by Saara Jafari | Oct 17, 2012 | Business Success
The catchiest of phrases… and we all know it… “Which would you rather be… do you want to be a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond?”
I can’t help it. Whenever I hear this phrase, the image that pops up in my head is of a big fish getting really bored and stifled in a small pond or a little cute goldfish in a big pond being eaten by the bigger fish.
But why do I need to be either? Why can’t I just be an illustrious ant or a honey bee collecting my food and preparing for the future? The point is why must I be restrained by these preconceived notions when making my career choices? Does size really matter?
Having the unique perspective gained from working international in both small and large organizations, I have first hand experience of working in a one-man, family run business and a full blown Corporate Head Office. We’ve all heard it. The myths and the conventional wisdom of working for small or large businesses from “you will learn a lot in a small company” to “big corporations provide better career growth opportunities”… and everything and anything in between.
Personally, there’s no right or wrong. It ultimately is a matter of what suits you and what is conducive to your personality and experience level. Having worked with differently sized and structured companies, one thing is clear… work satisfaction depends on the leader’s management style. Big or small, that’s all that really matters. Some managers like to groom you or give you the freedom to bring in your unique style of work while others like to micro-manage or to delegate their decision making, and yet again, some like to spend time on training new people while others don’t.
In big companies, the hierarchical structure provides an immediate supervisor who is there to provide training and supervision using existing company training resources. Job roles are also more specialized enabling the person to get a good grasp over his/her specific domain. On the other hand, in a small but fast paced company, it is difficult for a new person with no experience to survive if no training is being provided. Depending on your character and personality traits, at the beginning of your career, this could be devastating for your self esteem.
Since big corporations have larger teams and more resources, they have the money to spend on training and development of their employees. Annual appraisals and promotions also provide a sense of accomplishment to employees motivating them to perform better and grow further. It is also easier to have a work life balance since there are systems in place to provide employees with a balanced workload and working hours. Sounds great? Again, depending on your chosen career path and your ultimate objective, as well as your personality, being in a silo environment may stifle your long term career plan.
In small companies, due to a constraint of resources and funds learning is gained on-the-job – one person usually ends up wearing many hats having a wider scope of learning… however, dedication towards the job is often mandatory which means hours… compromising on valuable family time or outside work interest or self development projects.
Where you should work depends largely, on what you want to learn, how passionate a drive you have and where you want to go. So there is no simple answer to whether you want to be a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond. Either way, big fish… small fish, you will belong in a school that collectively moves in the same direction, working together to reach a common objective.
So what’s it going to be… Big or Small?
by Saara Jafari | Sep 21, 2012 | Advertising, Business Success
How many times have we heard ourselves and those around us complain about how there never seems to be enough time? And how often have we walked down an aisle in a grocery store and gotten overwhelmed by lines and choices of products? The answer would be ‘countless times’. Then why is it that advertisers often, in their rush to spend their marketing/advertising budgets often fail to understand what exactly they are competing with before formulating the message they want to communicate to the buyer.
While it is simple to define ‘competitors’ as those whom you are competing with, it would be naïve to limit the scope to only include products or businesses in the same category. Today’s lifestyle is often the major competitor. With the increasing tendency of multitasking and quick fixes, where cost of living is sky rocketing, and people are working more than one job or longer hours, people place a greater value on the little time they have left to spend with their families, friends and personal development.
What does this mean to marketers? It means there are only a few seconds in a day, for companies, to get consumers’ attention and how they reach out to consumers is equally significant. According to a research conducted by McKinsey in Europe, 54% of the respondent base went online to collect information before making a purchase. This means companies should have a stronger and mindful online presence, whether it’s through digital advertising or social media. It’s important to streamline your websites and have engaging topics of discussions on your social media sites and user-friendly navigation to assist consumers in getting the information they want effortlessly…. And quickly.
Information overload is a definite competing factor and should be recognized and analysed when trying to get consumers’ attention. Whatever it is you have to say, say it well and say it fast. Be sure that what you are claiming to offer is relevant to your consumer’s need.
It’s imperative to understand consumer buying behaviour before developing your communication strategy. This is what you need to know:
- know what they think, how they feel, who influences them, what drives them to buy that product and at what time,
- what makes them pick up the one brand as opposed to the others,
- when and where are they most receptive to actually listen to what you are trying to say,
Here are a few tips to make sure that your point gets across and sticks!
Do not ramble. You have to be focussed. You need to be concise.
Be catchy. There is enough serious stuff going on in the world. Don’t be afraid of a little cleverness, a little colour, a little music, a little positive emotion.
Keep it light. People like funny. If your brand puts that smile on their faces, they will remember you. Your job is partially done if they remember you fondly, and have positive emotional associations with your brand.
It goes without saying, of course, that your product should deliver on what it promises… marketing 101. No amount of cleverness or humour can make up for a brand that doesn’t deliver on its promise. Actually, you’ll tick off your consumers even more because they’ve taken out the time that they could have used else where to engage with your brand … only to be disappointed. But if you convey your promise of satisfaction and deliverance of benefits in a simple, light and humorous way, and deliver…you’ll definitely stand out.
You need to get inside their heads and step into their shoes to know how they think, how they process all the information bombarding them from everywhere. You need to understand this in order to break through all the clutter sucking up all their time. After all, that’s what advertising should do, gain share of mind and top of mind.
Please share your comments. We’d love to hear what you have to say.
by Saara Jafari | Aug 30, 2012 | Business Success
The Dilemma
Many small to mid-sized businesses are often caught in a “To Market Research or Not To Market Research” dilemma and by Market Research, I mean traditional market research methods like focus groups, survey polls, etc. So why is there this dilemma? To nail it, it’s because of time and money. As a business manager you are often crunched for time before product launches, ad campaigns, and constrained by budget too.
So then you may ask – how to market research? Use tools like Survey Monkey? Sure, if you feel all you need is a range of 100 – 250 responses per month … Or, if you are a small business or network surveying your internal staff for cafeteria food improvements or annual Christmas party venue ideas, by all means, go for it. However, if you are launching a product or campaign and would like to test it before the big launch, using a third party research company specializing in the field should be the preferred route to take. Responses require analysis and credible/effective analysis requires thought and strategic direction. Survey Monkey does neither for you.
A tool providing a broader respondent base at a given point in time would seem more beneficial. Don’t you think? Do I hear Market Research company?
The Million-Dollar Question
Is market research imperative to business /product/brand success?
The Answer
“Marketing without traditional research still creates a blind target”
If you don’t know whether your product or service is relevant to your target market, you are not only wasting your valuable marketing and sales bucks on product development, but also on your distribution and advertising campaign. Miriam Hara from 3H Communications puts it very aptly, “Sometimes a $1K spend is more costly than a $10K spend – after you do the math.” Be farsighted. Think long-term customer loyalty via knowing customer demand. Translate that into sales. Translate that into dollars. Translate that into a happy boss. A happy boss equals promotion, which equals a bonus, which equals a happy you.
A lot of big marketers like to back up their ‘Market research is not important’ outcry by quoting what Henry Ford famously once said, “If I’d have asked my customers what they wanted, they would have told me ‘A faster horse’.” Steve Jobs was one of them. In an interview with Fortune Magazine’s senior editor, Betty Morris, he was quoted as saying famously, “we do no market research” when it comes to choosing strategy. And when it came to connecting with his consumers, he spoke about launching the innovative Apple iPhones after talking to everybody around him and finding out how much they hated their cell phones. iTunes Music Store? Same story. Observing people around him, he realized how much everyone loved their music and that they all wanted to carry their music around with them. It “seemed like the writing on the wall” that electronic music transfer is the future. Ironically though, Apple is known to conduct surveys to get customer feedback on its products and service.
“Know your market. Know their market”
If you don’t talk to your target market, you won’t know how to beat competition. Knowing about the strategies and plans of your competitors is Marketing 101.
“Don’t assume. Ever.”
Don’t assume you know what the consumer likes or dislikes. Find out and adapt.
“Good enough is never good enough”
As much as your family and friends’ opinions are valuable in your personal life, they are not good enough when it comes to your business. They don’t want to hurt your feelings. Start off with secondary research if you really can’t spend much. But try to use both primary and secondary research. Oh, and just in case you missed the point above, let me reiterate … Please don’t use Survey Monkey.
To conclude, “Dare to be surprised: Use research”.
The cost of a market research project is typically less than the media cost associated with a product or an ad campaign launch. So an unsuccessful campaign translates into a waste of all those big media bucks.
So what do you think is the roadway to business success? To Market Research or Not to Market Research?
(Miriam Hara’s e-book quotes are available on www.3H.ca)
