Marketing – Page 42

Nightmare For Marketers Inside The Mind of The Consumer

Ever wonder what your customers and prospects are thinking about right now? A perhaps painful reminder from the great Tom Fishburne…

Full post at “inside the mind of the consumer” and well worth the read…along with another version of this magnificent marketing cartoon.

Sadly, our prospects and even customers are most definitely NOT thinking about our product or service all the time. As Tom comments…

‘It’s common for marketers to exaggerate the importance of their brands in consumers’ lives. Brand positioning statements are often written as if consumers constantly think and obsess about the brand. Social media from brands can make it sound like every consumer is a cult follower.

In reality, even “brand loyalists” have complex lives completely separate from our brands. Brands can play important roles, but we should be careful not to overstate how much consumers give thought to our brands.’

Now, Tom is talking mainly about mainstream marketing and the land of big brands. But direct response marketers need to understand this as well.

Firstly, customers (and prospects) will buy or take action when it suits them…not us (frustrating though that may be). That’s why it’s essential that when they decide to take action…

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Looking Ahead – Marketing Calendar March 2014

Time to look ahead at the month of March 2014 at events anniversaries and holidays that we can use to build a marketing campaign, product launch or promotion around.

The main event of general relevance is St Patrick’s Day on March 17.

Plenty of scope for ideas based around luck, good fortune and finding that elusive “pot of gold” at the end of the rainbow.

Also, there is the change of season with the Spring Equinox in the northern hemisphere and the Autumn Equinox in the south.

Moving on to the wider world…

March 3 – Anniversary of the birth of Alexander Graham Bell in 1847

March 8 – International Women’s Day

March 10 – Money Day! (anniversary of the first printing of paper money in USA in 1862)

March 10 – Commonwealth Day (UK and Commonwealth countries)

March 14 – World Sleep Day

March 17 – St. Patrick’s Day

March 20 – International Day Of Happiness

March 20 – Spring Equinox (northern hemisphere – occurs at 16.57 UT)

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Looking Ahead – Marketing Calendar February 2014

Time to take a look at the coming month of February 2014 for the various holidays, events and anniversaries that smart marketers can use as the basis for a promotion or campaign.

And although we’re looking just one month ahead at February, it’s never too early to get started on your preparation for months and major events later in the year.

In 2014 Easter falls on 18-21 April and already in the supermarkets hot cross buns and Easter Eggs are on sale!

Back to February and Valentines Day (February 14) is the standout occasion for the month pretty much everywhere.

Chinese New Year falls on January 31 (and 2014 is the “Year Of The Horse”)…but celebrations continue into the first week of February.

And “Groundhog Day” (February 2) is, I suggest, now part of the popular consciousness thanks to the classic Bill Murray movie…

Great opportunity if you’re marketing any kind of personal development or improvement product or service.

I’m going to change the format of the post a little this month.

After the opening section I’ll list events and occasions that have a wide relevance. I’ll then mention specific occasions and holidays in the USA, UK, Canada and Australia.

Apologies to readers outside of those countries but here’s a great resource where you can quickly and easily look up holidays and other observances in your particular country…“Calendar Info At Time-And-Date.com”.

Looking at general events…

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So, Have Tesco Made A Marketing Mistake?

I’ve mentioned before my somewhat unfashionable admiration for the supermarket giant Tesco…

…and lately they do seem to have slipped a little.

From the US debacle of “Fresh and Easy”…

…to lagging sales and profits.

There are some serious concerns that they have ended up in the worst of all business positions…”stuck in the middle”. In early December, analysts at the broker Bernstein expressed concern that Tesco has raised its prices faster than rivals in the last few years and has lost its differentiation. They said:

” Tesco is not value, not quality, just everywhere. Tesco is now in an impossible position: it is neither value nor quality and can’t compete with either the quality or value retailers.

From being within 1% of Asda’s prices, the gap is now 5% to 9%.”

Against this background, I have been following the relaunch of their own-label “Tesco Finest” range (announced at the beginning of October).

At first glance there might seem to be a mismatch between the main Tesco brand and positioning (very much middle, perhaps even slightly “down” market) and a range that is very definitely pitched as premium and upmarket. Tesco even sponsored the TV show “Downton Abbey” as part of the launch campaign.

Tesco management strongly denied that they were attempting to muscle in on the “premium” sector and take sales away from the decidedly up-market supermarket Waitrose. But one interview I read at the time of launch did cause a few raised eyebrows when the Tesco senior manager seemed to suggest that Tesco could serve all market segments, indeed it was their strategy to do so.

Now, as a big fan of the work of Al Ries and Jack Trout and their concept of “Positioning” I am always somewhat sceptical of claims from companies that they can successfully serve a broad market.

But…take a close look and the picture is a little more complex.

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So…What’s In Prospect For Marketing In 2014?

Hope you enjoyed a wonderful Christmas!

At the end of the year and especially in the lull between Christmas and New Year…

…it’s a good time to take a little time to reflect on what major trends might impact on marketers and marketing in the coming year.

Hopefully, you’ve already mapped out your Marketing Calendar for 2014. If not…now would be a good time!

As to the shape of the landscape in the coming year…

…I’ll kick off with these thoughts from Dan Kennedy from the December 2013 issue of the “No B.S. Marketing Letter”.

“It pretty much looks to me like more of what we’ve been coping with: many customers with lowered spending ability, many more with less willingness to spend, overall a “tightness” in spending – so we must be smarter, more effective, and more efficient in identifying, reaching and motivating viable customers. Also, to my point made above, we need to craft and present more irrestible offers incorporating more urgency to act vs. delay. We can’t take ANY patronage for granted.”

Dan’s pretty gloomy about overall economic conditions. Of course, he’s talking mainly about the USA and conditions in your local market may be more encouraging. However, his following 4 suggestions will almost certainly pay dividends for any business…

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