The ABCs of Marketing

Jan 31
2010
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Business and marketing always love acronyms. It’s the reason we have 3Ms, IBMs as brand names not to mention ROIs and KPIs in strategy discussions.*  Sometimes the names are used to mask an original identity, allowing a brand to move into a new era with a new persona. Other times acronyms are used as field jargon to make the presenter appear brilliant and in-the-know.  Other times, and less surreptitiously, the acronyms are just a quick shorthand for fast communications particularly in an increasing digital world limited by character counts. OMG, LOL!

Another use of acronyms is to help people remember things, particularly students studying for tests.  For middle schoolers trying to name the Great Lakes for a social studies test, the acronym HOMES helps them recall Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior. Not all acronyms work for everyone, but one acronym does suffice for all marketing endeavors.  It takes you back to basics on the ABCs of Marketing – for Always Be Communicating.

There are great debates in the marketing world about what media to use when, and the value return of a broadcast spot on The Daily Show versus a Tweet on Twitter. With aplogies to Marshall McLuhan, the ABCs of marketing remind us that the medium is not the message. The message is the message  and whatever medium allows you to communicate consistently to the right audience is the right medium for you.

If the cost-effectiveness of a blog allows you to communicate more than a broadcast commercial, then a blog is your better bet.  In contrast, if you don’t have the wherewithal to blog and do have the funds to produce a broadcast spot and air it consistently, then the spot hits the spot for your needs.

Marketing plans by definition admit that there is no one solution for everyone, which is why plans need to be carefully crafted based on time, budget, resources, needs, mission and skill sets. But any plan that doesn’t account for the ABCs and gives you great one-time hits, is not a marketing plan at all.  If you are not communicating, you are not marketing.  It’s as basic as it gets; as basic as the ABCs.

*For those who don’t remember or are intimidated by jargon:
3M originally stood for Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
IBM was International Business Machines
ROI is Return on Investment
KPI is Key Performance Indicator

Written by Rhona in: Budgets, Commercials, Communication, Marketing, Marketing Basics A to Z, Planning, Social Media, Strategic Planning, Target Marketing | Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Moving Targets

Mar 30
2009
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Segmentation ain't what it used to be, but then again what is?  Years ago, you could send out a mass message and let interested customers step forward all on their own. Then, customers started getting more discerning and couldn't be counted on to step up front and center, also known as the death of mass marketing.  To counter, marketing geniuses went into military mode — using a divide and conquer strategy, but calling it demographic segmentation.  They divided customers into all sorts of buckets including women, men, teens, mothers, fathers, lovers — you name it.  We consumers were beat for awhile, but then we started homogenizing and women became motor cycle riders as much as men became cooks.  You just couldn't trust stereotypes any more.  What was a good marketer to do?

Instead of leading the horse (ahem to consumer) to water, marketing folk learned how to gather the flock and find people who wanted to follow a particular brand, message, or affiliation. If this sounds obscure, think blogs, networks and user groups — places where people naturally gather to learn about something they self-decide they want or need.

Enter the recession, and along with the digital age marketing folk — in desperate need for low cost way, effective ways of reaching interested parties — know that segmentation is no longer just a science, but a full blown necessity.  Here's a quote I recently came across from the Jan. 1 2009 issue of CFO magazine:

"In a time of limited resources, management has a desperate need to figure out is priorities.  Now is the time to segment your customers."  Larry Selden, Professor emeritus, Columbia University and co-author of the book Angel Customers, Demon Customers.

Segmentation by any other name is really prioritization — who to choose to talk to, when, and about what.  And, in a time when resources are tight, it's more important than ever to use your resources wisely and not waste time, money or effort on non-viable prospects.

In printing, we are familiar with the concept of waste.  In marketing, reaching beyond your market base is also called waste. If ther were ever a time to get tough on waste of all sorts, it's now. In marketing, you attack waste with sharp shooter targeting.  It is, after all, a war out there.

Written by Rhona Bronson in: Target Marketing | Tags: , , ,