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Tactical Elements of Marketing Disciplines
DISCIPLINE: Branding & Positioning
In sound positioning statements, three elements (target, frame of reference, and owned benefit) are integrally related. A positioning statement should be compelling, simple, credible and cohesive.
Research plays a critical role in the development of a sound brand position. A situation analysis, using all available data about the market, competitors, and the consumer, should be completed. The data can then be distilled to generate meaningful consumer insights that can be used to create the brand’s positioning.
Positioning statement: For people who (target audience), Brand X is the (frame of reference), that (benefits and reasons why).
Insights should increase revenue by
- Ensuring the uniqueness of company and product and/or services that resonate with the market
- Finding unmet customer or market needs to develop new product or service lines or otherwise increase market share
- Taking advantage of competitive weaknesses
- Discovering ways to decrease expenses while maintaining and/or improving quality and customer acceptance.
The insight process
- Research current situation using all available data about the market and its drivers, the competition and their strategies, the customer and the problem surrounding the need for a product or service
- Understand customer behaviors and compare to established benchmarks using divergent approaches and multiple measures where possible.
- Distill the data into processes, programs and procedures that can be applied to an organization to improve their business.
DISCIPLINE: Product Management and Marketing
Research Customer demand for product and understanding of its value based on individual features and overall preference. Define key needs or combination of needs. Estimate price and value for individual components and whole.
Manage Product Life Cycle: optimizing price and investment against future developments/improvements. Identify features that extend life cycle or decide to minimize investment and focus on new or different product. Decide to be a market leader in innovation/design or a market follower who minimizes up front investments.
Identify differentiating features/benefits with the goal to find proprietary or patentable components or complete assembly that provides an exclusive advantage against competitors. Support Brand statements and positioning.
Manage Product Line breadth (cover wants of all customers) and depth (good, better, best) by researching competitive offering and customer demand.
Collaborate with Operations Management to identify best direction to fit within organizational capabilities, improve productivity and achieve desired quality.
Packaging – Create preference with appealing and convenient packaging or labels prominently displaying key features/benefits and supporting Brand statements, positioning, and personality. Explain usage and start-up directions. Display required legal statements/symbols for safety or recycling. Protect product in handling and transit process. Maximize placement position, shelf space and balancing environmental concerns.
Pricing – Research and monitor competitive pricing. Optimize price by understanding and balancing total unit quantity against per unit profitability. Estimate and track price elasticity remembering that price should be created after understanding perceived consumer value and demand rather than just costs. Determine promotional effects of discounts, rebates or bundling techniques. Determine seasonal or geographic differences that affect price/profitability. Understand cost affects of product development, variable overhead, fixed overhead, economic run quantity, carrying inventory, sales training and potential obsolescence.
Establish pricing strategy that facilitates achieving revenue and profitability goals by individual product and by complete product offering. Range from “loss leader” to “cash cow”.
Communications platform development experience includes an understanding of the appropriate application of various media. This includes:
- Planning and Development – Just like the pre-work that goes into a skyscraper or a football victory, planning and development are essential to a great communications platform.
- Integrated Communications – Communications platform planning evolves to determine appropriate combination of the following toward acquisition, retention & advocacy.
- Advertising and/or Sponsorship
- Corporate, Public, Community, or Analyst Relations
- Online and/or Offline Methods of Direct Marketing – Includes IP addressable media, e.g. Web 2.0 and social media, (see Emerging Media) as innovative methods for interactive discussion and content delivery.
- Customer Experience Development – Utilize planning and development to inform and crystallize how the brand connects with customer needs and desires through merchandising, packaging, customer support, distribution etc.
DISCIPLINE: Channels & Distribution
To maximize the ability for getting products and services to customers by utilizing a comprehensive mix of the following channels and distribution practices
- Business Development – identification of markets, prospective customers, sales channels and distribution intermediaries and partners
- U.S. versus International presence
- Merchandising – the presentation of product that attracts attention and generates interest leading to purchase and reinforces the desired Brand message. Also protective packaging to process product thru distribution to end user.
- Retail – single and multi-tiered retail channels
- Web
- Co-Marketing Programs with Partners
- Direct
- Mail order, telephone and internet/technology-based
- Sales force support
- In-Direct
- Wholesaler or distributor
- OEM, Systems Integrators and VARs
- Retailer or end customer dealer
- Designing and managing indirect selling systems
DISCIPLINE: Internet Technologies and Social Media
Effectively using internet technologies to build brands and facilitate interactions with an organization provides:
- Comprehensive campaign analysis and planning
- The ability to develop turn-key plans and scope all required resources (internal and external) to implement and manage the project
- Identification of technology platforms and third-party vendors if appropriate
- Maximize customer experience
- Ensure the company’s distinct Positioning, Brand, and Value Proposition will be communicated to effectively to prospects, customers, suppliers and partners
- Support sales qualification requirements
- Data collection, information verification, lead scoring, hand off from marketing to sales
- Recommend on-going operational, supply chain and channel overlays
- Drive operational effectiveness
- Optimize Sales and Marketing performance
- Align sales and marketing teams around common goals and objectives.
- Performance analytics and interpretation of audience behavior around brands and products
- Demand generation analytics including lead scoring, conversion analysis and pipeline reporting
- Customer nurturing up-selling and cross-selling
- Competitive Analysis
- Coordinated development and execution of final scope of work
- Reporting of program results against pre-determined metrics for success
Questions to consider before entering global markets:
- Where do you go first, second, etc.?
- Channel and Distribution Strategies
- Joint Ventures
- Direct or Indirect
- Leverage existing channels and partnerships
- Globalization – Battle Plan
- Branding and Positioning
- Customer Insights
- Product Management and Marketing
- Localization and Translation
- Customer Driven Communications
- Channels and Distribution
- Digital