Key to Marketing Knowing the needs & wants of customers Building a strategy to serve customers External Opportunities & Threats Niche Internal Strengths & Weaknesses Know the niche market you are uniquely qualified to serve

Marketing and the Purchase Decision Target market Perceived Need Referral Evaluation Promotions Trials Marketing Programs Field Sales People Mass Marketing Public Relations Word-of-Mouth Purchase Consideration Awareness Real need or want Emotional “Hook” Impulse

Marketing Strategy Marketing strategy and actions must promote the company’s core values and “Brand” to be aligned with the company strategy. Marketing initiatives and sales activity shape a company and brand strategy by getting market feedback – Marketing strategy is important because it ties the company to its customers in a logical way – Sales activity/”feet on the street” closes the loop

Marketing Plan Detailed plan of who you are targeting to purchase your product or service, at what price, through which channels, and with the support of what kinds of sales and advertising. Includes a strategy, a communications mix, methods for measuring success, attention to staffing/resources, and costs. Included in the marketing functional strategy section of the business plan.

What is a Brand? A brand is the sandbox that your company “plays” in It is a company’s “Personality” and its “Reputation”

A Brand Creates Value Harley Davidson Coca Cola Nike Designer Brands

Why Managing Your Brand Matters Branding, by its very nature is not optional. If you do not position yourself in people’s minds, they will do it for you. … Peter Drucker

Why Your Brand is Important for Sales People need to be aware of who you are People need to willing to consider buying from you You need the tools to “close” the sale You brand addresses all three of these phases of the sales process.

Who Defines Your Brand? Your Brand is defined by how well you deliver against customer expectations and perceptions, ie. “THE PROMISE”

Who Influences Your Brand? Customers Sales Marketing Customer Service Delivery People and Distributors Workers Receptionist Product Performance Competitors

Two Views of UPS Jean’s They’re great! No problems with service. Donna English. She tracks me down. I love them! Rhonda’s They’re terrible! Left stuff in the rain. They’ve lost deliveries. Different driver every day. I hate them! Brand Loyalty is created or lost based on Personal Experience

The ABC’s of Good Branding A Is for Appropriate

Know Your Audience

What you do How you do it Context Information implied by location, manner, behavior Cultural Communication Issues Content Information explicitly stated: Details, data, words, images What you say How OTHERS perceive what you say, what you do, and how you do it. Based on THEIR Values, Customs, Frame Of Reference, Assumed Rules

Two Definitions Of Image The Visual Image: The visual components of your Brand Identity: logo, web site, signage, marketing materials, product design The Contextual Image: An impression created by your behavior and appearance; your reputation

Visual Image is NOT Just the Logo Everything that is used around the logo also contributes to your “image” – Mailers, Printed Brochures – Web layout, components, interface – Color schemes, Fonts – Graphics – Flow charts Are all of these consistent with your brand vision?

Think the Intangibles Don’t Matter? At the drive-in teller at the bank, the sign has withdrawal spelled incorrectly. The customer thinks, “If they are that careless with their signs, how will the treat my money?”

Low-Cost Strategy Problem of even lower-cost competitors Difficult to keep costs down – especially for small firms Reduced flexibility Finding markets where there is space for a low-cost competitor Establishes your brand as “low-cost” = “low quality”

Product/service differentiation Differentiate what is sold – Branding, quality, innovation, style and image Two common patterns: – High margins/low share (Mercedes): focus on status, production efficiencies less important – Slightly lower margins but high share (many branded items like Coca-Cola, Nike) Works by reducing rivalry, substitutes & buyer power Main objective of differentiation: make the short list

Market segmentation/focus Serve a small segment Focus refers to following the trends of an audience – Oshkosh emergency trucks – Specialty steel – Micro breweries – Focused low-cost/low-price Works by reducing rivalry, reducing substitutes Main objective: redefine the market served

Product Positioning High Nordstrom Medium Macy’s Low Walmart Low Medium High QUALITYQUALITY PRICE

Exercise: Choose and defend a marketing strategy Low Cost/Low Price Product Differentiation Market Segmentation (Focus) Your own…why?

Marketing Mix The right mix of marketing and sales support elements that... – Supports your strategy. – Fits your capabilities. – Doesn’t break your budget. Shared advertising Public relations Networking Training Etc.

Promotion “Any form of persuasive communication designed to inform consumers about a product or service and influence them to purchase these goods or services.” Direct selling -- mail, internet, sales representatives Promotions -- try it, you’ll like it Advertising -- direct response, targeted, blanket Public relations -- word of mouth (events), media coverage, editorial content Marketing communications Networking

Marketing Communications Web Sites Blogs Newsletters Brochures Catalogs White papers Press Releases “Brand Package” Business cards Business plans Annual report Logos

What’s Happening in the Market? Customers can hardly hear you >1,500 marketing messages a day Customers are skeptical Everybody is claiming “the best ____” Customers are connected Electronic communication Professional meetings Buyer are more educated And have more choices

Value proposition Clear statement of benefits to the customer Need to understand your target market Needs Wants Includes: Unique selling points Quantification of the value to the customer of those points

Price setting: A make or break decision Assess demand – How sensitive will customers be to price changes? Analyze competition – What’s the going price? – Will competitors respond to a price cut? Set pricing objectives – Target return, market share, long-term profits, quick investment recovery, etc What will the dogs eat?

The ABC’s of Good Marketing U Is for Unique

Cows, after you’ve seen them for a while, are boring. They may be perfect cows, attractive cows, cows with great personalities, cows lit by beautiful light, but they’re still boring. A Purple Cow, though. Now that would be interesting. (For a while.) – Seth Godin, 2002

Networking Traditional – Chambers of commerce – Business associations – Trade associations – Customer groups – Volunteer work On-line Social Networking/Media – Facebook – Twitter – Linked In

What is Social Media? Social Media is a conversation supported by online tools that leverage human relationships to carry messages

Who uses social media? The share of American adult internet users who have a profile on an online social network site has more than quadrupled in the past four years -- from 8% in 2005 to over 35% now. -Pew Internet & American Life Project 2009

Founded in 2003, originally called “Facemash” Largest SMS - over 550M active users 50% login daily Over 2.5B photos uploaded each month Users spend over 500 billion minutes per month on the site Over 160 million objects 100 million users via mobile devices Facebook

A business-oriented network founded in 2002 Currently has 70M+ members in 170 countries “Gated Access Approach” and multi-tiered connections LinkedIn Groups feature allows users to establish new business relationships by joining alumni, industry, or professional and other relevant groups. LinkedIn

Founded in 2006 Text posts of 140 characters or less called “tweets” Tweets can contain links and pictures Over 90M tweets per day Over 190M users Largest age group is Twitter

Create brand awareness Build or manage online reputation Research competitive intelligence New customer service tool Recruiting initiatives Business development tool Social Media Applications

Social Media Etiquette Build trust-based relationships Talk about/comment on your sector, don’t just sell, sell, sell Read others’ opinions and blogs, comment Listen more than you speak Don’t say anything you wouldn’t say in public

Let People In! Use photos, video, commentary and text to show people all angles of your business. Keep the content on a blog. Tag photos and videos on YouTube and Flickr Regular communications can keep people coming back for more, give potential clients an inside peek at your process and document your project's lifecycle.

Sales promotions Coupons & Discounts Trade Shows Samples Contests Free giveaways – Key chains, mugs, calendars etc.

Advertising Newspapers, magazines, radio, internet, television, yellow pages, direct mail Analyze the strengths & weaknesses of the medium – Which medium will target your customers? – What is your advertising budget? – What is the cost per million (CPM)?

Publicity Articles in newspaper Interview on radio or television Coverable events Newsletters White papers Speaking engagements & white papers Volunteer (boards & local committees) FREE, powerful, hard to control

Guerilla Marketing Used by entrepreneurs and small business Targeted, low-cost strategies that change the rules of the game Focus on relationships Examples: – Product: Midwifery, punk music – both embedded in movements – Price: Free web services (to drive advertising) – Promotion: message in a fortune cookie – Place (distribution):with Donald Trump, celebrity endorcements, sports figures

The ABC’s of Good Branding B Is for Believable

It’s All About Expectations Promise less … Deliver more

Make Your Message Memorable Make it easy for your customers to become your best Sales People Develop a Story that is easy for people to remember and repeat Find an “emotional connection” Pay attention to the “implicit” message – the context, the body language

Blowing the Branding: Bad names – Alu-Fanny foil wrap (France) – Atum Bom tuna (Portugal) – Happy End toilet paper (Germany) – Pschitt lemonade (France) – Zit lemonade (Germany) Clairol, a hair products company, introduced the "Mist Stick", a curling iron, into Germany only to find out that, in German, “mist” is slang for manure.

Lost in Translation Electrolux, a Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer, used this ad in the U.S.: "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux." The Dairy Association's huge success with the campaign "Got Milk?" prompted them to expand advertising to Mexico. Their Spanish translation read: "Are you lactating?" In Italy, a campaign for "Schweppes Tonic Water" translated the name into the much less thirst quenching "Schweppes Toilet Water."

Lost in Translation Ke-ke-ken-la The name Coca-Cola in China was first rendered as Ke-ke-ken-la. Unfortunately, the Coke company did not discover until after thousands of signs had been printed that the phrase means "bite the wax tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with wax" depending on the dialect. ko-kou-ko-le Coke then researched 40,000 Chinese characters and found a close phonetic equivalent, ko-kou-ko-le, which can be loosely translated as "happiness in the mouth."

The ABC’s of Good Branding C Is for Consistency

Keep monitoring your marketing to make sure that your images, messages, and value stay consistent! Monitoring

Messages … Can you hear me now? How do you spell relief? The Nightime Sniffling Sneezing Coughing Aching Stuffyhead Fever So You Can Rest Medicine. We bring good things to life. You’re in good hands with … You’re fired!

Building the “Buzz” Fundamentals have to be in place: The right product and service You need an interesting story that other people can remember and repeat You need to be visible and recognizable in whatever you do Keep your customers involved

Placement/Distribution The “bridge” to reaching customers Sales Channels – Distributors, retailers, value added resellers Issues/norms: – Sales cycle (time of year, length) – Expected materials, order forms, support, etc. – Sales force implications – Inside vs. outside sales people – Quotas and territories – Compensation and commissions – Coverage

Effective Distribution – Complementary, strategic channels – Clear objectives for each channel that facilitate measures of success – “Increase number of stores carrying our product by 25%” – “Keep 90% of our current customers this year” – “Increase sales volume to 100 largest accounts by 20%” – Budget & timeline – Detailed outline of required logistics – Sensitive measures of success, and methods for absorbing and adjusting to data

Sales Team People – Experience, reach – Team structure Support structure – Sales plan – Marketing intelligence – Incentives – Materials – Logistics – Training – Leadership

Values-Led Marketing Mix “ Values-led marketing…promotes products and brands by integrating social benefits into many different aspects of a business enterprise.” - Ben & Jerry’s – Product: Organic ingredients purchased from alternative suppliers; creative, recyclable packaging – Pricing: Premium with lots of giveaways & donations – Placement: Regional, country stores, youth scoop shops – Promotion: Music festivals, free samples, advocacy, public relations

QUESTIONS? Contact Info: REMEMBER ~ BYOBB plans are due by March 28 at 5PM. submissions only! No exceptions.