Marketing Handbook - Grade 10

Marketing Handbook 1. A business cannot thrive by solely depending on their products or service, whether it is sales or quality. Their purposes and priorities should be customer-oriented, focusing on meeting customers’ needs and expectations. 2. The market eliminates companies that fail to adapt to its current trend and demand. 3. A good management system will look beyond the immediate success and aim at earning a long-term position in the market. 4. Companies with narrow-minded marketing approach only attempt to achieve short-term goals. Since their short-sighted marketing plan does not allow them to adapt and create new products in the future, their industry eventually perishes. 5. A vital step to avoid marketing myopia is having a clear vision, knowing what industry I want to be in and what my company wants to achieve. 6. A company certainly does not necessarily need a world-changing idea to succeed. As long as a vision is there in the beginning, companies will be able to meet and exceed beyond their expectations. 7. When advertising a product, companies should always list what the product is able to do for the customer on the label. 8. Companies must elect excellent leaders who understand that giving up short-term gains will put them on a path towards a much bigger success in the market. 9. Most customers stay loyal to a product because they believe that it helps solve their needs and concerns. Companies should conduct market research prior to producing a product. 10. Conducting market research can warn companies about competitors and potential substitutes. Companies can visit their social media accounts to read about their deals and promotions. 11. Investigate what products and services that competitors give to their customers and market your products accordingly with promises to leverage that experience. 12. Marketing and technology are indivisible. 13. Marketing is not a monologue praising a product, hoping to blindly convince a customer to believe in that product enough to invest their money. It is a dialogue on getting to know that customer and making the product on their demand 14. Technology is creating customer choices, and those choices are altering the marketplace. Customers are empowered with unlimited options and companies striving to meet even their most outrageous expectations and desires. 15. Knowledge-driven marketing requires companies to understand everything about technology, customers, competition, and their entire organization, to integrate that into producing products and thus leverage relationships with suppliers, vendors, and partners accordingly. 16. The goal in real marketing is not to sell products, but to own the market. When you own the market, you lead the market. 17. Positioning is not what you do to a product. It is how you position the product in the prospect’s mind, determining how she or he will perceive that product. 18. 5 questions to consider when positioning: 1. What position, if any, do we already have in the prospect’s mind? 2. What position do we want to own? 3. What companies must be outgunned if we are to establish that position? 4. Do we have enough marketing money to occupy and hold the position? 5. Does our creative approach match our positioning strategy? 19. In communication, less is more. The message must be simple and sharp to help the brain cope with complexity, concentrating on the prospect’s perception and accepting them as our own reality to reconstruct them into a position that we desire. 20. When developing a position, you must remember that it is easier to create a product that corresponds with existing perceptions that customers have, rather than trying to completely change their mind. Once their mind is made, anything that interrupts that state will receive a negative reaction from customers. 21. The easiest road to access a person’s mind is to be the first. People do not always remember the second. Companies enter a race to secure the first position in the prospect’s mind and try to not give them a reason to switch. 22. Consumers will likely select the same brand for their next purchase as they have selected for their previous purchases. As two brands are equal, winning the sales battle in a single year can bring that company many victories for the next decades. 23. The single most important decision in the positioning process is naming a product. A good name is the best insurance to guarantee a long-term success. 24. Companies should avoid using initials or acronyms and must have a new name for a new product. 25. Line-extension names only work with a small volume in products, competition, investment, and distribution. 26. Products with high potential should not bear the house name, but small volume products should. 27. With limited competitors, the brand should not have the house name. In a more crowded industry, it should. 28. Products with big advertising budgets should not have the company name, while products with small budget should. 29. Breakthrough and off-the-shelf products should not have the house name, and commodity products and products sold by sales representatives should. 30. Having a narrow target and expertise can help companies have a clearer picture on where they want to stand in the industry. 31. It takes money to establish a position, and even more money to hold that position in one place. By reducing target segments to geographical regions and demographics, companies will be able to invest wisely in the appropriate locations that they want to execute their marketing strategies. 32. The secret to this position is the balance between a unique concept and broad appeal. 33. Remember to be willing to give up some grounds when positioning and try not to be everything for everyone. When a company attempts to be overinclusive, it may end up with nothing. 34. “STEPPS”, the ingredients a company needs to achieve virality, includes Social Currency, Triggers, Emotions, Public, Practical Values, and Stories. 35. How we present ourselves inevitably corresponds how people perceive us, which pressures us to share glamorous details about our lives that make us appear intelligent, clever, or cool. Companies use this advantage to provide customers with products, experiences, and content that are purposely created to be shared on social media, thus enhancing brand awareness. 36. Three principles to remember to create this sensation are to find inner remarkability, leverage game, and make people feel like insiders. 37. Generate content that is unique, quirky, or surprising. A product should stand out among others, by exceeding beyond traditions and expectations. 38. Think about creating a game. Good content will keep people engaged, motivated, and anticipate for more. 39. Exclusivity is what makes people feel special. Create a V.I.P club and give exclusive deals and discounts to those who are the distribution list. 40. Accessible thoughts and ideas lead to actions. By creating a product that connects people to their surroundings, people will think about that product and will be more likely to talk about it, share their experiences, and become loyal customers. 41. A product or an idea can create “triggers” by expanding a surrounding to link that product or idea with frequent habits. The stronger the connection and the more frequent interactions are carried out, the more powerful the triggers become. 42. We share what we care about. Naturally contagious content will be able to evoke emotions within people, whether it is positive or negative. 43. Products need to move people, not to tell them what to be or do. People want to be entertained and evoked, not dictated. 44. Humans have the tendency to imitate, but it is almost impossible to copy without observing. Make content observable makes it easier to imitate, causing it to become popular as public visibility helps products catch on. 45. Two components to remember when making content public are self-advertising and behavioral residue. A product is advertised because usage is constantly observed. 46. Content that helps people save time and money or improve their lives get shared widely by the public. Products and ideas with practical value get passed on beyond their geographic limitations by people strengthen social bonds with their friends and family. 47. Make their content stand out among their competitors. Highlight the incredible value when offering deals to their customers. 48. Understanding buyer behavior when making purchase decisions can give companies the advantage to create deals that encourage their customers to make easier and faster selections. 49. When a product costs more than one hundred dollars, discount the price in “dollar” reduction, making the product appear more impressive among other highly priced items. On the other hand, a product that costs under one hundred dollars should be discounted in percentage, which is more appealing among lower priced items. 50. People recommend a product by telling a story that describes their experience with it. Companies must create products with a message that can be embedded into a story as people cannot mention these products without telling it. 51. Critical elements to add in a story when promoting a product is humor, creativity, and quirky. 52. Advertising a product through story-telling provides customers a vivid and engaging opportunity to learn about a company. 53. Stories save time and hassle to help people screen out the trial-and-error method when deciding to buy a product. A good story can drive a product to a virality quickly as it is heavily shared through social media and public interactions. 54. The secret to globalization is to sell the same things in the same way everywhere, perceiving the global market as a single entity. The same products that are sold at home should be distributed in national markets. 55. Keep the quality and brand image consistent, while adapting the language to the local markets. 56. High quality and low costs are not opposing aspects. They are compatible and can be carried out in harmony to achieve superiority in the global market. 57. Remember that people will always choose the option that costs them the least among similar choices. In addition to this, when that product is high quality, it is guaranteed that most people will purchase without putting in much consideration. 58. When expanding globally, increase integration and coordination to obtain resources and keep up with activities in various geographical areas. 59. Companies cannot go it alone in creating value for customers. Instead, they must create effective value delivery systems, consisting of suppliers, producers, and distributors that work together to get the job done. Partnering with suppliers and distributors can yield big competitive advantages. 60. One company’s distribution system is another company’s supply system. The success of each channel member depends on the performance of the entire supply chain 61. Regularly check channel member performance against standards such as sales quotas, average inventory levels, customer delivery time, treatment of damaged and lost goods, cooperation in company promotion and training programs, and services to the customer. 62. Recognize and reward intermediaries that are performing well and adding good value for consumers. Those that are performing poorly should be assisted or, as a last resort, replaced. 63. Leveraged sale model: 1. Focus sales force activity on large account acquisition 2. Use other channels to offload ‘low value’ selling tasks 3. Provide more extensive technology support to field reps 4. Redesign sales force skill development programs 5. Align performance measurement and compensation with large account focus 64. Leveraged sale models frees up time, energy, and resources to focus on the largest and most important, most profitable market. 65. In the new marketing communications world, rather than using old approaches that interrupt customers and force-feed them mass messages, new media formats let marketers reach smaller communities of consumers in more interactive, engaging ways. 66. When pricing a product, measure sales, contribution, and net profit margins. 67. Adjust pricing strategy to maximize profit contribution of the product and reduce incremental and avoidable costs. 68. When sales do not reach your target, reevaluate your value proposition to the customer, re-examine the product offering, consult with your customer, and then make necessary adjustments to your price. 69. Obtain regular pricing feedback from customers. 70. Evaluate pricing regularly, monthly or quarterly. 71. Develop standard pricing policies that promote proactive and strategic thinking among staff. 72. A strong brand: 1. Maintain clarity of brand promise 2. Excel delivering desired benefits 3. Stay relevant through time 4. Price on perceived value 5. Effectively positioned 6. Consistent within marketing mix 7. Portfolio and hierarchy make sense 8. Have coordinated support activities 9. Have long term support 10. Monitor sources of equity