Provide a Different, Quality Product

Companies must make a continuous effort to be both better at what they do and different from others in their market space.  Being better at what you do is about providing quality over quantity.  At ICRS ’07 Leonard Sweet used 2 heads of lettuce to illustrate the importance of providing a quality product that your customer wants: A large head of iceberg lettuce is bigger and less expensive than prepackaged lettuce, however, prepackaged lettuce is far more popular with consumers.   But even if you are better at what you do, there are many companies vying for the same market space.  This makes it increasingly important to differentiate your brand from your competitors.  To do this you will need to be EPIC: Experiential, Participatory, Image-rich and Connective.
(CBA Retailers+Resources Industry Briefing 7/12/07)

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Management vs. Marketing

Very few companies get in trouble because of marketing mistakes. They get in trouble because of management mistakes that usually get blamed on marketing. Management wants to build sales. Marketing wants to build brands. Often the best way to build a brand is to make it more expensive than the competition, but making it cheaper is the most frequent management default. A higher price is not necessarily a negative. One definition of a brand is a product or service that consumers will pay more for than an equivalent commodity. If consumers won't pay more for your brand than they would for a commodity, then you really don't have a brand. All you have is a commodity with a name on it.

(Advertising Age 9/4/07)

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Starbucks Strategy

Starbucks may not be the first business to sell affordable luxury, but it’s hard to argue they haven’t been the most successful. The company is built on five principles every organization can apply to their business-mentality:

1. Make it your own
2. Every-thing matters
3. Surprise and delight
4. Embrace resistance
5. Leave your mark.

For truly successful ventures, customers are not merely customers; they are customer evangelists. 80% of companies believe they provide good service, but just 8% of customers agree that they’ve received such an experience. (The Starbucks Experience: Five Principles for Turning Ordinary into Extraordinary, Joseph Michelli, McGraw Hill 2007

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Why Advertise?

1- Advertise to Reach New Customers
Your market changes constantly and there are always new customers to reach.  Changes in position, lifestyle and habits means that prospect who wouldn't consider your business a few years ago may be a prime customer now.

2- Advertise Continuously
Shoppers don't have the loyalty they once did. You must advertise to keep pace with your competition.

3- Advertise to Remain With Customers Through the Buying Process
Many people and organizations postpone buying decisions. They often invest time and effort comparing prices, quality and service. Advertising must reach them steadily through the entire decision-making process. Your name must be fresh in their minds when they ultimately decide to buy.

4- Advertise Because Your Competition is Advertising
There are only so many consumers in any market who are ready to buy at any one time. You'll need to advertise to keep regular customers and to counterbalance the advertising of your competition. You must advertise to keep your share of customers or you will lose them to the more aggressive competitors.

5- Advertise Because it Pays Off Over a Long Period
Advertising gives you a long-term advantage over competitors who cut back or cancel advertising. A five year survey of more than 3,000 companies found advertisers who maintain or expand advertising over a five year period see their sales increase an average of 100%. Companies who cut advertising averaged sales decreases of 45%.

6- Advertise for Traffic
Continuous website traffic is the first step toward increasing sales and expanding your base of customers or constituents. The more people who visit your web site, the more possibilities you have to make sales.

7- Advertise to Make More Sales
Advertising works! Businesses and ministries that succeed are usually strong, steady advertisers.

8- Advertise to Keep a Healthy Positive Image
In a competitive market, rumors and bad news travel fast. Advertising corrects misleading gossip and punctures "overstated" bad news.

(MoneyMailer.com 10/31/07)