Marketing tips

1. THORNS TO COMPETITION
Times are changing fast and so are the rules of marketing. Today you need to
stand out, shout out, and look out(for new trends) or else be prepared to be shut
out(forgotten) by the consumers. The biggest fear for a brand is if it fails to get
attention. Lady gaga and others shrewd marketers know only one success
principle,”love me or hate me, but you can’t ignore me”.
The timeless lessons from the past that we learn from magatma gandhi to
the lessons for future business that we learn from lady gaga are what we will
explain through T-H-O-R-N-S!
Before you enter the long journey, here we predent a very brief summary to you
of the six unique ways of looking at business and to help you fight your way up
the ladder-in short, the T-H-O-R-N-S
T IS FOR TARGET IT RIGHT(THE MARKET AND THE MESSAGE)
Target the consumer in a way that it creates impact and makes the
competitor uneasy. Brands that have marketed themselves aggressively, dared to
do different things , have succeeded. But success came only when they targeted
the market correctly. That’s what helps make a good brand!
>> Just a good product will not solve your problems. You need to target it right,
aggressively market it, and many a time, you need to take on competitors
headlong, challenge them and shake them up too, so that the consumers notice
you.
>>Precise targeting has to keep cultures, values, religions in mind. What succeeds
in one market might totally fail in another despite the existence of the market.
The company which targets the market better, wins the competition.
In the 1980s, surf was the leader of the detergent market. In walked a small brand
Nirma and stormed the detergent world with its single-minded focus on low price.
The target was very clear, hit at the cost conscious market with a betterr product.
It shook up surf and made them sit up and take notice. The consumer loved it, for
she got a really cheap and good alternative and Doodh si dhulai too!
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2. T-Series did the same and made the biggies like HMV sit up and rethink their
marketing strategies.
>> You need to be an aggressive listener, a keen observer to really be able to
identify the new trends sprouting up and change your strategies accordingly . its
walt disneys ability to listen to his fans through the fan mails they would send him
wanting to visit Disney studios, that the idea of disneyland struck him. Rest as
they say is history! So the golden rule is. Shut up and dance!
H is for HIT WHERE IT HURTS(THE COMPETITION)
>> If you were looking for the best tactic to hit your competitiors in a short time,
look no further; the answer is in... Comparitive advertising! Hit out at the
competitor’s weakest spot- if you are a new player and if you hit at the right spot,
you will grab eyeballs. “Expensive BAS***DS!” was the advertisement that the
budget airline Ryanair came out with, indicating in not so subtle a way how BA-
that is, British Airways-was more expensive than Ryanair. British Airways did try to
take them to court, but the judge concluded that the average consumer would
not see the price comparison as misleading, and in substance the advertisement
was true! So not only did Ryanair win the case they won a lot of customers too.
>> To be ahead of your competition, you do need to be aware of what they are up
to and have superb competitive intelligence! That’s the way you can hit them the
hardest- by doing something before they can! For years, the americans had kept
their space mission and its launch date well- guarded secret. Russian spies
however kept track of things quite considerately. Just days before america’s
mission launch date, the Russians launched their own space mission and yuri
gagarin became the first man in space, leaving the entire american nation in
gloom. However, what was almost ethical when it came to the cold war era, is not
something that is acceptable in the corporate world of today. The idea is to still
find ways to keep in touch with your cometitors plans without crossing the line of
ethics, yet hitting them hard! Competitive intelligence and not corporate
espionage gives you that power. To win, you need to plan. To plan, information is
imperative. Get it through legel and ethical means. It’s a fact that to win
consistently, you need to play by the rules.
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3. Look, what happened to Rupert murdoch.He may have made his millions , but he
has lost the trust of the people and that can harm a business irreparebly.
O is for OBSESS WITH IT (THE CUSTOMER AND THE NATION)
You might target it right, and might have been aggressive enough to hit where it
hurts, but that doesn’t guarantee success! The customer and the society at large
are entities that you have to be obsessed with. As the saying goes, to remain at
the same place, today you have to run faster than ever before. And the only way
you can go further ahead is by passion... with obsession!
>> Be obsessed with your customer and his ecstasy. The customer needs to
ecstatic about your deliverables. Only when you are obsessed with his ecstasy,
will you find what the product/ service needs to be like !
>> Remember, you are marketing to a whole new generation, so the old ways
will not work any more.
The boomers lived by ‘just do it’. The gen-xers (1965-80) lived by ‘why do it’. And
the new millennial(1980-date) live by ‘just did’
AS the research done by the economist magazine states, no generation in history
has been so prepared at so young an age to use technology as an agent for
change....Businesses need to adapt to be able to connect with them, to
personalize the customer experience, or else it would be WOMBAT (a waste of
money brains and time) these are the ‘millennials’.
>> Be obsessed with the environment and the nation. Without this obsession the
vision will be myopic, returns unsatisfactory and growth only a short-run
phenomenon. In the end, after all, what;s business without a little heart.
‘Giving is not a new phenomenon in the business world. In 1889, andrew carnegie
wrote: “the man who dies thus rich,dies disgraced. Not surprising then, that the
world’s two richest men,Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have formed one of the
biggest philanthropic foundations glaobally. The bill and melinda gates foundation
is worth 40 times the annual budget of the world health organisation. It is so
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4. powerful and huge that the economist dubbed this phenomena as ’Billanthrophy’.
The two men have changed the world’s perception and attittude towards giving.
So, as businessmen, let’s use all tricks of the trade to earn our millions and our
billions, but let’s also give... there is greater joy in doing that.
Play by the Rules. Remember , no one likes cheaters. You want to win both in the
short-term profits, but when the consumer takes up the cudgels, it can prove
disastrous.
Ethical consumerism is on the rise and a boycott is becoming a consumer’s most
powerful weapon.
When shell oil company decided to dispose off an old oil drill rig named Brent
Spar by sinking it in the north sea, it faced a series of boycotts of its petrol
stations all over Europe. In spite of being backed by the British government, the
company had to eventually abandon its plan.
R is for REINVENT IT(THE PRODUCT)
A great product means nothing. The market is changing constantly. Reinventing
the product again and again is the key!
>>Just being a pioneer is no big deal. Nearly 47% of all market pioneers fail
Those are not the first-movers who will win. You may have got a great idea, but
great ideas get copied and finally the game of survival is all about who is more
aggressive and innovative.
If you thought hotmail was the first company to offer free e-mail ; Amazone was
the first to sell book online; ebay was the first auction site ; or that starbucks was
the first to start a coffee shop, you could not be wronger. Juno was the first to
offer e-mail; Books.com was the first online book store(launched in 1996) and
peets was the first to launch the concept of a coffee shop.
You need to keep changing and reinventing your branding strategies , for history
is proof that just being the fittest doesn’t guarantee survival; rather, the ones who
rise after each fall are the true survivors.
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5. N is for NAIL IT(THE MESSAGE)
Well your product is brilliant, it has been well targeted, you have been reinventing
it regularly, what next? The next key to marketing success is nailing your product
in the mind of your consumer.
>> you need to find a place in the mind of the consumer. You need to have an
idea which is so powerful that it gets lodged into the mind of the consumer. An
idea once nailed is rarely forgotten.
Marketing is about perceptions. What you think is right may just be... far from
reality!
It’s not enough to advertise. In a survey, respondents were asked to associate
Bollywood super star amithabh bachan with any paint. About 80% associated him
with asian paints. Reality was that he was endorsing Nerolac, whose biggest
competitor was asian paints! In effect peoples perceptions can cause your
marketing and advertising strategy to backfire.
Companies like unilever, medimix and reliance communication have focused
more on changing consumer perceptions than just advertising; and they’ve
succeded in that.
>> you can teach anybody.... that’s the easy part
Till a few years ago, marketers worked hard to find ways to make their message
reach the target consumer. Today, the game has changed according Wender
millar, former chief sales officer of yahoo! Inc., “you can reach anybody today.
The challenge is to be able to ‘connect’ with the consumer.” As a result,
marketers today cannot depended on just one form of communication- be it tv,
print, outdoors, or digital. They need to think 360 degrees if they want to nail
their message in the minds of the consumer.
>> it’s the time to advertise responsibly, for the consumer today values that. As
marketing proffessionals, we have tremendous power to influence young minds.
Remember, with great power comes great responsibility.
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6. S is for SELL IT (MONITIZE YOUR EFFORTS, ETHICALLY)
The advertising strategy has been spot-on, yet, it doesn’t always guarantee sales.
That is the final and all important goal of marketing. Sales is something that needs
a special mention and focus.
>> A great sales force is the driving force behind each successful organization.
Selling is the prime focus of each and every marketing activity. If an activity does
not result in a sale eventually, then it’s a waste of time. Many a time, as
marketers, we lose focus and that’s when we start to fail. So many advertisers get
so involved and lost in the creative part of the business that they forget to ask
themselves this one vital question: will this make the customer reach out for my
product insteadof the competitor’s?
>> Discounting might make sales look easy, but it’s not the best option for the
long-run. A great sales strategy is not the one that revolves around price
discounting. It rather focuses on product streangths- even when markets are
down.
>> marketing by the mob.
Not just are the consumers changing, even the ways of marketing and of doing
business are changing. You need to use them to sell to today’s consumer. Today,
the consumer is also turning into a marketer! The now way to market and to keep
your audience fully engrossed is by ‘crowd sourcing’.
In february 2009, Bingo asked people to create games , quizzes at al, around the
them ‘Bingo har angle se mmm....’ Lays went a step further. Forget an
advertisement, now you could create yourown flavour and win Rs.50 lakh+1% of
the product’s sales revenue.
In recently held IPL, shahrukh khan and kolkata knight riders asked everybody to
send in their suggestions for the team. Every indian cricket fan thinks he knows
the best ; and KKR’s ‘main bhi coach’ concept helped him fulfil his dream, and
KKR matches got great viewership!
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7. The future is going to be totally different, with new consumers, new technology
and new trends coming up. To remain ahead, you need to be on your toes.
>>While selling, sell with ethics. Selling is always high-pressure. The temptation to
be unethical is huge; however, it never pays in the long-run.
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