better. Often companies make vague statements that cannot be proven. Instead, use concrete data - such as customer testimonials, success stories, third party surveys, etc.
"Where" and "When" Is This Message Being Delivered?
When creating your product message, take into account where and when the message will be delivered to your target audience. For example - a message on your website will be delivered to any visitor to your site, whereas a message in a direct mail will only reach the intended audience during the intended timeframe. Tailor your message accordingly.
"Who" Are You Marketing To?
While creating your product message, first clearly identify who you're marketing to. Then write your message for this audience. Don't write a message that tries to appeal to everyone - it is highly likely it will end up appealing to no one.
"What" Does Your Product Do For Them?
Tell your target audience what your product does for them in plain English. Do not use jargons or unnecessarily complex language - many B2B software companies are especially guilty of this.
"Why" Is Your Product Better Than Other Solutions?
Odds are your audience has several other means to achieve the same thing that your product does. Tell them why your product is better. Why they should consider your product instead of the other solutions.
"How" Can You Prove Your Points?
Provide concrete, tangible information that proves your points about what your product does and why your product is better. Often companies make vague statements that cannot be proven. Instead, use concrete data - such as customer testimonials, success stories, third party surveys, etc.
"Where" and "When" Is This Message Being Delivered?
When creating your product message, take into account where and when the message will be delivered to your target audience. For example - a message on your website will be delivered to any visitor to your site, whereas a message in a direct mail will only reach the intended audience during the intended timeframe. Tailor your message accordingly.
Technological product developement and failure
Regardless of the model, critical phases include: Product idea generation, idea screening, concept testing, business analysis, marketing mix development, test marketing and commercialization.
Customer Focus versus Managerial Focus while developing product:
Customer Focus
-Features
-Consequences, values
-Ease of operation
-Unique qualities
-Consumption
Managerial Focus
-Design
-Cost
-Ease of production
-Unique technologies
-Production
In addition, several authors have suggested that high tech markets, unlike low-tech markets, must focus on both demand-side marketing and supply-side marketing.
There is one or combination one or more reasons given below responsible for product to fail in the market:
--Customer expectations not met
--No innovative advantage perceived
--Information about product is scarce, unclear, or difficult
--Need for product is not seen
--Unique attributes not seen
--Poor selection of target market
--Poor communication of product benefits
--Distribution channel selection
--Pricing problems
Customer Focus versus Managerial Focus while developing product:
Customer Focus
-Features
-Consequences, values
-Ease of operation
-Unique qualities
-Consumption
Managerial Focus
-Design
-Cost
-Ease of production
-Unique technologies
-Production
In addition, several authors have suggested that high tech markets, unlike low-tech markets, must focus on both demand-side marketing and supply-side marketing.
There is one or combination one or more reasons given below responsible for product to fail in the market:
--Customer expectations not met
--No innovative advantage perceived
--Information about product is scarce, unclear, or difficult
--Need for product is not seen
--Unique attributes not seen
--Poor selection of target market
--Poor communication of product benefits
--Distribution channel selection
--Pricing problems
High tech product marketing
Marketing high tech product is different from marketing simple product.
"High tech markets are characterized as complex. In addition, they exist under rapidly changing technological conditions which lead to shorter life cycles and the need for rapid decisions. The importance of speed in high tech markets is driven by increasing competition and the continually evolving expectations of customers. All of this is compounded by higher levels of risk for both the customer and the producer."
Lets understand some areas of high tech product developement etc to better fine tune marketing process.
Customer vioce:
First is the importance of customer voice while developing the product- Due to dynamic market conditions high tech companies frequently rely on a product which is driven by the innovations in technology rather than by the needs of the customer. This orientation often leads to abandonment of a customer focus; a must in today's globally competitive markets.
Bottom line: customer vioce, knowledge of customer needs are very important and marketing strategy should be to clearly communicate product features and benefits aimed towards satisfying these needs.
Product Differenciation:
Second, there are specific features of high tech markets that are believed to distinguish them from other product categories. Examination of both of these sets of issues is necessary to understand the particular importance of the diffusion of innovation in the launch of high tech products.
Bottom line: marketing strategy should aim towards creating product differentiation in the minds of the customer. Last, but not least, their goal is to fulfill unmet needs.
Technology changes:
High tech companies, however, must recognize that both technological and marketing conditions are rapidly changing. This dynamic environment necessitates stronger consideration for the marriage of marketing and technology.
Bottom line: Marketing must understand technology fully before developing marketing strategy.
Changing Target market
Research and practice indicate that high tech markets are characterized as dynamic and complex which results in a changing target market over the life cycle. The complexity of the product also impacts market acceptance in different ways in high tech markets. As high tech products are more complicated, they require greater customer education and more product information.
Bottom line: greater effort on the part of marketing to adequately convey the necessary information. Consequently, it is important to recognize the need to clearly identify and profile a target market as well as take into account that the profile of the target market will change over time.
Other basic things to be taken care of in High Tech Product marketing:
--Purchase decision taken by the group rather by an indivisual
--Relationship building is important
--Sales person capability to sell product
Understanding the relationship between the product development process and the product adoption process provides the means of incorporating the marketing concept into the development of new products.
"High tech markets are characterized as complex. In addition, they exist under rapidly changing technological conditions which lead to shorter life cycles and the need for rapid decisions. The importance of speed in high tech markets is driven by increasing competition and the continually evolving expectations of customers. All of this is compounded by higher levels of risk for both the customer and the producer."
Lets understand some areas of high tech product developement etc to better fine tune marketing process.
Customer vioce:
First is the importance of customer voice while developing the product- Due to dynamic market conditions high tech companies frequently rely on a product which is driven by the innovations in technology rather than by the needs of the customer. This orientation often leads to abandonment of a customer focus; a must in today's globally competitive markets.
Bottom line: customer vioce, knowledge of customer needs are very important and marketing strategy should be to clearly communicate product features and benefits aimed towards satisfying these needs.
Product Differenciation:
Second, there are specific features of high tech markets that are believed to distinguish them from other product categories. Examination of both of these sets of issues is necessary to understand the particular importance of the diffusion of innovation in the launch of high tech products.
Bottom line: marketing strategy should aim towards creating product differentiation in the minds of the customer. Last, but not least, their goal is to fulfill unmet needs.
Technology changes:
High tech companies, however, must recognize that both technological and marketing conditions are rapidly changing. This dynamic environment necessitates stronger consideration for the marriage of marketing and technology.
Bottom line: Marketing must understand technology fully before developing marketing strategy.
Changing Target market
Research and practice indicate that high tech markets are characterized as dynamic and complex which results in a changing target market over the life cycle. The complexity of the product also impacts market acceptance in different ways in high tech markets. As high tech products are more complicated, they require greater customer education and more product information.
Bottom line: greater effort on the part of marketing to adequately convey the necessary information. Consequently, it is important to recognize the need to clearly identify and profile a target market as well as take into account that the profile of the target market will change over time.
Other basic things to be taken care of in High Tech Product marketing:
--Purchase decision taken by the group rather by an indivisual
--Relationship building is important
--Sales person capability to sell product
Understanding the relationship between the product development process and the product adoption process provides the means of incorporating the marketing concept into the development of new products.
Product marketing versus service marketing
Every business owner knows that having a good marketing plan is absolutely vital to the success of their business venture. If you don't have a good marketing plan, then you don't know how to get where you want to go. You will just be shooting in the dark and you won't be able to see how you can achieve your goals within the market that you are working within.
However, you need to have different approaches to marketing based on whether or not you are marketing products or if you are marketing services. If you are marketing both services and products, then you need to develop two different marketing plans that share some similarities-such as the type of business and the company image that you want to portray-but are also different. Different tactics work better for services versus products. You need to develop marketing plans for each and every one of them.
Product marketing versus service marketing: what you need to know:
So what are the differences between product marketing and service marketing? Many businesses know how to market products, but it is trickier to market services. Here are some things that you need to know about the differences between products and services.
Differences between service marketing and product marketing:
1. When you are marketing a service, you are really marketing relationship and value. This relationship and value needs to be marketed differently than if you are marketing actual products.
2. Another major difference between marketing services and marketing products is that when a buyer purchases a service, the buyer is purchasing something that is intangible, instead of a tangible product, like a computer or a sprinkler system or a web page.
3. Consumers' concept of a service is often times based on just the reputation of only one single person. Instead of building a reputation based on the quality of a number of different products, a service is built on how well a particular person delivers on a service, such as how well a stock advisor does with your stock portfolio.
4. It is pretty easy to compare the quality of different products. It's easy for you to see if one computer works more quickly than another computer, or if one TV has a better picture than another picture, or if your child can break a toy more easily than another toy. However, it is much more difficult to compare the quality of similar services that are provided.
5. Products are returnable. However, services are not returnable.
However, you need to have different approaches to marketing based on whether or not you are marketing products or if you are marketing services. If you are marketing both services and products, then you need to develop two different marketing plans that share some similarities-such as the type of business and the company image that you want to portray-but are also different. Different tactics work better for services versus products. You need to develop marketing plans for each and every one of them.
Product marketing versus service marketing: what you need to know:
So what are the differences between product marketing and service marketing? Many businesses know how to market products, but it is trickier to market services. Here are some things that you need to know about the differences between products and services.
Differences between service marketing and product marketing:
1. When you are marketing a service, you are really marketing relationship and value. This relationship and value needs to be marketed differently than if you are marketing actual products.
2. Another major difference between marketing services and marketing products is that when a buyer purchases a service, the buyer is purchasing something that is intangible, instead of a tangible product, like a computer or a sprinkler system or a web page.
3. Consumers' concept of a service is often times based on just the reputation of only one single person. Instead of building a reputation based on the quality of a number of different products, a service is built on how well a particular person delivers on a service, such as how well a stock advisor does with your stock portfolio.
4. It is pretty easy to compare the quality of different products. It's easy for you to see if one computer works more quickly than another computer, or if one TV has a better picture than another picture, or if your child can break a toy more easily than another toy. However, it is much more difficult to compare the quality of similar services that are provided.
5. Products are returnable. However, services are not returnable.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Marketing Measurement-Case Study
Heading into the 2006 holiday shopping season, HP’s Imaging & Printing Group (IPG) wanted to generate awareness for its consumer line of home printers, digital cameras, and ink and toner cartridges. Additionally, the company wanted to remind people how easy it is to print calendars, greeting cards, and family photos using HP’s online Activity Center and Snapfish photo services.
HP’s research showed that consumers are spending more time online and expect to connect with products and services in more interactive ways. At the same time, one of HP’s challenges – one common to most major companies – is measuring marketing effectiveness in a new, more complex communications landscape. To help address both opportunities and challenges, IPG Executive Vice President Vyomesh (VJ) Joshi encouraged his marketing team to develop and launch several digital, integrated marketing programs with Google. The goal was to respond to consumers’ needs, while developing benchmarks that better incorporate the online dimension and produce additional marketing insights for IPG.
A joint team with members from HP’s advertising and web marketing groups, Google’s account and metrics team, and HP’s agency partners created and launched a series of integrated holiday campaigns using search ads, display ads, and click-to-play video ads on sites matching the major target customer profiles. During each week of the eight-week campaign, the team met to integrate and analyze data from ad serving and management systems, HP’s website, and HP’s online store. They then adjusted the programs in real-time to maximize marketing effectiveness.1
The HP-Google team also developed a new type of dashboard to track overall program effectiveness in an integrated way. The dashboard combined activity data from search, online display advertising, video advertising, HP’s website and HP’s online store into a single view. The dashboard reflected aggregate, composite levels of awareness, engagement, consideration, and purchase intent.
To create these aggregate, composite measures, the team mapped and weighted metrics from each measurement silo to each stage of the customer lifecycle. These metrics were tracked and tabulated week over week for each major product category (see appendix). The dashboard simplified program optimization and reporting, and will act as a framework for developing integrated measurement programs for HP’s Imaging and Printing Group moving forward.
“HP is a thought leader that actively seeks more effective cross-media marketing programs and measurement strategies,” says Google’s Tim Armstrong, President of Advertising and Commerce, North America. “They recognize that consumers live in a complex world where multiple media affect their purchase consideration set and they do not shop within a single channel. To measure and optimize in this environment, new approaches have to be developed and tested. We see interesting innovations like this integrated dashboard emerging from strong partnerships among clients, agencies, and Google.”
Results and Insights
In addition to the new dashboard concept based on week-to-week data, a supplemental ad effectiveness measurement program was developed in partnership with comScore. This anonymous, panel-based methodology combines behavioral and attitudinal data to measure the effectiveness of display ad exposure.
The comScore data showed the following results of the HP-Google holiday campaign:
• A total of 12.7 million visits to HP properties.
• Aided awareness of HP photo printers rose 10 percent. In the target demographic target, aided awareness rose 17 percent.
• Among those who intend to buy a photo printer in the next 12 months, consideration of HP-branded photo printers incurred a 43 percent lift.
• In terms of behavioral impact of the campaign, those exposed to the display
ads conducted 51 percent more searches on terms such as “HP printer” and
“HP camera,” and clicked on 59 percent more search listings that took them
to HP web pages.
• Although the majority of HP’s sales typically occur in a retail environment, these programs also had a positive effect on online purchase activity.
A few examples of trends identified in this program include:
• The Hispanic-targeted campaign generated very high levels of engagement, suggesting that further targeted marketing activity aimed at that segment should be fruitful. It also suggested that Hispanic segments are more likely to purchase offline than online, so direct ROI expectations should be set accordingly.
• Interaction rates with one creative type were significantly higher than with others and produced significantly higher sell-through activity. For now, the details of the creative types are being kept internal. HP plans to develop additional creative using these formats since customers find it highly engaging, useful, and relevant.
The dashboard enabled HP to track customer behavior both pre- and post-holiday, revealing post-holiday opportunities that had not been considered previously because most programs have been focused on Christmas purchases.
Steps to Building the Dashboard
Developing the integrated dashboard required significant coordination, internal education, and several iterations. HP followed these steps:
1. Familiarize key stakeholders the marketing analytics, advertising, and agency teams with the concept; discuss the benefits and costs, and designate the
core team.
2. Map each data source to the proper stage in the buying process and determine the relevant metrics from each data source.
3. Secure timely source data for each dashboard element. This step can be challenging because the data lives in multiple silos and formats, and is often reported on varying schedules.
4. Develop weightings for each metric and calibrate scores for each important stage of the customer experience or buying process (e.g., engagement, consideration, purchase intent, usage/loyalty) using a combination of testing and considered judgment.
5. Establish a baseline for each composite metric over time.
6. Analyze dashboard for key insights, trends, and spikes that can be correlated to marketing activities, PR, seasonality, or competitor activity.
Despite being designed for an integrated online campaign, the dashboard exposed the need to develop more comprehensive scorecards to track the effectiveness of both online and offline activities. This became especially clear when the team observed significant spikes in the dashboard that coincided with major offline marketing activities during the same campaign timeframe.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Achieving Customer Mindshare Through Advertising
Building "effective mindshare" -- the kind that leads to increased revenues and profits -- requires building in the mind of the customer not only awareness, but interest and desire in the product or service to achieve a top-of-mind position when the customer takes action.
-- B-to-B marketers are discovering the value of deeper insights into their customers. This includes their demographic data, such as age, gender and ethnicity. It also includes their emotional drivers, on the job and in their lives; how they work; and where they like to get information. Key questions include: Do they still read magazines? What Web sites do they use? Do they still go to trade shows? Do they like Webcasts? Podcasts? Do they watch online video? Do they blog ? How much work do they do at home? How do they commute?
-- In the B-to-B world, sales reps and sales engineers are essential in building a personal relationship that leads to closing sales. But using Web-based tactics to provide relevant information in a more cost-effective manner enables the sales force to focus on closing sales.
-- Building mindshare across the awareness-interest-desire-action (AIDA) spectrum is both an art and a science. The science involves the strategic and skillful use of "media" to deliver a message. The increasing complexity, fragmentation and "noise" level of the advertising environment make it more and more challenging to capture customer mindshare. That's where the art comes into play.
-- There are six basic principles that apply to all types of marketers reaching all kinds of customers with any and all kinds of media:
1. Stake out a single brand position .
2. Be unique.
3. Create resonance through relevance.
4. Use emotion for impact.
5. Focus the message and use frequency.
6. Keep promises -- live the brand.
-- B-to-B marketers are discovering the value of deeper insights into their customers. This includes their demographic data, such as age, gender and ethnicity. It also includes their emotional drivers, on the job and in their lives; how they work; and where they like to get information. Key questions include: Do they still read magazines? What Web sites do they use? Do they still go to trade shows? Do they like Webcasts? Podcasts? Do they watch online video? Do they blog ? How much work do they do at home? How do they commute?
-- In the B-to-B world, sales reps and sales engineers are essential in building a personal relationship that leads to closing sales. But using Web-based tactics to provide relevant information in a more cost-effective manner enables the sales force to focus on closing sales.
-- Building mindshare across the awareness-interest-desire-action (AIDA) spectrum is both an art and a science. The science involves the strategic and skillful use of "media" to deliver a message. The increasing complexity, fragmentation and "noise" level of the advertising environment make it more and more challenging to capture customer mindshare. That's where the art comes into play.
-- There are six basic principles that apply to all types of marketers reaching all kinds of customers with any and all kinds of media:
1. Stake out a single brand position .
2. Be unique.
3. Create resonance through relevance.
4. Use emotion for impact.
5. Focus the message and use frequency.
6. Keep promises -- live the brand.
Push Vs Pull Marketing-2( little of both)
In my view, one cannot have these two techniques in isolation. For any marketers need to apply for push and pull marketing strategy for effectively promoting product as well as pulling seroius buyer.
"Push strategy makes use of a company's sales force and trade promotion activities to create demand for a product." These organizations make lots of cold calls.
"Pull strategy is one that requires high spending promotion to build up demand for a product." These organizations receive calls.
Push strategy, I think, is more suited to selling products that customers don't know they need. But it also can be used when there is no effective channel for promotion that Pull requires.
My products only sell to those who truly need them, so Pull strategy has worked extremely well. Especially since the advent of the Internet, making us so easy to find. But, in searching for additional business, can we find the customer before they go looking (using either Push or Pull)? And which will be more effective?
As the pragmatic marketer that I am, I willing to consider an option that falls somewhere in the middle. That option would be 'nurture marketing'. You are pushing-out your message more directly than traditional promotion, but with a goal of pulling-in demand. The change here is at the marketing level, which means me. Can I do this effectively? Or is it easier for me just to let the sales team try to Push?
"Push strategy makes use of a company's sales force and trade promotion activities to create demand for a product." These organizations make lots of cold calls.
"Pull strategy is one that requires high spending promotion to build up demand for a product." These organizations receive calls.
Push strategy, I think, is more suited to selling products that customers don't know they need. But it also can be used when there is no effective channel for promotion that Pull requires.
My products only sell to those who truly need them, so Pull strategy has worked extremely well. Especially since the advent of the Internet, making us so easy to find. But, in searching for additional business, can we find the customer before they go looking (using either Push or Pull)? And which will be more effective?
As the pragmatic marketer that I am, I willing to consider an option that falls somewhere in the middle. That option would be 'nurture marketing'. You are pushing-out your message more directly than traditional promotion, but with a goal of pulling-in demand. The change here is at the marketing level, which means me. Can I do this effectively? Or is it easier for me just to let the sales team try to Push?
Push-Pull Marketing-1
Push-pull marketing strategies are two distinct methods of promoting products and services to a target market. There are specific advantages in using each of these two marketing strategies. Being able to know the difference as well as how to use both in conjunction with another is very valuable information to an entrepreneur.
Push/Pull is a newer model for e-business that relates to information delivery. Roughly put, a PUSH is information that is directly delivered to you. Direct Mail and E-Mail are good examples of PUSH information, delivered right to your mailbox. A Web Site is an example of PULL information, for anyone to view as they wish by browsing the address. The Viewer is in control of the PULL.
Combining these two forces is very effective in delivering your marketing message. "PULL" type marketing is LESS effective in originating new business, but is MORE effective in helping to "close" and also helping to "keep in touch."
You PUSH your Web Address to a prospect who goes home and PULLS up your home page on their computer.
Ways to "Push":
1. ALWAYS have your web address on your e-mail signature. Make it a "clickable" link - this is the strongest form of PUSH I know of...
2. Web address in all ads.
3. Get SIGN RIDERS with your URL so neighbors can go home an "PULL" you up!
4. List a web address in your BULK MAILINGS that past clients and/or sphere can go to that is different than your normal web page, just for them.
5. Put your web address on PROMOTIONAL ITEMS, such as pens or calendars, for a long-lasting reminder that may "PULL" visitors months later.
Ways to "PULL" using your web site:
1. Use a "guestbook" to collect e-mail addresses for your "PUSH" list.
2. Offer useful information about your "niche"
3. A special section for clients and past clients (password access)
4. Have Contests or drawings for small prizes that require prospects to visit your page regularly. This is also good for collecting e-mail addresses.
5. Make a "Christmas Card" or family web page for the holidays and then list it in your ads and correspondence. Place a link to your home page on the Christmas Card page.
6. Have a monthly recipe, story, newsletter, whatever, that you can promote for visitors to BOOKMARK your page and return on a regular basis.
The Electronic Newsletter
E-News can be the wave of marketing into the next century. It uses both "Push" and "Pull" to produce an effect more powerful than traditional newsletters, and at the same time, is much less expensive.
You first need your e-mailing list, literally worth more than it's weight in gold. Start TODAY to ask for and collect e-mail addresses from all your past clients, prospects, friends, relatives, old business contacts, local businesses, etc. etc. etc.
Make a newsletter setup for your website. Create a handful of "departments" such as "Monthly Market Report," "SOLDS," "Listing of the month," "Local spotlight," "Etc." After the newsletter is setup, you can change stories and pictures each month within the same format.
Each month, you create an e-mail that is sent out to your list. The e-mail is only a synopsis or promo for them to click and actually visit the page(s) - This is how the "Push/Pull" works. Besides the benefits of having your home page links in your e-mail going to them each month, you are "keeping your name in front of them" and "Pulling" them to your web site all at the same time. Combining your E-news with some of the contest/giveaway ideas makes a powerful combination!
The One Word Sales Pitch
When you have a web site on-line that shows your listings, personal brochure, and marketing presentation, you have the ability to make a One-Word Sales Pitch anywhere - it's your Web Address! Consider the billboard that just says WWW.YOU.COM in 10' letters. Put your "pitch" in EVERY classified. Why do you think you see so many web addresses at the bottom of TV ads.... IT WORKS!
Many Realtors spend $100's or $1000's on homes magazines, display ads, and shoppers. Now you can add your entire Internet Marketing Campaign for no extra cost just by listing your web and e-mail addresses in the same space! DO IT!
source: www.mnrealty.com
Push/Pull is a newer model for e-business that relates to information delivery. Roughly put, a PUSH is information that is directly delivered to you. Direct Mail and E-Mail are good examples of PUSH information, delivered right to your mailbox. A Web Site is an example of PULL information, for anyone to view as they wish by browsing the address. The Viewer is in control of the PULL.
Combining these two forces is very effective in delivering your marketing message. "PULL" type marketing is LESS effective in originating new business, but is MORE effective in helping to "close" and also helping to "keep in touch."
You PUSH your Web Address to a prospect who goes home and PULLS up your home page on their computer.
Ways to "Push":
1. ALWAYS have your web address on your e-mail signature. Make it a "clickable" link - this is the strongest form of PUSH I know of...
2. Web address in all ads.
3. Get SIGN RIDERS with your URL so neighbors can go home an "PULL" you up!
4. List a web address in your BULK MAILINGS that past clients and/or sphere can go to that is different than your normal web page, just for them.
5. Put your web address on PROMOTIONAL ITEMS, such as pens or calendars, for a long-lasting reminder that may "PULL" visitors months later.
Ways to "PULL" using your web site:
1. Use a "guestbook" to collect e-mail addresses for your "PUSH" list.
2. Offer useful information about your "niche"
3. A special section for clients and past clients (password access)
4. Have Contests or drawings for small prizes that require prospects to visit your page regularly. This is also good for collecting e-mail addresses.
5. Make a "Christmas Card" or family web page for the holidays and then list it in your ads and correspondence. Place a link to your home page on the Christmas Card page.
6. Have a monthly recipe, story, newsletter, whatever, that you can promote for visitors to BOOKMARK your page and return on a regular basis.
The Electronic Newsletter
E-News can be the wave of marketing into the next century. It uses both "Push" and "Pull" to produce an effect more powerful than traditional newsletters, and at the same time, is much less expensive.
You first need your e-mailing list, literally worth more than it's weight in gold. Start TODAY to ask for and collect e-mail addresses from all your past clients, prospects, friends, relatives, old business contacts, local businesses, etc. etc. etc.
Make a newsletter setup for your website. Create a handful of "departments" such as "Monthly Market Report," "SOLDS," "Listing of the month," "Local spotlight," "Etc." After the newsletter is setup, you can change stories and pictures each month within the same format.
Each month, you create an e-mail that is sent out to your list. The e-mail is only a synopsis or promo for them to click and actually visit the page(s) - This is how the "Push/Pull" works. Besides the benefits of having your home page links in your e-mail going to them each month, you are "keeping your name in front of them" and "Pulling" them to your web site all at the same time. Combining your E-news with some of the contest/giveaway ideas makes a powerful combination!
The One Word Sales Pitch
When you have a web site on-line that shows your listings, personal brochure, and marketing presentation, you have the ability to make a One-Word Sales Pitch anywhere - it's your Web Address! Consider the billboard that just says WWW.YOU.COM in 10' letters. Put your "pitch" in EVERY classified. Why do you think you see so many web addresses at the bottom of TV ads.... IT WORKS!
Many Realtors spend $100's or $1000's on homes magazines, display ads, and shoppers. Now you can add your entire Internet Marketing Campaign for no extra cost just by listing your web and e-mail addresses in the same space! DO IT!
source: www.mnrealty.com
There is more Below The current Line
While we learn only 10% of what we read, 20% of what we hear and 30% of what we see; we learn fully 80% of what we experience.’ - William Glasser
With a deluge of competitive information being bombarded to consumers at every touch point, there is a growing deviation from the historical model of end to end mass communication. Technological advancements have opened every possible information window a marketer could have envisaged, enabling brands to reach fragmented audiences.
As a reaction however to this sensitized marketing the consumer on the other hand has matured to demand higher quality, better service and more importantly, customization. The outcome, consumers have become more price sensitive in search of value leading to intelligent purchase patterns. This heightened aspirational consumerism coupled with intense competition from domestic and international brands has left little breathing space for today’s marketers.
Thus today marketers look for minimal spill over. Three factors driving this trend are Measurability, Focus and Innovation. While above the line advertising helps in the mass reach of the product, and there is no denying its need as well as benefits however it’s the below-the-line which plays the vital role in reaching out to the consumer, at the right time with most critical thing that drives consumer recruitment - experience. The enhanced ROI is evident just do the maths.
Tracing the progression
A recent world-wide study suggests Marketing Transformation will occur in four phases:
Marketers will make greater use of inbound customer contacts as a channel to present offers.
Marketers will replace many batch campaigns with more relevant event / experience-driven campaigns.
Once marketers have mastered inbound and outbound contacts as separate functions, they will begin to coordinate their activities across channels to create seamless customer conversations.
The final phase of marketing transformation will occur when marketing not only makes offers, but also enhances all customer interaction channels with marketing guidance to make each contact more intelligent – and more valuable.
Brand experience and its USP’s can be shared with long lasting consumer impressions through experiential promotional tactics such as sampling, demonstrations, lifestyle infiltration, interactive mobile marketing and activations.
Below the line offers a flexible environment for marketers to get on to this much sought after one-to-one interaction mode with the consumers. From conventional BTL activities like events & road-shows, exhibitions, conferences and sampling, marketers are exploring newer pastures like Word of Mouth, Viral marketing, Podcasting, Field marketing, contests and Consumer Generated Media. Providing measurable results through ROI metrics, BTL umbrella offers limitless potential fulfilling multiple pre defined objectives; be it Trials, Loyalty Programs, Proactive promotions, or Distribution apart from generating a handy customer database for the marketers.
Below the line in its evolved possibilities, today in India is nascent if not amateur at the risk of offending sensibilities of colleagues across the board. Yes it is evolving. Its evolution however depends as much on the Agency as it does on the marketer. Are we really open to accepting a new logical idea in all its connotations?
An increasing number of Marketers are! As traditional outbound channels become less effective and more regulated, leading marketers are shifting their focus to inbound marketing – the process of delivering cross-sell & up-sell when the customer initiates an interaction over and above the traditional channels such In-shop, promotions, road-shows, etc.
To really bring to light in fairly exact terms we would like to share the recent case of an IT company who changed the perception of cross promotions as we knew it. The Windows Vista launch messaging centered around “Wow” – the simplistic yet powerful emotional reaction that it received from any consumer who saw the product. The core was the all new interface in Windows Vista which has a translucent aero glass display characterized by a unique Flip3D means of accessing multiple windows.
To elicit a “Wow” reaction a café chain (CCD) was completely ‘Vista-ized”. The fundamental colors of CCD were changed to the blue-green Windows Vista palette starting from the door to the menu panel. All other points of interaction with the customer were also “Vista-ized” – this included a totally redesigned menu card, posters, tent-card and even a special edition brew called “Wow-fee”. An innovative cover on Café Beat the in-house newspaper provided detailed consumer benefit messaging ensuring that a consumer had varying levels of messaging at multiple touch points ensuring a complete surround.
The activation was used as a Multiplier in addition to the other facets of the campaign. The activation was driven by the fact that The Target Audience band for Windows Vista includes youth and young adults who are early technology adopters and are already living the digital lifestyle in varying degrees. Windows Vista incredibly enhances the consumer’s ability to live the digital lifestyle. Café Coffee Day was a great ‘fit’ since it enjoys a similar consumer profile. The best part was the captive nature of the audience which allows one to convey the brand messaging & product USP’s in a relaxed and undistracted manner. In fact the relevance and reach of the “The Wow starts now” Windows Vista launch campaign was enhanced through a special edition brew called “Wow-fee”. That was a huge success with over 8,000 cups sold daily!
Marketer’s world over are increasingly resorting to some or the other form of Below the line extensions/innovations as multipliers with measurability. In India, this vertical has remained under-capitalized with conventional activations alone with scope for further specialization – in turn leaving various possibilities for a brand unexplored.
This practice persists despite the fragmenting of mass markets into thousands of minimarkets, each requiring its own approach, in spite of the proliferation of new types of media, and despite the growing consumer sophistication. The most obvious benefit of integrating marketing communications is that it produces stronger message consistency and resultantly, impacts brand perception and eventually sales positively.
According to IPA Report in future agencies must recognize that marketer / agency / consumer relationships will be challenged with new models of engagement. By 2016, the hypothesis is that media owners will be integrating brands directly into existing content and savvy consumers will take control of content and the flow of interactions. So while we plan below the line within its existing templates there is need to explore beyond where wider horizons await.---from jagran
With a deluge of competitive information being bombarded to consumers at every touch point, there is a growing deviation from the historical model of end to end mass communication. Technological advancements have opened every possible information window a marketer could have envisaged, enabling brands to reach fragmented audiences.
As a reaction however to this sensitized marketing the consumer on the other hand has matured to demand higher quality, better service and more importantly, customization. The outcome, consumers have become more price sensitive in search of value leading to intelligent purchase patterns. This heightened aspirational consumerism coupled with intense competition from domestic and international brands has left little breathing space for today’s marketers.
Thus today marketers look for minimal spill over. Three factors driving this trend are Measurability, Focus and Innovation. While above the line advertising helps in the mass reach of the product, and there is no denying its need as well as benefits however it’s the below-the-line which plays the vital role in reaching out to the consumer, at the right time with most critical thing that drives consumer recruitment - experience. The enhanced ROI is evident just do the maths.
Tracing the progression
A recent world-wide study suggests Marketing Transformation will occur in four phases:
Marketers will make greater use of inbound customer contacts as a channel to present offers.
Marketers will replace many batch campaigns with more relevant event / experience-driven campaigns.
Once marketers have mastered inbound and outbound contacts as separate functions, they will begin to coordinate their activities across channels to create seamless customer conversations.
The final phase of marketing transformation will occur when marketing not only makes offers, but also enhances all customer interaction channels with marketing guidance to make each contact more intelligent – and more valuable.
Brand experience and its USP’s can be shared with long lasting consumer impressions through experiential promotional tactics such as sampling, demonstrations, lifestyle infiltration, interactive mobile marketing and activations.
Below the line offers a flexible environment for marketers to get on to this much sought after one-to-one interaction mode with the consumers. From conventional BTL activities like events & road-shows, exhibitions, conferences and sampling, marketers are exploring newer pastures like Word of Mouth, Viral marketing, Podcasting, Field marketing, contests and Consumer Generated Media. Providing measurable results through ROI metrics, BTL umbrella offers limitless potential fulfilling multiple pre defined objectives; be it Trials, Loyalty Programs, Proactive promotions, or Distribution apart from generating a handy customer database for the marketers.
Below the line in its evolved possibilities, today in India is nascent if not amateur at the risk of offending sensibilities of colleagues across the board. Yes it is evolving. Its evolution however depends as much on the Agency as it does on the marketer. Are we really open to accepting a new logical idea in all its connotations?
An increasing number of Marketers are! As traditional outbound channels become less effective and more regulated, leading marketers are shifting their focus to inbound marketing – the process of delivering cross-sell & up-sell when the customer initiates an interaction over and above the traditional channels such In-shop, promotions, road-shows, etc.
To really bring to light in fairly exact terms we would like to share the recent case of an IT company who changed the perception of cross promotions as we knew it. The Windows Vista launch messaging centered around “Wow” – the simplistic yet powerful emotional reaction that it received from any consumer who saw the product. The core was the all new interface in Windows Vista which has a translucent aero glass display characterized by a unique Flip3D means of accessing multiple windows.
To elicit a “Wow” reaction a café chain (CCD) was completely ‘Vista-ized”. The fundamental colors of CCD were changed to the blue-green Windows Vista palette starting from the door to the menu panel. All other points of interaction with the customer were also “Vista-ized” – this included a totally redesigned menu card, posters, tent-card and even a special edition brew called “Wow-fee”. An innovative cover on Café Beat the in-house newspaper provided detailed consumer benefit messaging ensuring that a consumer had varying levels of messaging at multiple touch points ensuring a complete surround.
The activation was used as a Multiplier in addition to the other facets of the campaign. The activation was driven by the fact that The Target Audience band for Windows Vista includes youth and young adults who are early technology adopters and are already living the digital lifestyle in varying degrees. Windows Vista incredibly enhances the consumer’s ability to live the digital lifestyle. Café Coffee Day was a great ‘fit’ since it enjoys a similar consumer profile. The best part was the captive nature of the audience which allows one to convey the brand messaging & product USP’s in a relaxed and undistracted manner. In fact the relevance and reach of the “The Wow starts now” Windows Vista launch campaign was enhanced through a special edition brew called “Wow-fee”. That was a huge success with over 8,000 cups sold daily!
Marketer’s world over are increasingly resorting to some or the other form of Below the line extensions/innovations as multipliers with measurability. In India, this vertical has remained under-capitalized with conventional activations alone with scope for further specialization – in turn leaving various possibilities for a brand unexplored.
This practice persists despite the fragmenting of mass markets into thousands of minimarkets, each requiring its own approach, in spite of the proliferation of new types of media, and despite the growing consumer sophistication. The most obvious benefit of integrating marketing communications is that it produces stronger message consistency and resultantly, impacts brand perception and eventually sales positively.
According to IPA Report in future agencies must recognize that marketer / agency / consumer relationships will be challenged with new models of engagement. By 2016, the hypothesis is that media owners will be integrating brands directly into existing content and savvy consumers will take control of content and the flow of interactions. So while we plan below the line within its existing templates there is need to explore beyond where wider horizons await.---from jagran
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Tipping Point concept for Marketing
Tipping Point, book by Gladwell, explains the three simple principles that underpin the rapid spread of ideas, products and behaviours through a population and can unlock the viral potential of a new product or service to create an epidemic of demand.
By applying these principles, the book outlines how marketers can help produce a ‘tipping point’ for a new product or service, the moment when a domino effect is triggered and an epidemic of demand sweeps through a population like a highly contagious mind virus.
The Law of the Few
First, do not waste time marketing your idea to the masses: focus your energies on the trendsetters, the socially promiscuous and those with the power to influence. Place your idea or product with these people and, by the force of word of mouth added to an innate human tendency to keep up with the Joneses, your epidemic will snowball through society.Focus on the consumers that count, the mass will follow’ is the Tipping Point marketing mantra.
Screening profile for infectious connectors:
o Ahead in adoption
o Connected
o Travellers
o Information Hungry
o Vocal
o Exposed to Media
The Stickiness Factor
Tweaking your idea or product to make it more infectious or "sticky" (Gladwell's preference) is the second step. This does not mean major surgery to transform a mediocre idea into a brilliant idea-a cosmetic makeover will work wonders, so just "tweak and test" with a view to involving your target audience, telling a story, somehow making it relevant to them.
The Stickiness Factor – What makes an Innovation Infectious?
• Excellence: perceived as best of breed
• Uniqueness: clear one-of-a-kind differentiation
• Aesthetics: perceived aesthetic appeal
• Association: generates positive associations
• Engagement: fosters emotional involvement
• Expressive value: visible sign of user values
• Functional value: addresses functional needs
• Nostalgic value: evokes sentimental linkages
• Personification: has character, personality
• Cost: perceived value for money
The Power of Context
Finally, get the context right. The human mind is wired to be receptive to ideas only in certain situations, so make sure your idea fits the context in which it will be adopted, and make sure it fits the context of a mind still primarily adapted to a distant hunter-gatherer past. By testing and tweaking your product to fit the social, physical and mental context of use, the science of social epidemics states that the impact on future sales will be exponential
By applying these principles, the book outlines how marketers can help produce a ‘tipping point’ for a new product or service, the moment when a domino effect is triggered and an epidemic of demand sweeps through a population like a highly contagious mind virus.
The Law of the Few
First, do not waste time marketing your idea to the masses: focus your energies on the trendsetters, the socially promiscuous and those with the power to influence. Place your idea or product with these people and, by the force of word of mouth added to an innate human tendency to keep up with the Joneses, your epidemic will snowball through society.Focus on the consumers that count, the mass will follow’ is the Tipping Point marketing mantra.
Screening profile for infectious connectors:
o Ahead in adoption
o Connected
o Travellers
o Information Hungry
o Vocal
o Exposed to Media
The Stickiness Factor
Tweaking your idea or product to make it more infectious or "sticky" (Gladwell's preference) is the second step. This does not mean major surgery to transform a mediocre idea into a brilliant idea-a cosmetic makeover will work wonders, so just "tweak and test" with a view to involving your target audience, telling a story, somehow making it relevant to them.
The Stickiness Factor – What makes an Innovation Infectious?
• Excellence: perceived as best of breed
• Uniqueness: clear one-of-a-kind differentiation
• Aesthetics: perceived aesthetic appeal
• Association: generates positive associations
• Engagement: fosters emotional involvement
• Expressive value: visible sign of user values
• Functional value: addresses functional needs
• Nostalgic value: evokes sentimental linkages
• Personification: has character, personality
• Cost: perceived value for money
The Power of Context
Finally, get the context right. The human mind is wired to be receptive to ideas only in certain situations, so make sure your idea fits the context in which it will be adopted, and make sure it fits the context of a mind still primarily adapted to a distant hunter-gatherer past. By testing and tweaking your product to fit the social, physical and mental context of use, the science of social epidemics states that the impact on future sales will be exponential
Friday, October 10, 2008
The Art Of Brochures- an effective marketing tool
Typically, most entrepreneurs and professionals are ineffective at articulating the uniqueness and value of their business offering--a critical tool for turning prospects into paying clients.
Positioning Determines Your Marketing Message
Before a word of sales or marketing copy is ever written, a positioning strategy must be carefully developed. Your positioning should convey a unique and strong selling proposition that sets you apart from your competitors. Some questions to ask yourself before committing to a market position are:
Who is my target market and what do they really want from me?
What requests do my prospects have?
What is my business promising to fulfill?
What are our strengths and weaknesses?
Who are our perceived competitors and what are their strengths and weaknesses?
How are we unique?
What are the personal values that drive our business?
What are the trends and gaps in the current market-place and how can we capitalize on them?
An Effective Brochure Communicates Value
In a successful marketing piece, everything must work together to support the marketing position and message. Although the copywriting should be persuasive and the design compelling, an effective brochure needs to exude confidence and convey a sense of quality, honesty and knowledge to your prospects. It needs to be written in your prospect's language (generic language is not very effective in the relational marketplace). Throw out the general words that mean all things to all people and substitute sensory-based data that relates to your prospect's personal experience.
Endorsements and Testimonials
It has been estimated that 95% of all people are followers and tend to do what their peers do. Because of this fact, I suggest that one panel of your brochure be devoted to testimonials from satisfied clients. Be sure that they point to specific benefits and results and that they are not just generic fluff! If you can get a testimonial from a well-respected expert in your field, I suggest highlighting it in a shaded box, so that it really stands out and gets the notice it deserves.
The Nitty Gritty Information
One panel of your brochure should be devoted to the services you provide and give your prospects some basic information about what you do, how you do it and who can benefit from what you're offering. It works best to bullet point as much of this information as possible, so the reader can scan for what interests him, instead of having to read every word. Be sure to also include a list of several tangible benefits your clients will receive; because the most important information in a brochure answers the question, "what's in it for the client". You may also want to come up with 3-4 qualifying questions that the reader can ask him/herself; it's like a self-test to determine whether they are a prospect for whatever it is you're offering.
The Front Cover
Keep the front cover attractive, but simple. It's purpose is to motivate the reader to pick up your brochure and open it. I recommend consulting with a professional designer or marketing consultant for creative ideas. Include your corporate logo and company name and a brief tag line or slogan.
The Back Cover
I recommend that the back cover of your brochure include a 3-4 paragraph corporate biography that instills confidence in your prospects that you possess the abilities and expertise to perform as promised; in other words, the biography positions you and your company as experts in your field. In the first paragraph tell readers what motivated you to start your business, and why you are the ideal person to be doing this. The second paragraph can highlight the education, credentials and accomplishments of the principals, along with a success story that illustrates the results and benefits you have achieved for other clients. The last paragraph could list professional affiliations, human interest items about the company or its principals and any other pertinent information you may want to add. Don't forget to include all contact info, phone, address, fax, e-mail, etc.
Positioning Determines Your Marketing Message
Before a word of sales or marketing copy is ever written, a positioning strategy must be carefully developed. Your positioning should convey a unique and strong selling proposition that sets you apart from your competitors. Some questions to ask yourself before committing to a market position are:
Who is my target market and what do they really want from me?
What requests do my prospects have?
What is my business promising to fulfill?
What are our strengths and weaknesses?
Who are our perceived competitors and what are their strengths and weaknesses?
How are we unique?
What are the personal values that drive our business?
What are the trends and gaps in the current market-place and how can we capitalize on them?
An Effective Brochure Communicates Value
In a successful marketing piece, everything must work together to support the marketing position and message. Although the copywriting should be persuasive and the design compelling, an effective brochure needs to exude confidence and convey a sense of quality, honesty and knowledge to your prospects. It needs to be written in your prospect's language (generic language is not very effective in the relational marketplace). Throw out the general words that mean all things to all people and substitute sensory-based data that relates to your prospect's personal experience.
Endorsements and Testimonials
It has been estimated that 95% of all people are followers and tend to do what their peers do. Because of this fact, I suggest that one panel of your brochure be devoted to testimonials from satisfied clients. Be sure that they point to specific benefits and results and that they are not just generic fluff! If you can get a testimonial from a well-respected expert in your field, I suggest highlighting it in a shaded box, so that it really stands out and gets the notice it deserves.
The Nitty Gritty Information
One panel of your brochure should be devoted to the services you provide and give your prospects some basic information about what you do, how you do it and who can benefit from what you're offering. It works best to bullet point as much of this information as possible, so the reader can scan for what interests him, instead of having to read every word. Be sure to also include a list of several tangible benefits your clients will receive; because the most important information in a brochure answers the question, "what's in it for the client". You may also want to come up with 3-4 qualifying questions that the reader can ask him/herself; it's like a self-test to determine whether they are a prospect for whatever it is you're offering.
The Front Cover
Keep the front cover attractive, but simple. It's purpose is to motivate the reader to pick up your brochure and open it. I recommend consulting with a professional designer or marketing consultant for creative ideas. Include your corporate logo and company name and a brief tag line or slogan.
The Back Cover
I recommend that the back cover of your brochure include a 3-4 paragraph corporate biography that instills confidence in your prospects that you possess the abilities and expertise to perform as promised; in other words, the biography positions you and your company as experts in your field. In the first paragraph tell readers what motivated you to start your business, and why you are the ideal person to be doing this. The second paragraph can highlight the education, credentials and accomplishments of the principals, along with a success story that illustrates the results and benefits you have achieved for other clients. The last paragraph could list professional affiliations, human interest items about the company or its principals and any other pertinent information you may want to add. Don't forget to include all contact info, phone, address, fax, e-mail, etc.
Jaago Re! - Cause Marketing Strategy
Jaago Re!, One Billion Votes Campaign, by TATA TEA, India’s largest tea company by volume, with Janaagraha, a not-for-profit institution, is a classic example of cause marketing technique.
Cause marketing is a collaborative marketing partnership between a nonprofit and a business, where the business provides resources to aid the cause and the cause provides PR for the business.
Marketing studies reveal that people support businesses that support causes. A partnership with just one nonprofit can connect you to an endless web of causes and the massive niche markets they represent. Since their activities are newsworthy, they generate publicity for their partners. Since their memberships are highly motivated by values, their members become a deeply loyal new market for you. And as the above studies show, it isn’t only the niche markets that will respond.
As per the Web site PRWatch.com, cause-marketing sponsorships are now outpacing sports sponsorships, and that large nonprofits are spending upwards of $7.6 billion per year on marketing and PR.
Cause marketing is a collaborative marketing partnership between a nonprofit and a business, where the business provides resources to aid the cause and the cause provides PR for the business.
Marketing studies reveal that people support businesses that support causes. A partnership with just one nonprofit can connect you to an endless web of causes and the massive niche markets they represent. Since their activities are newsworthy, they generate publicity for their partners. Since their memberships are highly motivated by values, their members become a deeply loyal new market for you. And as the above studies show, it isn’t only the niche markets that will respond.
As per the Web site PRWatch.com, cause-marketing sponsorships are now outpacing sports sponsorships, and that large nonprofits are spending upwards of $7.6 billion per year on marketing and PR.
360 Degree Marketing
Today customers have short attention spans and millions of businesses are attempting to attract their attention.
Approaching them via one or two marketing channels is not suffiecient to get their attention. So the Answer is- 360 degree guerrilla marketing. It communicates with your prospects and customers from all directions and across long periods of time.
The reason to employ 360 degree guerrilla marketing is because most prospects are in the market for what you sell only a small fraction of the time. If you're not talking to them at that time, they'll talk to somebody else. With less than 360 degree guerrilla marketing, your chances of connecting with them at that fleeting moment are cut down dramatically.
The fragmenting of media is still another reason to go all-out with marketing and still another opportunity to go easy on your budget because fragments cost much less than whole parts -- TV to selected neighborhoods runs a teeny fraction of the cost of TV to the nation.
Guerrillas employ 360 degree marketing by blending low tech and high tech with high touch and high care. They are always available to their customers via their Website, email address, answering device, fax, snail mail address and telephone, with many also connecting by pager and fax-on-demand software. They're involved in their communities, connecting with prospects face-to-face in non-business settings.
You can be sure they have an active referral system, tapping the enormous referral power of past customers to learn the names of potential customers. They produce and mail brochures -- printed, audio or video, or all three. They take networking seriously and appreciate that rare chance to ask questions, listen to answers and learn of problems they can solve.
Guerrillas are joiners of clubs to learn industry information, meet movers and shakers, and contribute their time and energy to the organization. They offer free consultations and demonstrations whenever possible and set up alliances with other companies in co-marketing ventures -- especially online. They are linkers of the highest order.
There's a good chance they publish a newsletter, possibly even a catalog. Many pen a column for a publication read by their prospects and run a stand-out Yellow Pages ad if businesses such as theirs gain customers that way. They offer their speaking services for free to local groups and have warm, trusting relationships with people at the media in which they hope to gain publicity. When they get it, they make reprints to post and mail.
360 degree guerrilla marketing means they may run classified or small display ads offering their brochure and directing people to their Website. Many maintain awareness on the radio, with cable TV, in business magazines or regional editions of national magazines. They use signs wherever feasible and stay in touch regularly with both prospects and customers with postcard and standard mailings.
Do they send questionnaires to prospects and customers? Bet on it. Even when they're doing all this, they're still engaging in only 180 degree guerrilla marketing. Reality today means the other 180 degrees comes from their wise presence and impressive activity online.
The magic words are presence and activity. Onliners see them not only at their own content-rich website, but also actively participating in forums, chatrooms, and with email that Netizens have requested. 360 degree guerrillas are frequently mentioned in online news reports, host online conferences, and run contests at their site. As new opportunities arise online, and arise they do on a daily basis, guerrillas seize and test them, making sure their aim encompasses all 360 degrees of marketing.
Combining all this weaponry on a continuing basis, over a long period of time rather than in spurts, is a tough job. But succeeding with a small business isn't supposed to be fast or easy. By using 360 degree guerrilla marketing, succeeding does become far more of a certainty.
Approaching them via one or two marketing channels is not suffiecient to get their attention. So the Answer is- 360 degree guerrilla marketing. It communicates with your prospects and customers from all directions and across long periods of time.
The reason to employ 360 degree guerrilla marketing is because most prospects are in the market for what you sell only a small fraction of the time. If you're not talking to them at that time, they'll talk to somebody else. With less than 360 degree guerrilla marketing, your chances of connecting with them at that fleeting moment are cut down dramatically.
The fragmenting of media is still another reason to go all-out with marketing and still another opportunity to go easy on your budget because fragments cost much less than whole parts -- TV to selected neighborhoods runs a teeny fraction of the cost of TV to the nation.
Guerrillas employ 360 degree marketing by blending low tech and high tech with high touch and high care. They are always available to their customers via their Website, email address, answering device, fax, snail mail address and telephone, with many also connecting by pager and fax-on-demand software. They're involved in their communities, connecting with prospects face-to-face in non-business settings.
You can be sure they have an active referral system, tapping the enormous referral power of past customers to learn the names of potential customers. They produce and mail brochures -- printed, audio or video, or all three. They take networking seriously and appreciate that rare chance to ask questions, listen to answers and learn of problems they can solve.
Guerrillas are joiners of clubs to learn industry information, meet movers and shakers, and contribute their time and energy to the organization. They offer free consultations and demonstrations whenever possible and set up alliances with other companies in co-marketing ventures -- especially online. They are linkers of the highest order.
There's a good chance they publish a newsletter, possibly even a catalog. Many pen a column for a publication read by their prospects and run a stand-out Yellow Pages ad if businesses such as theirs gain customers that way. They offer their speaking services for free to local groups and have warm, trusting relationships with people at the media in which they hope to gain publicity. When they get it, they make reprints to post and mail.
360 degree guerrilla marketing means they may run classified or small display ads offering their brochure and directing people to their Website. Many maintain awareness on the radio, with cable TV, in business magazines or regional editions of national magazines. They use signs wherever feasible and stay in touch regularly with both prospects and customers with postcard and standard mailings.
Do they send questionnaires to prospects and customers? Bet on it. Even when they're doing all this, they're still engaging in only 180 degree guerrilla marketing. Reality today means the other 180 degrees comes from their wise presence and impressive activity online.
The magic words are presence and activity. Onliners see them not only at their own content-rich website, but also actively participating in forums, chatrooms, and with email that Netizens have requested. 360 degree guerrillas are frequently mentioned in online news reports, host online conferences, and run contests at their site. As new opportunities arise online, and arise they do on a daily basis, guerrillas seize and test them, making sure their aim encompasses all 360 degrees of marketing.
Combining all this weaponry on a continuing basis, over a long period of time rather than in spurts, is a tough job. But succeeding with a small business isn't supposed to be fast or easy. By using 360 degree guerrilla marketing, succeeding does become far more of a certainty.
Cos take a liking to below-the-line ( BTL) advertisement
Rising advertising cost coupled with the desire for direct customer interaction has spurred a gradual increase in ad spends for below-the-line (BTL) promotional activities. Many companies have found a new flavour in this medium, as it provides immediate brand visibility at affordable prices.
BTL advertising is non-media advertising, particularly sales promotions, reduced price offers and interactive sponsorship activities which are more personalised. “This industry has jumped from Rs 300-400 crore, a few years back, to as high as Rs 1,000 crore today.
Budgets for BTL ad spending have grown phenomenally. What was probably 20:80 in favour of above-the-line (ATL) advertising earlier could be 40:60 now,” said Raj Hansoge, MD, Buenos Entertainment, a marketing support company that does BTL campaigns.
Conventionally undertaken at consumer touch points such as retail outlets and coffee shops, companies have begun setting up kiosks in cafeterias at tech parks, enabling them to reach nearly 20,000 potential customers everyday.
BTL promotions are product and brand driven. Brands are courting this medium to promote product attributes without the burden of ad clutter. Once Allen Solly, a brand of Madura Garments, moved into the retail format, BTL advertising became a necessary alternative to drive traffic to their stores.
The company also used direct communication through the SMS format to promote the brand within their catchment area. “Below-the-line retail activation is useful in tracking actual conversion rates.
In the future while our ad spending on traditional mediums will continue, BTL is bound to grow at least 30%,” said Allen Solly brand marketing manager Kapil Khattar.
The ability to customise promotions to suit different markets and obtain immediate feedback has boosted the medium’s popularity. Wireless internet provider Tata Indicom also opted for BTL techniques when they re-positioned their brand. With their ‘plug 2 surf’ campaign, the company found the need to touch base with consumers.
“A television ad just gives us 30-40 seconds to promote a new tariff card while BTL enables a dialogue engagement with consumers,” said Tata Indicom marketing head Abdul Khan.
ATL techniques aren’t cost effective to communicate with a small target group. Dutch food retail chain Spar also digs into their ad spends to finance ground-level promotions within their development area.
“We are currently operational only over a limited geography and ATL ad spending, which involves a lot of wastage, will not ensure substantial footfalls,” said Max Hypermarkets India MD Viney Singh. Being new on the retail front, the chain spends up to 3-4% of revenues on advertising. BTL advertising already accounts for a half of this.
Industry observers feel that the division between BTL and ATL advertising is blurring quickly. “The future will see a great sense of accountability with regard to market expenditure to determine what the real benefits are to the company, so advertising is bound to be interactive,” said Mr Khan.
While BTL advertising is only slated to grow with greater vigour in the future, companies are not in a hurry to completely switch over either.
BTL advertising is non-media advertising, particularly sales promotions, reduced price offers and interactive sponsorship activities which are more personalised. “This industry has jumped from Rs 300-400 crore, a few years back, to as high as Rs 1,000 crore today.
Budgets for BTL ad spending have grown phenomenally. What was probably 20:80 in favour of above-the-line (ATL) advertising earlier could be 40:60 now,” said Raj Hansoge, MD, Buenos Entertainment, a marketing support company that does BTL campaigns.
Conventionally undertaken at consumer touch points such as retail outlets and coffee shops, companies have begun setting up kiosks in cafeterias at tech parks, enabling them to reach nearly 20,000 potential customers everyday.
BTL promotions are product and brand driven. Brands are courting this medium to promote product attributes without the burden of ad clutter. Once Allen Solly, a brand of Madura Garments, moved into the retail format, BTL advertising became a necessary alternative to drive traffic to their stores.
The company also used direct communication through the SMS format to promote the brand within their catchment area. “Below-the-line retail activation is useful in tracking actual conversion rates.
In the future while our ad spending on traditional mediums will continue, BTL is bound to grow at least 30%,” said Allen Solly brand marketing manager Kapil Khattar.
The ability to customise promotions to suit different markets and obtain immediate feedback has boosted the medium’s popularity. Wireless internet provider Tata Indicom also opted for BTL techniques when they re-positioned their brand. With their ‘plug 2 surf’ campaign, the company found the need to touch base with consumers.
“A television ad just gives us 30-40 seconds to promote a new tariff card while BTL enables a dialogue engagement with consumers,” said Tata Indicom marketing head Abdul Khan.
ATL techniques aren’t cost effective to communicate with a small target group. Dutch food retail chain Spar also digs into their ad spends to finance ground-level promotions within their development area.
“We are currently operational only over a limited geography and ATL ad spending, which involves a lot of wastage, will not ensure substantial footfalls,” said Max Hypermarkets India MD Viney Singh. Being new on the retail front, the chain spends up to 3-4% of revenues on advertising. BTL advertising already accounts for a half of this.
Industry observers feel that the division between BTL and ATL advertising is blurring quickly. “The future will see a great sense of accountability with regard to market expenditure to determine what the real benefits are to the company, so advertising is bound to be interactive,” said Mr Khan.
While BTL advertising is only slated to grow with greater vigour in the future, companies are not in a hurry to completely switch over either.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Viral Marketing
In the early days of the internet, marketers were sceptical about its utility in advertising everyday products.
Things have changed since then. As more of our activities have moved online, advertisers too have attempted to harness the speed and spread of information dissemination that the Net makes possible.
This was earlier restricted to text ads or pop-ups and banners that were at best little more than irritants to consumers and not very effective. But with the rise of Web 2.0 and its emphasis on user-generated content and social networks, advertisers have found a new way to get their message across. It's called viral advertising.
The digital equivalent of word of mouth, viral advertising involves companies or marketers creating messages so funny and interesting that consumers feel compelled to forward them to their friends and family.
The first real example of viral success was a video created to promote an American fast-food chain in 2004. Since then, viral advertising has become a popular tactic to woo consumers to products as diverse as movies and detergent.
The latest Batman film, for instance, used viral marketing to great effect and stoked the interest of customers to a fever pitch pre-release , with the result that the film had the biggest opening weekend in movie history. Indian companies are now getting into the act; a viral promoting a chewing gum is doing the rounds on e-mail.
Marketers employing word of mouth as a tool to create goodwill about their product is hardly radical. But the Web amplifies the word of mouth phenomenon and transcends geographical boundaries. Viral marketing is also popular with advertisers because it is free and comes from someone the consumer knows.
It's difficult to tell with a viral video whether some marketing maven created it or if it was the work of an amateur.
Advertisers also fear virals, of course, because it is outside their control. But few marketers monitor negative buzz. The gains outweigh the risks.
Viral advertising, however, could create difficulties for traditional media, which relies on advertising as its primary source of revenue. Already, the internet is eating into ad spend for print and, to a smaller degree, television.
For instance, Google reported a 42 per cent jump in revenue in the first quarter of 2008 over the same period in 2007, while a leading American newspaper company saw its revenue slip 4.9 per cent and advertising revenue drop 9.2 per cent.
With the availability of a popular and largely free method of marketing like virals, more companies could start diverting their advertising expenditure online.
Things have changed since then. As more of our activities have moved online, advertisers too have attempted to harness the speed and spread of information dissemination that the Net makes possible.
This was earlier restricted to text ads or pop-ups and banners that were at best little more than irritants to consumers and not very effective. But with the rise of Web 2.0 and its emphasis on user-generated content and social networks, advertisers have found a new way to get their message across. It's called viral advertising.
The digital equivalent of word of mouth, viral advertising involves companies or marketers creating messages so funny and interesting that consumers feel compelled to forward them to their friends and family.
The first real example of viral success was a video created to promote an American fast-food chain in 2004. Since then, viral advertising has become a popular tactic to woo consumers to products as diverse as movies and detergent.
The latest Batman film, for instance, used viral marketing to great effect and stoked the interest of customers to a fever pitch pre-release , with the result that the film had the biggest opening weekend in movie history. Indian companies are now getting into the act; a viral promoting a chewing gum is doing the rounds on e-mail.
Marketers employing word of mouth as a tool to create goodwill about their product is hardly radical. But the Web amplifies the word of mouth phenomenon and transcends geographical boundaries. Viral marketing is also popular with advertisers because it is free and comes from someone the consumer knows.
It's difficult to tell with a viral video whether some marketing maven created it or if it was the work of an amateur.
Advertisers also fear virals, of course, because it is outside their control. But few marketers monitor negative buzz. The gains outweigh the risks.
Viral advertising, however, could create difficulties for traditional media, which relies on advertising as its primary source of revenue. Already, the internet is eating into ad spend for print and, to a smaller degree, television.
For instance, Google reported a 42 per cent jump in revenue in the first quarter of 2008 over the same period in 2007, while a leading American newspaper company saw its revenue slip 4.9 per cent and advertising revenue drop 9.2 per cent.
With the availability of a popular and largely free method of marketing like virals, more companies could start diverting their advertising expenditure online.
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