27/03/2019
"MARKETING" AND MARKETING
There is a Key to Marketing that is overlooked all too often. This leads many people thinking that they are “marketing”
something when they’re actually not marketing at all.
Products and services are constantly being created without doing proper market research. The buyer, the consumer, the
person that will be using your product or service is never consulted.
You have to look past your own opinion of what you think is right or will sell. As a good comparison, think of your personal
photos that you have taken over the years. They are Priceless to you. Those photos, however, mean nothing to everyone
else who don’t have some personal connection to them. Stop trying to “market” your personal photos!
Find out what they, The Public, want.
When a large number of people want something, that’s what creates value. Then and only then do you have something to market. It could be a better version of something that already exists. It can be something completely new that makes life more comfortable. The point is, people have to want it enough to hand over their green paper with the faces on it or give you those plastic digits. Simple but difficult. Hence the reason for most people failing when they opening a new business or creating a new product. Did they ever do the first step of Marketing?
Marketing (Done Right!)
Suffern, NY - Dunkin Donuts opens up in an area where there is a high concentration of Jewish people. They notice that no one is buying their breakfast sandwiches and there are not nearly as many customers coming in as they expected. They do a little research and find that the Jewish population living in this area doesn't eat meat, and in addition to that, they only eat kosher foods. If you are familiar with this belief you'll know that you can not mix meat or dairy with anything else. They are all kept separate.
Market research done!
Time to implement.
They put in separate sinks to make sure that dairy is washed separate from everything else. They get rid of the meat from all their sandwiches altogether and don't even carry it anymore. There is also a sink installed right inside the seating area for their customers as they found this was also something that was wanted. Then, they promoted their revamped DD as a kosher, meat-free DD. Guess what happened?
Exactly! The public came right on in and it's now a successful installation in the town.
It's too bad the Outback Steakhouse that opened up and closed almost as fast as it opened didn't do their research before moving into the area, would have saved them a lot of money if they just did a poking around to find out half the town didn't eat meat!
Coca-Cola - 1990s - "Cant beat the real thing". Still stuck in my head today.
This is a more complex form of marketing. But it's totally brilliant, and it's what makes Coke such a star in the marketing world despite recent mishaps.
In the 1980s coke launched a campaign to change Coca-Cola as we know it. A new name and a new product called "New Coke". They wanted to replace the classic coke entirely with this new product. Someone at the company thought that was the direction they should be going. Oops! They quickly learned after launching the campaign that it was the WRONG thing to do. People were down right livid that Coke was not longer Coca-Cola.
But from that disaster they learned something incredibly important that strengthened their position to a point of domination over their competitors. They learned that people had positive emotions connected with their soft drink. "I remember the time I had a coke with my dad and what wonderful memory it was" - to give you an example.
If you notice from that point on all the Coca-Cola commercials showed that it was an "experience" to have a Coca-Cola. People singing together, having a good time. How can you beat that ? You cant! Hence "Cant beat the real thing!" motto.
And there you have it. Prime example of using proper market research and then deliver what the public wants.
