Posts Tagged ‘marketing strategy’

Do you market your business like a coyote?

The other morning I awoke to a frozen lake outside my front window. And in the small section of the remaining melted water were crowded hundreds of geese. Then out on the ice sat a lone coyote, his stillness required a double take. He sat like a statue, waiting for an unsuspecting goose to leave the water so he could pounce.

The rest of his pack circled the water, and then walked away from the lake, trying to convince the geese that they were leaving and all was safe. But the geese didn’t budge. They could sense the danger of the lone coyote waiting for breakfast.

Do you act like a coyote in your marketing and sales tactics? Do you have such anticipation and eagerness to greet your customer that you become overwhelming and “pounce” on them? Are you so eager that you frighten them away? Do you try to trick or manipulate them into buying?

What to do?

Well, the coyote retreated. They left the lake to return another day. Can you retreat in your business? Probably not.

So, what to do?

Well, I wanted to stir things up and go throw a rock in the lake. Don’t worry, I refrained. I still think it would be interesting to see the change in dynamic to make the geese fly out of the water, thereby giving the coyotes a chance. (The coyote looked like they needed some help.)

The idea behind this applies in your business: How can you stir things up so that you are not looking so desperately ready to pounce?

How can you shift from predator to friend?

Perhaps you can give them geese some bread crumbs! Go back to your marketing strategy and your customers needs, then give them something that satisfies them. That will get them out of the water and onto your turf. And it gives you a starting point to build a relationship based not on consumption but on mutual gain.

How might you move out of coyote (predator) mode and into friendly mode with your marketing strategy?

Do you run with the herd in your marketing strategy?

Do you do what your competitors do? Or do you look for opportunities, innovations, and differentiation?

Picture this. I’m sitting in the parking lot after a performance at the Denver Coliseum. It is gridlock; everywhere. It takes 10 minutes to back out of the parking spot. Of course my husband turns in the direction of the exit and begins to wait in line. Everyone is lined up trying to get out the way we came in. Thousands of cars are in line. The line is at least a mile long. And it is gridlock. No one is moving.

What do you do?

99.99% of the population waits in line and tries to be patient. “Well, there’s nothing I can do,” you say. Everyone else is waiting. You sit and wait and make the best of it.

I am antsy. I picture a map of the area in my head. “Honey, we can go west”, I command. My husband just looks at me like I’m insane. We still have to wait in gridlock just to get out of the parking lot and at the current flow rate; it will take at least 15 minutes to get out.

So what do you do?

99.99% of the population waits in line and tries to be patient. “Well, there’s nothing I can do,” you say. Everyone else is waiting. You sit and wait and make the best of it.

I am antsy. I shout at my husband. Look, there has to be more than one way out of this parking lot. Fire code would demand it. Can you cut straight across that lane of traffic and drive the opposite way of everyone else?

After being married to me for 10 years, he has gotten used this type of dialog. Not that he doesn’t get angry at the backseat driver. But this is not an unusual dialog.

“And where to you propose I go” he asks.

Well, look. See there! Somewhere over there has to be an exit. You see. There are 5 cars that have taken that path and they haven’t come back.

So I order him to cut across perpendicular to the line and once he makes it to the clearing, to drive the opposite way of traffic, and see where it gets us.

So what do you do?

99.99% of the population yells at the moron in the passenger seat, then proceeds to wait in line and tries to be patient. “Well, we don’t even know if there’s going to be an exit that way,” you say. Everyone else is waiting to take the guaranteed path. You sit and wait and make the best of it.

My husband knows better. He cuts to the next lane. But someone behind us cuts us off. We have to wait 5 more minutes until they move forward one car length. But the next car in line won’t let us cut across in front of them. They need to protect their place in line. So we wait another 5 minutes.

So where are you?

99.99% of the population is in line and preserving their place from the people they perceive are trying to take their place.

Finally, we catch a break and cut through the traffic to the wide open parking lot on the other side. We turn away from the traffic and start driving. Where are we going? We don’t know. We drive behind the Coliseum, past the buses, past the loading docks, and finally, to the wide open exit. There are no cars in sight. We turn onto the freeway on-ramp. Still, there are no other cars. We bicker a bit as to whether we are on the right road. But my husband stays the course. We run into slight congestion at the merger of two freeways, and then we are home free.

So where are you?

We are home in our beds before the other guys even hit the street. But, you know, they did preserve their place in line.

So where are you with your business? Are you running with the herds? Or are you taking the road less traveled?

It can be scary paving your own path or following the one less popular. It can also be lonely. It is common to question yourself and have doubts. It takes strength to stay the course. It takes strength and faith to follow the road less traveled. But it also has the highest payoff, the greatest reward.

So where are you?

Are you innovating? Are you differentiating yourself? Are you looking for new opportunities?

As we look to the New Year, new plans, new challenges and new adventures, I challenge you to run away from the herd and take the path less traveled.

Why the “Purple Cow” is a Dog!

Challenging Seth Godin’s Book, “Purple Cow” , and the power of REMARKABLE.

How a book on this topic could sell a quarter of a million copies is beyond me. First of all, claiming that there is a “6th P” and calling it “Remarkable” is ludicrous. I do believe in REMARKABLE and all it entails. However, just because you have a remarkable purple cow doesn’t mean you have a good product or good marketing.

Every good marketer knows that “REMARKABLE” starts at your marketing strategy. It is defined by solving a customer’s need and positioning you in the marketplace. Then the remarkable strategy should transcend your entire marketing mix. If it doesn’t, than you probably won’t have a lot of success.

As an example, let’s look at Seth’s own marketing of the book, “The Purple Cow” and how he used “REMARKABLE” and the 5P’s (NOT 6). You will see that he used REMARKABLE in many ways.

The Product:

“The Purple Cow” is a book about the marketing mix and making it remarkable. Seth added controversy by pulling out a characteristic of good marketing and re-introducing the concept as a new element of the marketing mix, calling it the 6th P. This really isn’t a new concept, nor a new element of the marketing mix. It’s an old concept, just reintroduced in a new and controversial, if not REMARKABLE, way.

The author offered a return policy, which was REMARKABLE at the time.

Pricing:

The price was average price for this type of product. It was NOT remarkable.

Placement (or distribution):

He originally self published the book. This was not an unusual way to distribute the book. However, he primarily used the internet and direct sales to find customers (this was a bit remarkable at the time.)

Promotion:

He got written up in Fast Company, not remarkable, but not so easy either.

His packaging was quite REMARKABLE. He packaged each book in a cardboard milk carton with a purple cow print on it. The box itself attracted attention. He used the purple cow box to attract attention. People would open the box, take the book out and leave the box on their desk, thereby attracting more attention. The box created a viral marketing component. The packaging was consistent with the brand and message and remarkably attention grabbing.

People:

How would you say the people involved were REMARKABLE? What makes Seth Godin REMARKABLE to you?

Not every aspect of the marketing mix needs to be remarkable. You just need to pick one way to be remarkable and carry it through your whole marketing mix. You’ll notice that the Purple Cow’s REMARKABLE-ness started with the strategy: Make something remarkable to prove the concept of remarkable. Seth chose the Purple Cow and then leveraged that theme and created a brand, The Purple Cow, around the premise of being remarkable.

So, while the Purple Cow is not a 6th P, I do think it is an excellent example of remarkable-ness and how to permeate remarkable-ness through your marketing mix.

If interested, you can order the redux of “The Purple Cow” on Amazon…

The Marketing Mix

The marketing mix describes the way you use the primary marketing tools to achieve your company’s objectives. Those tools are known as The 4 P’s or 5P’s of Marketing.

The 5 P’s are in an intentional, tactical way to meet the needs of a customer. Just like an artist combines the principles and elements of design in each piece of their work, the expert Marketer manipulates the elements of the marketing mix to best meet the needs of their customer and achieve the company objectives.

Let’s explain what those elements are…

The 5 P’s of Marketing

1) Product:

The product is the actual goods or services offered by the company and how it meets the end-user’s needs and wants.

2) Price:

The process and strategy for setting the price for a product or service. This includes discounts, or non-monetary fees (time, energy, or attention.)

3) Place (or distribution):

• The channel by which a product or service is sold (e.g. online, direct mail, retail)
• Which geographic region
• Which Industry
• Which segment (Kids, Moms, Men, Business Owners, CIO’s)
• How the product gets to the customer
• How the selling environment affects the sale

4) Promotion:

This includes advertising, sales promotion, publicity, and personal selling.

5) People:

How do people affect the perceived value of the product or service.  People that influence that value can include employees, management, and consumers.

For every product or service that you offer, you should write down what these 5P’s are for that product. You will see that the marketing mix will vary by product or service, but there are some elements you will keep consistent across your brand.