Author Archive
Competitive intelligence critical component of marketing
Posted by: | CommentsA critical component of a marketing function is to develop a system to organize competitive intelligence. Many companies can focus on their near competitors while ignoring distant competitors and new threats by emerging technologies. Monitoring the competitive landscape is necessary for marketers to develop strategic marketing plans.
To properly collect, assess, and disseminate competitive intelligence, companies should identify a person or office that is responsible for this task. The competitive intelligence expert should be skilled at research and analysis, proficient in internet-based technologies, able to write competitor profiles, and able to analyze information to form accurate conclusions. A process should be developed that regularly near competitors, distant competitors and emerging technologies in the market. A good competitive intelligence profession should be able to able to determine how competitors will think and react during different market scenarios.
It is important for companies to realize that emerging technologies are a greater threat to companies than existing competitors but they also offer great investment opportunities. By monitoring emerging technologies, companies can protect themselves from being blindsided by a new technology or process that renders their basic products or services obsolete. Additionally, if threats from emerging technologies are identified early enough companies have identified an investment opportunity for the future.
To learn more about competitive intelligence visit Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals at http://www.scip.org/
Measuring media consumption can be tricky
Posted by: | CommentsWith the expansion of media content across multiple delivery systems and consumers becoming more mobile everyday it is becoming increasingly difficult to get accurate measurement of content consumption. Consider how many television broadcasts are seen in restaurants, bars, airports, airplanes, sports venues, malls, etc. These publicly distributed video networks although not in the home are still distributing content and being seen by people. As content is being broadcast into public viewing areas it is obvious groups of people are viewing the content and there is a correlation between venue attendance and content consumption.
Having the ability to accurate estimate content consumption is important in setting advertising rates, show ratings, salaries and wages, and determining success of media plans. Technology is being explored to begin to measure media consumption in today’s increasingly mobile world. If accomplished companies will be able to using rating systems to measure at home television consumption, internet consumption, radio consumption, newspaper and magazine distribution, and now out-of-home venue consumption. This will allow media companies to more accurately know when and where consumers are being exposed to their content.
When media consumption is more accurately measured across the numerous delivery systems available today as well as open venue viewing media planners will have more options to get their content in front of the appropriate target audience. As the measurement systems become more sophisticated and become more integrated content will become segmented across delivery systems and media planners will be able to develop a more holistic approach.
Read Katy Bachman - http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/news/media-agencies-research/e3i6fad5a2a1d8e5132f9c6cfcde53cf482
Do you understand your customers?
Posted by: | CommentsMarketers need to have a clear understanding of their target customers? In fact, everybody working at the company should have a clear understanding of their target customers? If there is no clear understanding of customers then the company is in a vulnerable situation and needs to take evasive action or sales will diminish. First, the company should begin a dialogue with its customers to gain basic customer insight and begin to understand how they think, act, and feel. This can be done by visiting their offices, stores, warehouses, and manufacturing facilities in person and having one-on-one conversations. Visits are important but constant contact needs to be initiated through telephone calls, emails, and outings and other relationship building tactics. The key is to begin to build a relationship with the customer. Without this relationship there is no personal connection and they have no “skin in the game.”
While the dialogue building is beginning and the customer relationship is beginning to develop, a more comprehensive market research study should be planned. A detailed market research study should be executed on an annual basis and it should incorporate formal research methodologies such as: on-line surveys, focus groups, in-depth interviews, in-store research, and mystery shopping. All of these methods will increase customer insight tremendously and will move you toward a more thorough understanding of your target customers. When you understand your customers you will be in a better position to understand their needs, perceptions, and preferences. This new understanding will strengthen your relationship, make you more valuable to your target customers, and ultimately increase your sales.
Want to build a brand choose brand elements wisely
Posted by: | CommentsTo build a brand the brand elements should be the foundation for all branding decisions. There are three key brand elements that brand managers need to consider to effectively building a brand; is it memorable, is it meaningful, and is it likable? These key branding elements will inherently determine a brands success.
For the brand to be memorable it needs to be easily recognized and easily recalled by consumers-customers. Brands should be designed to be intrinsically memorable by selecting attention grabbing names, symbols, logos, and slogans. To make these brand associations more memorable the goal should be to design them to be attention grabbing. The more attention these elements are able to generate the more recall power they will have with consumers-customers.
To make a brand meaningful it should be descriptive and persuasive regarding the product or service. Consumer-customers should be able to instinctively know what type of product the names, symbols, logos, and slogans are representing. Additionally, the brand elements should persuade consumer-customers that the product or service possesses key attributes or benefits that they place value on. To make a brand meaningful the brand communication should consistently present general information about the category of the brand and the attributes and benefits of the product or service.
Brands are much more successful if they are likable. To make brands likeable marketers should design branding materials that are aesthetically pleasing and visually interesting. The visual associations with brands should always be considered and be of very high quality. To make brands likeable they need to be associated with aesthetic sound, text, and imagery that will appeal to consumers-customers.
By developing memorable, meaningful, and likeable brand elements the product or service companies will enjoy many advantages. With the amount of noise in the world today the best strategy to build a successful brand is to build a foundation that is memorable, meaningful, and likeable. The consistency of these elements will increase the brand equity and allow for product or service recognition and recall. This is the goal of branding to increase the mindshare in consumers-customers.
Could you Twitter with a billboard?
Posted by: | CommentsCBS Outdoor is launching a new interactive media system called txt2go. This system is a turn-key messaging solution that brings interactivity to their outdoor network. CBS is promoting txt2go as a messaging system that consumers can use to access messages, coupons, promotions, and special offers. Additionally, this messaging network will provide CBS’ advertisers with real time measurement on the effectiveness of their outdoor ads. I really like the idea of integrating text messaging with static outdoor advertisers but I think they need to expand their concept. This system has larger potential than simply allowing consumers to download coupons and promotions. It can be used for building communities of consumers interested in companies and brands. (Hello Twitter, here’s another revenue model just waiting for you to capitalize on.) CBS could partner with Twitter and integrate txt2go with Twitter allowing brand managers to directly have a conversation with consumers on the street. This would be a huge draw for increasing their Twitter followers. As the list of followers grows brand managers increase their ability to directly converse with consumers using their products. This will help them conduct direct market research, expand their product development programs, and develop new integrated marketing programs.
Marketers direct and indirect influence on brand image
Posted by: | CommentsBrands are built and managed by developing marketing programs that establish positive associations with the brand into the memory of consumers and target audiences. This is done by establishing programs in a marketing plan that focus on the favorability of the brand and highlight the niche it serves. When done well, marketers are able to build upon brand equity by emphasizing brand favorability and superiority in serving a market niche. Brands will often take on a life of their own outside of the marketer’s direct control. Because of this, marketers should also monitor and develop strategies to influence factors outside of their control. For instance, brand associations and word-of-mouth exposure are elements that are out of a marketer’s direct control. However, these items are still clearly within a marketer’s realm of influence.
To best influence these nebulous areas, marketers need to conduct competitive benchmarking and understand where their brands stand against competitors in the five P’s of marketing; product, place, price, place, promotion, and people. By understanding the whole space the brand is living in, marketers can not only build programs highlighting the favorable aspects of the brand but they can develop strategies to influence factors outside of their control. For instance, if a brand has developed a strong association as a green product, marketers can work to develop social action programs to improve the environment. By executing a strategy such as this the marketer is influencing word-of-mouth by enhancing the brand’s association with a social movement. This integrated effort between controllable and non-controllable elements of a brand’s image will allow marketers to build brand equity and improve the consumers’ brand experience.
Companies that serve customers in real time will enhance their brand relevance
Posted by: | CommentsNewspaper Revitalization Act ignores consumers
Posted by: | CommentsA bill has recently been introduced by Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md) called the Newspaper Revitalization Act proposing that newspapers be allowed to operate as nonprofits and qualify for tax breaks and subsidies. This bill is in response to a wave of arguments, mostly by politicians, that it would be bad for democracy in America if newspapers go out of business. There are a couple points that I would like to suggest regarding this issue. A newspaper that is functioning as a not-for profit organization and reliant on subsidies is not going to act as a true watchdog to the people and entities that have control over their subsidies and tax breaks. Therefore the Newspaper Revitalization Act does not help safeguard American Democracy but it actually hurts it. Additionally, propping up failing newspapers just to keep them operating is ignoring the needs of the consumers. The fact is that consumers prefer to get their news electronically. This is the reality of the market. With this knowledge, it is up to the newspapers to adapt to consumers needs. I am amazed that many people seem incapable of separating content from the delivery mechanism. The fact is that major newspapers have access to the most talented writers, photographers, and editors in the world. If they can’t deliver that content to consumers in a way that consumers want, they deserve to go out of business. Additionally, the open access to news, comments, and content that the internet provides is good for democracy, good for business, and provides a world of opportunities for talented content providers.
Tell a consistent story with your marketing material and increase sales
Posted by: | CommentsIs your company communicating a consistent story? To confirm, you should conduct a Marketing Message Audit. During the audit you should gather all your marketing materials; sales brochures, presentations, business cards, sales kits, direct mail pieces, press releases, websites, invoices, direct mail pieces, advertising pieces, etc. The collection of pieces should be spread out side by side and compared. During the comparison you should look at logo usage, images, colors, text, examine the copy with an eye on what is content and tone. If the materials do not align in look, feel, and message then it is time to develop a marketing communication strategy to align messages. The marketing department should become the central point of content development to ensure message alignment and brand consistency. It is much easier to maintain standards through a centralized resource in marketing than across multiple departments. With a single voice and message alignment it will become easier for customers to know what you do and you will increase your mindshare which will lead to increased sales.
