3 posts tagged “marketing”

The clue here is not whether you like Apple or not. The clue is: Look at a firm you admire, and see if you can do what they do. In your own way. Example: Apple has great packaging, almost a product in itself. How could you package your goods or products, so people thought more of you? 

Who in the whole world would you love to have walking through the doors and buying your product? And I don't mean the usual "20-40 year olds with a car and 1 child and 1 dog" type thing. I mean: Which 1 person would be center of your product line, if you could only choose 1 person? The trick is: Instead of aiming for thousands and hitting one, you aim for one and hit thousands. We fool ourselves and think that communication is all about mass communication. But actually even most mass marketing is really one marketing or at least marketing that pretends to focus on one person (the person reading the ad, etc). If you still need examples, think of books, music and etc. written for one person, with that specific person in mind (Police's massive hit "Roxanne" or their other huge hit "Every breath you take"), and still these pieces communicate to millions of people, each one 'feeling' like they are the subject/object of the piece.

So, who's it gonna be? Feel free to choose. Is your ideal customer your good friend from school, is it Britney Spears or is it the lady in the hairdresser? My invitation is to be honest about the choice - and then look at how you would make that person want to do business with you? And I bet you that having Spears swing by is just as challenging as that ol' hairdresser. 

This is a provoking press release material generator. What is the story that you would like everyone to be sharing about you and your company? But rather than some wishy-washy dream about you being the leading glue manufacturer, you should start to look at the details of your favorite story. Because stories deal with concreteness and details. Stories deal with failure and success, with victory and defeat. No good story is only about the positive. If you want to create a truly inspiring story, you better put in some hardship as well. Tell one on yourself. Where did you fail, and where did you succeed? Share the breakthroughs and the breakdowns. When you have this story down, this is your core story (for now, because this type of stories can change). From the core story, you can derive what your company is really about. Are you a dark horse company, a poor boy gone rich company, a Robinson Crusoe story (many hi tech companies start like that: Man alone building ingenius way to succeed in hostile environment - - - http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi1021.htm), a John Wayne story, etc. Call the story what you like, just make sure it is very simple, precise and communicates to others. Knowing this story will provide you with material for lots of marketing initiatives and lots of press release ideas. Remember: Don't WRITE about the story or USE the story for media or campaigning. The story is only like a mental image to stir your mind.  

If you are an IT company, looking for new way to catch the attention of and sell to teenagers, try looking at what wouldn't work? Well, young people do not listen to classical music, they do not watch children's tv and they do not spend their weekends herding sheep. Etc. Write down all the things that you do not relate to the teenagers. Then, when the list is full, flip it around. Use the exact list for brain storming on ideas about teenagers. Maybe you form a classical band of nerdy teenagers and let them create a digital album on virtual instruments. Maybe you arrange a camp in the deserted mountains, where teenagers get to find themselves. Etc. The point is: These are all fresh ideas for that group of people, 'cause most other companies never challenge the main stream, but simply do what others have already done.

If, for instance, you are curious how to get more customers in your shoe shop, ask yourself: How do I do, when I shop shoes? Do I choose the place I know or the place with the biggest DISCOUNT sign. Or do I go where friends have told me to go or do I go to the nearest store?

This question has one major challenge, which is probably also why most people do not use this question. The problem is: Do not let your knowledge and know-how of your own market get to you. Again, in the shoe shop example: Do not believe that everyone is as interested in shoes as you are. They are not. They are interested in shoes in so far they need warm, smart, cool, comfy thingies under their feet. Almost no one is a shoe fetichist, well, except a few hundred thousand people (I think). And unless you go for the niche market, the target is not to  cater for the few, but the masses, i.e. the ordinary shoe person. So - do not think how you would buy shoes, but think maybe how you would buy a new sofa or a hat or a pair of glasses. Look at the thought and emotions that go thru your head before the purchase, the way you weigh each decision, the kind of sales person infomercials that DO NOT work when you are a customer...