The Marketing Plaza

The biggest mistake many companies make — regardless of their size — is putting marketing last in the product development cycle.  It’s a holdover from the Madmen era.  In marketing’s infancy, it was, indeed, an afterthought.  Companies and entrepreneurs put all their effort into building the best offering they could develop — the best mousetrap. Then, and only then, depending on their size, would they go to an ad agency, or start to market their product or service.

Times have changed, and so has the position marketing plays in developing a new market offering.  Now, marketing must  go first, or very close to first.  It’s called building an audience.

If you only start marketing after you’ve opened your store, or fully developed you product  – you’re way too late.  Take, for example, the story of  Envy, a new nail salon that just opened in South Jersey. The young owner — 26 years old — is wise beyond his years.  He noted that if he opened his doors and then started marketing, his overhead clock would have already be ticking and he’d already be losing money.  Instead, while his store was still in the design and construction phases, he started a Facebook site.  On Facebook, he shared store designs, color schemes, and asked people to be friends. Then, before his store opened, he offered coupons and had an established “interest” base from Day One, with appointments already made though social media.

Today, only a few months after opening, he has close to 2,500 fans on Facebook, a number well in excess of many larger, more established firms.  Through social media, he gets testimonials, tracks customer feedback, takes appointments, and answers customers questions.

Nail salons are literally a dime a dozen throughout New Jersey.  Envy’s owner was conscious that he needed to differentiate himself and launch as more than another nail salon.  What could he do to differentiate himself?  Design was a key factor.  Check out the video on his web site. He prides himself on having a fire place in his pedicure room, as well as having a pedicure room!  And, he positions his store as a nail spa rather than a salon, His attention to detail, atmosphere and style, make the differentiation real rather than in name only.

More than entrepreneur, Sean, the owner, is a true marketing professional. Here’s why:

1. He knows what media is generating what leads
2. He started marketing months before his store opened
3. He understands the value of a unique selling proposition
4. He values customer feedback and has an active mechanism for listening to the voice of the customer.

But Sean is not alone. For insight into how a North Jersey nail salon also differentiated itself with an entirely different proposition — organics — see  Karma’s web site.  Similar to envy, it’s positioned as a spa.  It’s unique selling proposition (USP), however, is organics and from the moment you enter the store, you know it’s different. The spell is of fresh florals, from the geranium leaves, put in the water soaks, and the seats are cushy chairs from Ikea rather than a salon distributor.  The floors are non-allergenic wood and although the web site is not sophisticated, it does the job in positioning the owner, Naz’s, real vision in developing an new product line.  I feel so in love with his shop years ago, that I posted about in in  Duct Tape Toes on TheParentRap.net.

On the flip side, I recently met the marketing director of a new developing shopping mall.  She noted her employer had no money or time to spend on marketing as all his attention was on construction.  If Envy had time for marketing during its construction phase, it’s hard to accept that a larger concern doesn’t. It’s all a matter of mindset  and if you view marketing in the modern way as critical to pre-selling your operation, or are still in the Madmen era and only consider marketing after you open your doors and the cash register is not ringing.