Charlie didn’t want to buy a dingy because he already had one

I am a bit of a laggard when it comes to the adoption of new social media.

• My business has a website and I blog, when I have time.
• I tweet, but probably not as often as I should.
• My business has a Facebook page, and so do I, but I don’t use them much.

Now I am getting enticed with shiny, new social media tools. What to do?

Google+

I am starting to get invitations to join business friends on Google+ which looks like a neat social media/not Facebook type of tool.

Facebook for Business

Facebook used to be just a cool social tool. Now everyone wants to connect their businesses and start driving revenue through it.

Referral Key

“Are you taking on new Clients?” is a common question in my inbox because people want to connect with me through Referral Key.

The Marketing Thought

If you want to communicate with people there’s no point in using carrier pigeons because the world’s moved on and the pigeons have all flown away. It’s important to use marketing communication tools that are current and relevant, but life is too short to try every new toy that appears.

Do you have any experience or thoughts on these new social media toys?

Tim

Photo licensed by Kheel Center, Cornell University.

Ottawa’s International Ladies Garment Workers Union protest the absence of Flash on the iPad.

It’s tough to build a marketing strategy when you go on strike – just ask Canada Post. At a time when fewer people use postal services and almost no-one I know writes a letter, going on strike does nothing for the marketing department’s joy of being at work.

It must be tough to market against the courier companies with their flash brands and deep pockets when your service stops for days, and then the backlog takes weeks to clear. Your clients lose faith in your service.

In a recent article about the situation in the US titled, “Did Netflix just kill the US postal service?” the author reports that Netflix is trying to reduce the US$600m it gives the US postal service every year by re-packaging its services to move entirely to streaming, ie – bypassing the mail altogether.

The Marketing Thought

The postal service won’t go away any time soon but it’s becoming less and less relevant. I know my business took the occasion of the recent Canada Post strike to review every invoice and payment it sends and receives to see what could be done electronically instead. Sometimes you need to experience no service to force you to action and, if Canada Post is unlucky, the strike may have created a tipping point in its fortunes. It may have moved from a must-have service to a nice-to-have service. Then marketing plans becomes an altogether different game.

Just a thought.

Tim

 Picture licensed by Kheel Center, Cornell University

Bob liked the fabric but wasn’t sure the colour matched his socks

Marketing is about moving people along the sales funnel – from target, to suspect, to prospect, to sales lead, to customer. It’s a process with different tools and experiences applied along the way. Recently, smart brains have started to recognise the principles of gaming in marketing – in areas such as collecting frequent flyer miles, showing completeness bars on social media profile pages and creating competitive scores.

In an article titled, “How do solve a problem like IKEA?”, the author argues that IKEA’s convoluted flow, which is designed like a 1km hike past every Vallvik, Fillsta and Abba lookalike on display is essentially in the same sweet spot as gaming (somewhere between boredom and anxiety). IKEA apparently applies the principles of gamification at each of its stores, optimizing the flow so that shoppers build an experience and buy more.

The Marketing Thought

The marketing application of gaming (called gamification) is very intelligently adopted by many organizations (eg Weight Watchers and Nike+). I like IKEA, but I don’t think that it uses the gamification principle; it merely makes you slog a kilometre through its entire store before you can buy a picture frame. IKEA’s brand is strong enough that people overlook the frustration of hiking round the store because of its product quality. So it can choose to ignore the downsides and just market the good points.

Just a thought.

Tim

Related Blogs:

Why Gaming Matters to Marketing

How to Build Gaming into Your Marketing

Picture licensed by Kheel Centre, Cornell University

Ever since great aunt Ethel died from eating too many peas, the children only ate them for breakfast.

Messaging about the cancerous dangers of cell phones is always surfacing in the media. But, so far, it’s just rumours and it has not slowed down the market. The value proposition outweighs the perceived risk.

A recent article, “Do we understand the “risk” of mobile phone use?” looks at our assessment of risk. It argues that evidence rarely settles an argument on risk. People already have an opinion and they use facts that support their argument and ignore facts that don’t. So, how do you market to people who have decided your product kills them and won’t listen to your facts?

Well, for a start, know your facts and own them. Be consistent, repetitive and truthful in your marketing communication about what you know. Seek out more facts where you don’t know them. Take every opportunity to promote the facts whether it’s in advertising, on web sites or in responding to blogs. Engage with the market and be responsive to concerns and criticism.

The Marketing Thought

Don’t stick your head in the sand and hope it all goes away. One day, perceptions will change and the market may bite you.

And, no one likes a dead client. It’s messy and there’s too much paperwork.

Just a thought.

Tim

Photo licensed by Kheel Center, Cornell University

Everyone Hated Martha's Monday Afternoon Sewing Parties

Marketing a product is tough when it is hated so much that people start a political party to ban it. “Anti-PowerPoint party in Switzerland tries to ban software” according to the Huffington Post although, as it points out, the party is actually a front for someone wanting to sell his book on PowerPoint. It must be tough some days working in Microsoft’s PowerPoint software development group.

I’ve used PowerPoint for years – it’s not perfect, but it can do the job in many situations. Marketing Communication is about engaging with people, getting a message across and moving people to action. You use the best communication tools available, at the time you go to market, whether it’s PowerPoint or a sock puppet show. There are some great blogs on the best way to present using PowerPoint, which focus on sharpening your message and the delivery. Have you used Presi to make a presentation? It’s a fun, newer toy.

Here’s a short quiz with 7 questions on PowerPoint for those who think they know its history. I scored 2 out of 7! Oops.

The Marketing Thought

When you market a cash cow product like PowerPoint, enjoy it! Market leaders always have people taking shots – listen to them, be respectful, constantly assess the competition and look for opportunities to improve. And, accept that sometimes a product just dies, naturally – think typewriter ribbons and carbon paper.

Just a thought.

Tim

Picture licensed by Kheel Center, Cornell University

When your market is controlled by regulators it is worth paying attention to what they are doing.

Canadians pay $22bn on pharmaceutical drugs every year, which is a significant part of our health care budget.

This expense can be reduced by buying generic alternatives to the high-priced, brand-name drugs. The introduction of these generic alternatives is controlled almost entirely by government restrictions on intellectual property (IP) in pharmaceuticals. If the government shortens the IP restriction then generic manufacturers can introduce their alternatives more quickly and we will pay a lot less for our drugs. The drug companies argue that the exclusivity period should be extended so that they can recoup the costs of their R&D and invest that money back in to more R&D in Canada.

But a new study authored by Edward Iacobucci says there is little evidence for to support the drug companies’ stance and it’ll be interesting to see which argument the new government supports.

The Marketing thought

From a strategic marketing perspective, you have to consider the wider environment. Most markets are led by consumer behaviour and competitive actions. Pharmaceuticals is an extreme example of a market where regulatory bodies can cause great disruption so, in a market like that, the strategic marketing focus is on thought leadership within the industry.

Just a thought.

Tim

Read Michael Geist’s take: Drug-cost report will educate minister

Picture taken and licensed by EdWohlfahrt

Market research helps illuminate the market so that marketing can do its job.

1 in 5 Canadian households don’t have access to the internet.

In this day and age, when online access is considered almost a constitutional right, we should be complaining to government and the big carriers that they should invest heavily in fixing this problem to make sure that everyone is connected.

But market research by Statistics Canada reveals a different perspective.

Yes, there are connectivity problems which need to be addressed.

But, of the 21% of households without home internet access, it turns out that more than half don’t want it. That’s 1 in 10 people who say they have no interest in the internet.

Other reasons given for having no access include:

• Cost (Can’t afford it) – 20%
• Don’t have a computer (possibly “cost” too) – 15%
• Don’t have confidence, knowledge or skills – 12%

So, investing billions in dragging fibre to every door and setting up new towers does not address two core problems – lack of affordability and lack of confidence in technology. Solutions could include programs that drive down connectivity costs and equipment costs, particularly for under-served markets, along with education and support initiatives.

The Marketing thought

Strategic Marketing has to develop a comprehensive understanding of target market dynamics to ensure organizational decisions are based on knowing the facts. It’s too easy to make knee-jerk reactions to problems without understanding the market drivers.

Just a thought.
Tim

Statistics Canada Research Report: Canadian Internet Use Survey

Related blog post: Wearing the Marketing pearls

Photo taken and licensed byciccioetneo

Amazon.com has announced that it now sells more e-books than printed books. This has happened occasionally in the past, but Amazon says the sales pattern is now sustained; its digital sales have tripled in a year. Amazon UK, now sells twice as many digital books as hardcover books.

In a recent blog post, Surviving the digital onslaught with a new marketing strategy, I reported that it is estimated that digital books will represent 40% of book sales within 5 years. This year, e-book sales in the US are predicted to be US$1.2bn this year, compared to US$9.3bn for print – that’s about 11%, so there is still some way to go. But this market is only going in one direction.

Although shipping and production costs (eg printing, binding, shipping) are lower, digital books retail for less than $10 so the publisher and retailer margins are lower too, a lot lower.

It’s difficult to see how the volume of books sold will increase substantially just because the format is changing, as people are unlikely to start reading twice as many books. Unless they can find new readers, the total sector revenue will decline significantly from the $10.5bn, which puts great pressure on everyone in the value chain. It’s a time of change.

The Marketing thought

Look out for creative marketing solutions to this problem as the retail market moves rapidly from brick and mortar stores to e-stores and more authors bypass the big marketing machines and either go direct or through new independent marketing organizations.

Just a thought

Tim

Reference: Globe & Mail, Kindle sales eclipse print at Amazon

Photo taken and licensed by Paul Watson.

I had a marketing visit from my son’s friend who has a summer job selling kitchen cutlery for an international company. It’s an excellent product, a well-known brand and is about 20 times more expensive than the average knife set you buy from the store. It was a good sales call but it got me wondering about the corporate brand.

The company puts its brand marketing in the hands of door-to-door sales people who are almost entirely college students. After a little training, they have to buy their own display product and start cold calling their friends and neighbours to set up presentations. So, the company’s brand is owned and marketed by unpaid people who are in their first years of work, with little direct experience of the product or its competition. I imagine the churn rate of unsuccessful young sales people is huge.

It’s a non-traditional approach to marketing.

The Marketing thought

A company’s strategic marketing choice about how it wants to distribute its products reflects on its brand. For example, if it only sells product through retail stores that have an awful reputation, the brand will be tarnished. Eventually the two become synonymous. Poor sales experience = poor brand. A great product with a strong brand name should have a great matching distribution network.

Just a thought.
Tim

Photo taken and licensed by fa73.

How to find out what the competition is doing? What do clients think? What does the market want?

All great questions.

Market research surveys can answer a lot of them but sometimes you need to take a longer, deeper look at market dynamics.

Marketing Deep Diving is about uncovering core issues through the lens of lengthy, targeted, loosely structured, one-on-one interviews with clients and prospects that take the organization deeper than marketing slogans. It’s about finding pearls of wisdom.

This is the third of three blog posts that look at Deep Diving in Marketing as part of the process of understanding market dynamics and customer behaviours.

WHY The first post looked at why organizations need to go Deep Diving.
WHAT The second post described an effective Deep Diving process that uncovers core truths.
HOW This third post looks at how to go Deep Diving, as well as where and when to go diving.

How to go Deep Diving

It takes time, planning and experience. Don’t jump in if you need to find a pearl by next Wednesday.

Planning is critical because you need to determine who to interview and the discussion areas for the interview. These are the “Where’s” of interviewing and they drive the market research, the market analysis and the conclusions. If you spend time diving in the wrong spots, or diving in the right place but looking for sea shells, instead of pearls, you’re wasting time and money.

Deep Diving is typically initiated at a senior level. Usually it’s the head of the Marketing group; sometimes it’s the management team/CEO/President; sometimes it’s the board.

Can it be done by someone internal?

Absolutely. The individual should be somewhat separated from the day-to-day operations of the marketing/research department, because you don’t want their views coloured by bias or pre-conceptions. At the same time, they have to be a respected, credible voice within the organization so that their report will carry weight.

You are looking for three things with the appointed researcher:

• Experience. Someone who’s done Deep Diving before and who can represent the organization at senior levels, as needed
• Objectivity. Able to dispassionately describe a situation, without having to worry about stepping on toes
• Value-add. A person who can analyse data, imagine the potential and draw actionable conclusions. Sometimes they have to see the bigger picture with just a few pieces of information.

If I go external, how do I engage?

Use the same criteria as selecting an internal partner: experience, objectivity and value-add. Then look for an organization with which you can develop a strategic partnership. A Deep Diving project is going to take between 2 and 6 months, depending on the project scope, reporting and the level of interaction. Regular discussions between the individual researcher and the project owner will help drive the project to faster and deeper conclusions.

What’s the end result?

Deep Diving will bring rich pearls of wisdom to the management table. It describes why customers buy and why some people don’t; the way an organization is perceived; motivations; future intentions; and core brand truths. Of course, what you do with the information is up to you…

Does Train of Thoughts go Deep Diving?

Train of Thoughts brings experience and objectivity to organizations when it goes Deep Diving, having surfaced successfully from many dives. To find out more, contact tim@trainofthoughts.ca.
Just a thought.
Tim

Photo taken and licensed by Zulema.