Successful Marketing Strategies Part 1

Economic Empowerment FellowsOctober 2014

Today’s Agenda

• What is Marketing?• Why do organizations need marketing?• What are the critical marketing

decisions for success?

What is Marketing?

• Evaluation of trends and opportunities• Deep insights about customer needs and

value• Knowledge of competitors• Segmentation, targeting, and positioning• Effective use of Product, Price, Place, and

Promotion – the “4 Ps”• Effective relationship management

strategies

 

An Integrated Marketing Viewpoint

• Be RESPONSIVE to customers

• Provide RELEVANCE to customers

• Develop RELATIONSHIPS with customers

• Capture RETURNS for the organization 

Why do Organizations Need Marketing?

• To create awareness of products and services

• To influence the perceptions of the organization among key constituents

• To ensure that once the hard work of service and product development is done, those services and products will be effectively used (stay in business)

 

Three Levels of Marketing Decisions

• Strategic: Proactive decisions to chart the company’s efforts in the market– Segmentation, targeting, positioning

• Functional: – 4 Ps – R&D/Marketing interactions– Moments of truth (influential interactions between customer

and brand)

• Tactical– Build a Website – Attend trade shows – Distribute through outdoor markets

Strategy decisions are VERY difficult

• Feels risky to “narrow your options” • Why not cater to everyone’s needs?

The Flip Side:

NOT narrowing your options means spreading your resources too thin

Catering to everyone means meeting no customers’ needs particularly well

How does your market function?

How should you prioritize?

1. What is the product being considered?2. What market segments exist and what are

their needs?3. What segment will you focus on and why?4. How do product attributes lead to benefits

needed by customers?5. Which product attributes/marketing

actions are most important for creating a competitive advantage? [Tomorrow]

Executional Framework

Converting Product Attributes

ProductAttributes

CustomerBenefits

CoreValue

Attributes Benefits Personal Values

Low fat Healthy Self-respect Wisdom

Calcium Healthy bones Comfortable life Wisdom

Ingredients Good taste Pleasure Happiness

Vitamins Enhanced sexual ability

Excitement Fun Pleasure

An example: Milk

Benefits/ Segments Table

SegmentA

SegmentB

Segment…

Segmentn

Benefits 1 **Important

----- ** **

Benefits 2 *Valued

----- *** **

Benefits …

***Critical

** *** **

Benefits n ----- ----- *** *

WHAT IS CUSTOMER VALUE? [From the Customer’s Perspective]WHAT IS CUSTOMER VALUE?

[From the Customer’s Perspective]

Value

- Sacrifice

Benefits

Determinants of Delivered Value

Totalcustomer

benefit

Totalcustomer

benefit

Totalcustomer

cost

Totalcustomer

cost

Customerdelivered

value

Customerdelivered

value

Image benefitImage benefit

Personnel benefitPersonnel benefit

Services benefitServices benefit

Product benefitProduct benefit

Monetary costMonetary cost

Time costTime cost

Energy costEnergy cost

Psychic costPsychic cost

Using the Kano ConceptSatisfaction

Dissatisfaction

Low Level of Attribute

High Level of Attribute

“Delight” Linear

Spoken vs. Unspoken“Expected”

Supply Chain for Auto Industry

SuppliersCar

ManufacturersCar

Dealers Customers

-raw materials-components-production equipment-services

-personal consumption-business use (fleets, etc.)

© Mohr, Sengupta, Slater 2009

Developing Customer Insights

◦Ask customers; ask non-customers; ask competitors’ customers

◦What am I doing well?

◦What could I be doing better? (differently?)

◦What could I do differently to better meet your needs?

◦How is their business going?

◦If you could make one of their problems go away, what would it be?

◦Customer visits

◦Listening

◦Observation

◦Customer satisfaction studies

What are your top three business strategy and/or marketing challenges / questions?

• How do customers make decisions? [touch points]

McKinsey Quarterly, 2009/2012

Successful Marketing Strategies Part 2

Economic Empowerment FellowsOctober 2014

Today’s Agenda

• What are the critical marketing decisions for success?– Segmentation and Targeting– Positioning– Value Propositions– Communicating to Target Audiences

For your organization:• Briefly describe how your products/

services are positioned(compared to competitors) for your customers/clients

• What are your top three business strategy and/or marketing challenges/questions?  

• How do you create awareness of your company with your customers?

• How important is your online presence/website to your organization/why?  

Market Strategy: Key Strategy Decisions

Who are my

customers?

What value do

I offer them?

How can I create

and deliver that value?

The StrategySweet Spot

Part 2: Key Strategy Decisions – Positioning & Communication

  

Discussion #1: Competition & Competitive Advantage

Page 8

Multi-Attribute Model with Competition

Our company

Comp 1 Comp 2

Scalability (8) 10 5 5

Security (6) 8 5 6

Ease of Use (7) 3 6 8

(paren) = importance Numbers = scores (10 = highest score)

Discussion #2: Positioning How are you currently positioning your product/ service? [Choose one product]

Page 9

AOur Points

of Difference

BPoints

of Parity

D CTheir points

of difference

Urbany, J. and Davis, J. “Strategic Insight in Three Circles” Harvard Business Review Nov. 2007

E Customers’

Needs

F Company’s Offerings

G Competitor’s

Offerings

Strategic Insight to Positioning

Sustainable Competitive Advantage

• Advantage over competitors• Gained through superior capabilities

(core competencies)• Gained through unique product benefits

or price• Providing greater customer value

Discussion #2: Differentiation and Value Propositions Select the most commonly purchased alternative (competitor) to your product. Does your organization have an advantage over this competitor? What is it? Is it a sustainable advantage?

Page 10

Value Proposition: Drives the Communication Strategy

• Value Propositions: – Capture the essence of what problem

you solve and how you solve it (relevance);

– Are compelling: evidence; data; testimonial

For <target audience>,

who <emotional benefit>,

the <value offering> provides <key functional/economic benefit(s)>

that is <point of differentiation>

For <target audience>,

who <emotional benefit>,

the <value offering> provides <key functional/economic benefit(s)>

that is <point of differentiation>

The Value Proposition

Discussion #3: Delivering on the Value Proposition Promise Proof Points: Reasons to Believe

Page 11

Proof Points: Reasons to Believe

• Provides Relaxation & Enjoyment– Room is 25%

larger– Pool/whirlpool– Thoughtful

amenities (in-room hair dryer)

• Enables Productivity– High speed

Internet– Small meeting

room– Express check out– Business services

For your organization:• Briefly describe how your products/ services are

positioned(compared to competitors) for your customers/clients

• What are your top three business strategy and/or marketing challenges/questions?  

• How do you create awareness of your company with your customers?

• How important is your online presence/website to your organization/why?  

Discussion #4: Other Marketing Factors: Communication How are you currently creating awareness for your product/ service?

Page 12

Communication Considerations

Now, think about marketing communications from an efficiency perspective:

Objectives (awareness, image, leads, inquiries)Target Market

Wasted coverageMeasuring performance/effectiveness

Monitor your online presenceMonitor your competitors’ online presence

[Inbound Marketing by Halligan and Shah, 2010]

Do a break-even analysis on the cost of the campaign

Deliver on moments of truth (touch points)!!

Discussion #5: Being Strategic about Marketing Communications  Answer these questions: 

1) Your target audience?

Page 13

• What is the product or service or idea?• Who/what is the competition?• Who are we talking to? [Target audience]• What customer need/problem do we address?• What do we want the customer to do/ how do we

want the customer to respond? [Objective]• What does the customer currently think of us?• What one thing do we want them to believe?• What can we tell them that will make them

believe this? [Proof points; support]• What is the theme/ tonality of the

communication?

Communication Questions (this is a Creative Brief):

What are your top three business strategy and/or marketing challenges / questions?

• How can you strategically utilize social media?– Assess: Are we making the right investments in

products/services, markets, campaigns, employees, partners?

– Segment: Are we reaching the intended audiences—and are we listening?

– Relate: What is driving social media activity, behavior and sentiment?

– Discover: What new ideas can we discover?

(from IBM White Paper, 2013)

Best Practices in Marketing Today

• Content marketing – “Thought leadership”

• Online and social media marketing – Who, why, strategy, results[Inbound Marketing by Halligan and Shah, 2010]

• Triple Bottom Line:

– Social Responsibility – Environmental impacts– Organization’s Goals; e.g., Profit

Content marketing is a marketing technique of

creating and distributing valuable, relevant and

consistent content to attract and acquire a clearly defined audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer

action.

(Definition from the Content Marketing Institute)

What is Content Marketing?

• 80% of business decision makers prefer to get company information in a series of articles vs. an advertisement– 70% say content marketing makes them feel closer to

the sponsoring company– 60% say that company content helps them make better

product decisions.

“Think of this – what if your customers looked forward to receiving your marketing? What if when they received it, via print, email, website, they spent 15, 30, 45 minutes with it?”

(from contentmarketinginstitute.com; results from Roper Public Affairs research)

Importance of Content Marketing

Create Content Simply and Quickly

• Blog posts• White papers (

http://www-01.ibm.com/software/analytics/solutions/customer-analytics/social-media-analytics/)

• Videos• Webinars• Podcasts• Webcasts• Stories on website (http://www.umt.edu/)

• Stories for publicationshttp://contentmarketinginstitute.com

Learning about Content & Storytelling from Coca-Cola

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyDf-twhpCo

Learning about Content & Storytelling from Coca-Cola

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyDf-twhpCo

Did you learn these marketing principles?:• Be responsive; Develop relationships; Deliver

relevance• Convert product features to customer benefits• Analyze customer-perceived value:

Benefits/Sacrifice• Understand customer “pain” points and

expectations• Diagram the decision journey: From Trigger to

Repeat Purchase• Determine the role of partners/collaborators• Position and create a Sustainable Competitive

Advantage• Write a compelling Value Proposition &

Deliver on the Promise!• Be strategic about Marketing Communications• Get MORE out of Social Media• Learn to tell stories

Summary- Essentials For Marketing Success

• Identify key market segment(s) – rather than diluting efforts across multiple

segments • Articulate a compelling value proposition • Have internal “house in order” prior to

advertising• Have staying power with marketing

campaigns• Measure and assess returns

THANK YOU!THANK YOU!