Certain practices need to stop; others need to start.
STOP!
1. Don’t expect the traditional marketer’s kit bag of
same-old methods to produce breakthrough results. They won’t. New times demand new techniques. Leave behind flogging products, trying to compete on product features and believing technical capabilities will make the difference.2. Lose the obsession with
mass markets. There is no such thing as an “average” customer. Every person is different in some way. Discover their differences; market to each of them.3. Resist the temptation to use
price as the vehicle to win. It won’t; it’s not a viable long-term strategy. Price moves can and will be copied by competitors. Price competition drives profit margins down and does nothing to build customer loyalty.4. Cut the crap – the non-strategic and
no-longer-relevant marketing programs. In order to make room for “the new,” purge old practices that have limited value in the long term.Falling in the crap category are: price promotions (produce no long-term competitive advantage), new customer acquisition programs (encourage churn and anger existing customers who are denied the same offers) and customer appreciation events (mostly satisfy lookyloos who want deals rather than rewarding existing customers).5. Expunge “best in class” from marketing vocabulary.
Benchmarking to copy another organization is a catch-up tactic and does nothing to gain strategic advantage.6. Swing marketing focus from getting better to
standing out - to be distinctive and unique from the competition. Make competitive moves that create the “wow power” to catapult the organization out of the herd.7. Avoid making small incremental changes to products to make them appeal to a broader market. This
“round-the-corners” marketing dilutes the crisp value proposition that made it attractive in the first place.Keep products “edgy” and vibrant.
START!
1. Looking for
“step out” opportunities. The marketer’s challenge is to constantly strive to be
“the one and only” in the markets served rather than on improving existing products and services.2. Devote copious amounts of time to answering the question, “Why should I do business with you and not your competitors?” Create the
“only statement” to express the organization’s uniqueness: “We are the only ones that ... .”3. Ask the
customer service team for more input on how offers are being accepted by customers, what the “pain points” in operations are, and what the competition is doing. Use customer service as a primary customer and market research source.4. Create and market
experiences for the customers served; loosen the focus on products and services.
Deliver happiness rather than flog product features. A product delivers happiness for a limited time only - a new SUV soon becomes a used car; a memorable experience stays with us forever.
Emotion marketing represents a huge opportunity.5. Discover the “secrets” and
innermost desires of the target customers to unlock their marketing potential. Marketing to what people need (herd behaviour) is no longer sufficient to be noticed in the market and standout from the aggressive competition.6. Establish
customer learning as a core competency in your organization.
Be “always on” to learn what customers desire every time they touch the organization, whether it’s a personal contact or a visit to a website.7. Develop
packages for high-value customers rather than offer them individual products and services. Learn their broad holistic desires; seamlessly integrate multiple products to yield a broad value proposition that is difficult for competitors to match.If marketing is to continue to provide relevant and compelling value to organizations, it must refresh itself, take on a new purpose and let go of traditional methods.
