Marketing is part science, psychology and art. It aims to instill need and desire in customers through the AIDA model of awareness, interest, desire and action. Key principles include developing a memorable business brand, increasing brand awareness, reinforcing the brand, including the business in customers' consideration sets, and maintaining brand integrity. Marketing is crucial for business growth by broadening customer awareness and improving conversion rates. Setting a written marketing strategy and briefing agencies ensures marketing initiatives are effective.

1. THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF
MARKETING – PART SCIENCE,
PART PSYCHOLOGY AND PART ART

2. THIS PRESENTATION CONCENTRATES ON:
• What marketing is and what it does
• Key principles that should be underpinning your
marketing practices
• The importance of marketing as a catalyst to fuel
business growth
• Proven best practice in setting a proper marketing
framework

3. WHAT MARKETING IS AND WHAT IT
DOES
• Marketing is not selling.
• The primary purpose of marketing is to instil such a need/
desire within the hearts/ minds of a target audience that the
individuals become driven/ compelled to engage with the
business(es) which will satisfy this need.
• Selling is the act of converting this need into a purchase
transaction.
• Marketing increases the potential for a successful sale to
take place…but it is not ultimately responsible for the sale
transaction eventuating.

4. WHAT MARKETING IS AND WHAT IT
DOES
• Marketing sets the stage for a successful sales conversion
(transaction) to transpire. The backbone of marketing is a
model called the ‘AIDA’ model.
• A – Awareness/ Attention
• I – Interest
• D – Desire
• A – Action

5. AWARENESS/ ATTENTION -
• Effective marketing will – in the first instance - cause a person to
become aware of (and attend to) what the message (or other
marketing stimulus) is.
• The level of awareness that results will depend on:
• The extent to which the marketing stimulus (e.g. billboard, signage,
website, newspaper ad, etc) can be easily and quickly accessed and
observed.
• The design characteristics of the marketing initiatives (e.g. use of
colour, application of proven best design practices in web design,
level of creativity, etc)
• The extent to which an observer is attracted to the stimulus –
because it has “wow” factor and is well aligned to their tastes (i.e.
the appeal that it has).

6. INTEREST -
• If the marketing stimulus is powerful enough and is clear and easy to
interpret, interest in what the marketing stimulus is presenting/
communicating will develop within the observer.
• Marketers try to cause interest to develop within a few seconds (only) of
awareness taking place.
• Examples:
• Typical website visitor interest capture timeframe = 2 – 3 seconds
• Typical timeframe in which the interest of customers needs to be
captured when they are passing by the front windows of a bricks and
mortar store = 3 – 5 seconds
• Typical timeframe available for a printed ad (e.g. newspaper) to capture
the interest of a reader = 2 – 3 seconds
• Important: Generally we are busy people a lot of the time, and need to
interpret information and make decisions quickly

7. DESIRE -
• If the marketing stimulus is sufficiently powerful then interest will
quickly transform into desire in the mind of the consumer.
• The skilled marketer knows the importance of influencing this
feeling of desire to happen as quickly as possible – and this is
where the emotions of the observer are “played upon” to instil
desire.
• Marketing stimulus which possesses a high level of emotional
content (e.g. Valentine’s Day television commercial featuring a
man providing his partner with breakfast in bed) is purposely this
way, to drive target audiences to desire the product/ service that
the stimulus is communicating.
• Generally, most people (particularly women) are influenced to
proceed to purchase based on emotion…far more so than using
rational logic.

8. ACTION -
• The ultimate goal of the marketer is to instil such a
sense of desire in the heart and mind of the
targeted customer that it causes the customer to
take action to relieve/ satisfy the need that has
built-up within them to experience what the
marketing stimulus has told them they “need”.
• Action can take the form of the consumer:
• making a phone call (or sending to TXT or email) to the
business to ask questions/ seek clarification/ validation
• completing a booking or order form
• meeting a business representative face-to-face
• proceeding to enter the selling process (online or in a store)

9. THE ‘AIDA’ MODEL SHOULD BE USED TO
GOVERN THE SETTING OF MARKETING
STRATEGY AND WHEN DESIGNING EACH
MARKETING INITIATIVE -
• The ‘AIDA’ model should be the primary
reference when:
• setting marketing strategy
• finalising a marketing mix per Financial Year
• briefing a marketing agency to produce
marketing collateral/ initiatives
This model underpins the very essence of the
psychology of marketing.

10. KEY MARKETING PRINCIPLES -
• ‘Business Brand’ –
• for most SME scale businesses, this is typically the trading
name of the business
• For others, their business brand may comprise:
• Trading Name, plus
• Brand Logo, plus
• Tag-line (Bi-line)
• ‘Brand Awareness’ –
• ‘Brand Reinforcement’ –
• ‘Consideration Set’ -
• ‘Brand Integrity and/ or Reputation’ –
• ‘Client Centricity’ -

11. KEY MARKETING PRINCIPLES -
• ‘Business Brand’ –
• A Business Brand is the single most important IP
that your business owns.
• It is highly recommended that business owners
protect their Business Brand as best they can by
at least registering it as a Trade Mark with IPONZ
(Intellectual Property Office of N.Z.)

12. KEY MARKETING PRINCIPLES -
• ‘Business Brand’ –
• A well designed business brand should reflect these attributes:
• Be as distinct/ unique as possible (ensures market “cut-through”)
• Be simplistic in its construction
• Be easy to be interpreted and to be associated with the nature of
the business that it represents
• Is readily scalable
• Is memorable
• Work with a professional to finalise your desired Business Brand.
• Your Business Brand should create a higher profile (and stronger
customer connection) than you as the business owner, and could well
become the most valuable intangible asset that you can offer an
incoming new owner at the time you choose to sell your business.

13. KEY MARKETING PRINCIPLES -
• ‘Brand Awareness’ –
• Is the extent to which a person or group of people are aware
of the existence of a brand.
• Companies that understand the principle of brand
awareness do their utmost to develop brand awareness in
the minds of as many people (who are their target market)
as possible.
• The goal is to achieve as broad an awareness base as
possible, knowing that when the conversion of people
through the AIDA process occurs, the ‘Action’ conversion
outcome is only a fraction of the population of consumers
who are aware of your brand and business to start with.

14. KEY MARKETING PRINCIPLES -
• ‘Brand Awareness’ –
General Rule of Thumb…
The broader (wider) that the base of aware consumers is,
and the higher the conversion rate is, the greater the
market share and sales volume ($) a business will have
compared to its competitors.

15. KEY MARKETING PRINCIPLES -
• ‘Brand Reinforcement’ –
• Is the degree to which a business promotes its
brand and business proposition in the market with
marketing stimulus that is aligned.
• A poor brand reinforcement strategy would be
where ½ dozen different depictions of a brand logo
are used across say 3 – 4 different consecutive ads.
• A good brand reinforcement strategy is where a
company uses the same basic “shell” (template) for
communicating its marketing message.

16. KEY MARKETING PRINCIPLES -
• ‘Brand Reinforcement’ –
General Rule of Thumb...
• Generally, the greater the uniformity in how a brand
and business is marketed, the more firmly the brand
and business will be reinforced in consumer
minds…which will cause greater awareness of that
brand/ business to occur more quickly.
• That’s how our memories and recall work. The more
often we see/ taste/ hear/ feel/ smell something,
the more that experience becomes cemented in our
mind...and the more readily we are able to recall it.

17. KEY MARKETING PRINCIPLES -
• ‘Consideration Set’ –
• Is the finite set of provider (supplier) options that a
customer chooses to consider when contemplating
which provider is going to be best placed to satisfy their
need for a product/ service.
• Marketers aim to have a business/ brand feature in the
consideration set of target audiences as often as
possible.
• General Rule of Thumb: The more often a brand
features in the consideration set of a person, the
greater the chance will be that the given business will
be remembered (and brought into the consideration set
of the person) on future occasions when the same/
similar need arises in the person.

18. KEY MARKETING PRINCIPLES -
• ‘Brand Integrity/ Reputation’ –
• Every positive experience that a consumer
associates with a brand serves to build the
integrity/ reputation of that brand and business.
• Examples: how we conduct ourselves when meeting
with clients, the speed at which we turn around
replies to client queries…and the clarity of our
answers.
• Conversely, every negative experience that a
consumer associates with a brand serves to reduce
the integrity/ reputation of that brand and business.

19. KEY MARKETING PRINCIPLES -
• ‘Brand Integrity/ Reputation’ –
• Because brand integrity is integrally related to how
consumers perceive us, everything we say and do will
either build or reduce our brand integrity.
• General Rule of Thumb: Generally, those businesses
that enjoy a high level of brand integrity also enjoy the
highest consumer brand awareness ratings and the
greatest share of their respective markets.
• It is just as easy to lose brand integrity as it is to gain it.
• It takes a lot of energy and commitment (attitudinal/
financial/ behavioural) to build and maintain brand
awareness and integrity.

20. KEY MARKETING PRINCIPLES -
• ‘Client Centricity’ –
• Is the extent to which a business’s actions and
outputs (product/ service delivery) are governed by
what the identified needs of target customers are
known to be.
• The most successful businesses in the world are
those which are genuinely “marketing led” (i.e. have
a true client centric focus).
• Client-centric businesses research and validate the
perceived need for a product/ service they are
contemplating commercialising prior to heading
down the commercialisation path.

21. THE IMPORTANCE OF MARKETING
TO CATALYST BUSINESS GROWTH
• Many SME scale businesses are resistant to
considering growth through inviting other
investors to join them.
• This then means that businesses which have this
mind-set are reliant on achieving growth by way
of generating EOY surpluses which they can then
choose to feed back into the business as working
capital…to then afford new/ better equipment,
etc.

22. THE IMPORTANCE OF MARKETING
TO CATALYST BUSINESS GROWTH
• So for these businesses, they must necessarily generate levels
of revenue and profit which realise EOY surpluses.
• The formula of doing the same old thing from year to year, will
arguably not give rise to increases in revenue/ profit. At best,
you might be lucky to retain existing market share.
• These businesses should look to apply better marketing
practices to catalyst their growth. It is through marketing that:
• Their client awareness base may broaden
• Their customer ‘action’ conversion rate may improve
• …and ultimately more customers may commit to enter into
the selling process with them, which (if their sales resources
are suitable/ effective) could mean increased revenue being
realised.

23. PROVEN BEST PRACTICE IN
SETTING MARKETING AS A
CORNERSTONE FUNCTION IN
YOUR BUSINESS-
• Marketing strategy versus tactical delivery.
• The discipline of going from strategy…to…an
annual operational Marketing Activity
Schedule…to… validated Marketing Activity
Schedule (using a marketing
agency)…to…committing to an annual Marketing
Budget.

24. PROVEN BEST PRACTICE IN
SETTING MARKETING AS A
CORNERSTONE FUNCTION IN
YOUR BUSINESS-• Without a written strategy being in place to start
with, you may inadvertently:
• Choose marketing channels which perhaps aren’t
favoured by your target customers.
• Choose a marketing mix which isn’t geared towards
engaging your target customers.
• Incur a great deal of “marketing waste” (i.e.
marketing investment which doesn’t generate any
return).
• Not realise optimal brand/ business awareness
amongst your target customers, which will then
ultimately mean you will not realise optimal market
share for your business.

25. THE IMPORTANCE OF
PROVIDING A WRITTEN BRIEF
TO A MARKETING AGENCY-
• It is interesting to hear about the “surprise marketing
invoice” experiences of some business owners.
• In most cases, these ‘surprises” have arisen simply
because the person engaging the services of the given
marketing agency hasn’t been definitive and finite in
specifying their marketing needs to the agency.
• A carefully defined written brief per marketing agency
engagement occasion can save a lot of heartache. It also
serves to guide the agency to produce a ‘Scope of Work’
doc and final marketing collateral which best meet your
needs and expectations.

26. POINTS TO REMEMBER…
• Key Points to Keep Foremost in Mind –
• Make marketing a cornerstone of your business (not
a random budget).
• Marketing is an essential driver of business growth.

27. POINTS TO REMEMBER…
• Key Points to Keep Foremost in Mind –
• Marketing is not sales…salespeople sell (convert
interested prospective customers into buying
customers). Marketers stimulate interest, desire and
need…which then improves the potential for a sale
to take place.
• In the case of every marketing initiative that you
commit to in your annual Marketing Activity
Schedule – ask yourself what purpose will the given
initiative serve and what impact will the given
initiative be likely to have in reference to the AIDA
model.

28. POINTS TO REMEMBER…
• Key Points to Keep Foremost in Mind –
• Businesses that set themselves growth objectives need
to commit to a Marketing Strategy, Marketing Activity
Schedule and Budget which is reflective of their growth
aspirations.
• If you are in a highly competitive market and the “total
pie” is not likely to expand significantly year to year, then
this will call for a marketing strategy, activity schedule
and budget which will take market share away from
competitors.
• A key aim of a growth-orientated business should be to
grow brand and business awareness in the consideration
set of your target market(s) – and optimise the
conversion rate at each stage of the AIDA model.