Marketing: How Subjective Is It?

by | Aug 27, 2013 | Advertising, Branding, Creative, Latest, Marketing

The real question is “should marketing be subjective?” Through years of creating concepts and designs, I have realized when you ask someone their opinion they will give it to you… whether they are qualified or not.

Most people either like something or don’t. It doesn’t matter if it’s a priceless painting like the Mona Lisa or their kid’s artwork hanging on the fridge. So the Mona Lisabottom line is, if people don’t like something there’s nothing that anyone can do to change their mind.

It would seem then,  pretty tough to sell a product with a marketing position or concept that doesn’t resonate with the market. It’s even harder to come up with a marketing and advertising campaign that helps people make decisions on whether they should buy or not.

Marketing is like art

When it comes to marketing concepts, like art, everyone’s a critic. And like art, it’s not always easy to defend when the art you’ve just created is being criticized.  It’s not like mathematics where it’s either right or wrong. 2+2 is 4 no matter which way you look. But marketing is different because it boils down to the way people think and feel.

Is marketing subjective? Is the creation of a marketing campaign purely subjective? Is it really based on the reaction of the client who tells you for the umpteenth time,  ‘so and so doesn’t like it”.

Marketing behind the scenes

Not everyone seems to appreciate what goes on behind the scenes in marketing. Maybe you’ve heard: “Whoever came up with that idea? My kid can do better.” But marketing shouldn’t be evaluated on likeability alone.

Marketing is a critical business function to attract customers. Is it realistic then to leave marketing to chance? It’s true  how we view elements of marketing can be subjective. I like that packaging. I don’t like that commercial. But what many don’t understand, fail to understand, forget, ignore or just don’t care is that marketing  is strategic. It doesn’t matter what you like, your wife likes or your dog likes. A good marketing campaign first requires investigation and research.  A SWOT analysis is key. A  definition of target market is only the first step. We need to learn  about our target market and what makes them tick. We identify what we want to accomplish. We anticipate how the consumer will react to our objective.

And through all this we are cognizant of  the 4ps of marketing.

Marketing is the process of communicating the value of a product to our customers. We do this by positioning our product to find its place and stand out amongst all the noise and babble. We create brand awareness and we sustain that awareness throughout the campaign. In order to create a marketing campaign, we capture marketing insight to determine how best to connect with customers. We build a strong brand and communicate its value. We communicate consistently. We connect with our customers and deliver a message that communicates value. We are conscious to protect our brand. We monitor on a continuous basis. And in the end, our metrics tell us whether we were successful or not in cold, hard numbers.

Those numbers are the facts. They are indisputable.

So maybe, marketing isn’t so subjective after all.

Marketing Strategy: Put a stake in the sand

by | Aug 1, 2013 | Advertising, Branding, Latest, Marketing

During the course of my marketing career, I have seen many brands change their marketing strategy, marketing direction and marketing definition on an annual basis or even worse, more often than that! For those of us who have professed the art of marketing, it becomes second nature – even an unconscious behaviour – to resist jumping ship when the water gets rough. It’s crucial for a marketer to support a marketing strategy, position, a brand persona or brand style. A marketer has to stay focused on the chosen strategic direction, even when there’s a storm brewing – and stay the course.

There’s always a new idea, a new marketing strategy or a different approach available for a brand to take.

It may not be wrong, but the true question should be: Is it right for the brand at this time? Marketing is all about putting a stake in the sand. This doesn’t mean being rigid. In fact, for a brand to grow it must be fluid, it must evolve and move in a certain direction. At the same time, a marketer must allow for seamless transitions that will add to its positioning.

There are a few behaviours you can count on when you roll out a brand marketing initiative and determine your marketing strategy. It doesn’t matter if  its  packaging design (or redesign), an advertising campaign, product positioning or a marketing concept – here are a couple of things you can be sure of:

  1. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Respectfully though, not everyone’s opinion should have equal weight.
  2. Many people, including colleagues, don’t like change. Just as everyone has an opinion, most resist change and will sometimes criticize what’s new or different. Change often makes people uncomfortable.

For any marketer to put a stake in the sand with their marketing strategy, and stand behind it when the going gets tough, they must do their marketing homework beforehand. Here’s how:

  1. Investigate! Know your market. Know who plays in your market. Know what competitive brands are out there, and what marketing strategies they use. Get out there and do store checks, get price comparisons, look at promotional initiatives, and say yes, even to a one-time Nielsen three-year trend of the market category and segment you are considering.
  2. Evaluate what you have now. Don’t assume it is wrong. Do your research. Talk to your target audience. Get their take on your brand and on your brand’s positioning. It doesn’t matter what you think, it matters how your brand communicates with its audience. Say yes to market research! It’s well worth the investment. (Notice I didn’t say cost!)
  3. Quantify the potential. Know what marketing strategy works and what doesn’t. Measure it on a scale that will allow you to accurately assess your marketing stance.

After you do your homework, you can launch your marketing initiative stocked with objective, “non-personalized” rationales. This will give you the tools you need to ward off those nay-sayers and the ones that resist change! Furthermore, you need to wait it out. It’s amazing how with a little time, a revolutionary idea, or funky package can become comfortable and the good old standby!

Brand Persona: It’s not About you

by | Jun 25, 2013 | Branding, Business Success, Latest

It’s hard to separate personal persona from your brand persona. If you are in charge of marketing for a brand or business you are probably passionate about what you do and how you do it. Being in charge of a brand and its performance can be intoxicating. However, like everything else in life, too much of one thing may be counterproductive. (Who said that?)

Having such a strong connection with the Brand, or as you see it your Brand, can make it very difficult to separate yourself. But you must. As a Brand Manager you are responsible for a brand’s marketing strategy by deciding what makes the most sense. You are the keeper and caretaker for brand character which involves everything from brand and logo guidelines, brand tone, brand voice and brand style… including brand body language. SO… the big question is, how do you as a brand manager separate yourself from the Brand? Chances are, during the course of your marketing career you will be fortunate enough to handle many different brands, even competitive brand. They can’t all be you! Here’s a quick checklist on how to separate yourself from your Brand.

Pleased to meet you: I have always thought of a Brand as a person. When my team and I first come on board to develop campaigns for a brand that we don’t know, we get to know it. We are respectful. We learn about its past, how it came to be, how it evolved, who its friends are and who its foes are (competitors). We discover where it lives and where its market is… and where the Brand needs to be.

Not all change is good: Understand the Brand’s character and its potential to evolve within that character and tone. Too often I have seen new Brand Managers come into an organization and change everything without any thought to the Brand’s franchise, community, marketplace or its potential. Remember it’s easy to judge what you think is right or wrong when you are new to a Brand. But making changes too soon can lead to market confusion. It takes time to nurture a Brand and for it to attain its rightful place in its community and market space. Brand making isn’t cookie cutter… sure, tactics can be interchanged, but brand personality and character need to stay the course in order to prevail and be a Brand.

Brands evolve: Take a very open view of a Brand that you’ve lived with for a long time. Just because you’ve tried a tactic in the past that hasn’t worked, doesn’t mean that same tactic with some tweaks, won’t work today. By the same token, keep your eye on the future. Find out what’s new and what’s exciting, maybe it’s just the thing to rejuvenate your Brand. Make sure you always place the Brand first and always evaluate. If a Brand is its own entity then it has its own style.

Be impartial: Separate your own likes about colour and style from those of the Brand… especially when working on brand creative. Ask yourself if the concern you have is really going to make or break the communications. Don’t strangle the creative process… and don’t confuse what you like with the Brand’s style… you will doing it a big disservice.

Be passionate. Be respectful. Be mindful.

After all, it’s all about the brand persona, Brand’s success… and yours.

Quality Control: How to avoid BIG MISTEAKS

by | Jun 12, 2013 | Advertising, Business Success, Latest

I looked up and high on the shelf in the Dollar Store was a giant eraser with the words “We Make BIG Misteaks”.  I thought it was funny and not so funny.

Not so funny when you are the one making those misteaks.

I bet Lululemon doesn’t think making misteaks is funny after their recall of yoga pants in March because you could see through them. The recall amounted to approximately $67 Million in sales, a big chunk of change but small change when last year’s revenue was close to 1.4 Billion.

The supplier said they followed specifications so what happened?

Maybe the Chief Product Officer knows. He was fired immediately.

Then, three months later after the excitement settled down it was announced that the CEO, Christine Day would step down.  She gave no explanation for leaving.

Looks like that was a big misteak somewhere. But where:  Lululemon or the supplier?  The Product Officer or the CEO? We may never know.

We can only hope it doesn’t happen to us.

If don’t want to make big misteaks like Lululemon I have two recommendations to help you ensure product quality control.

Define Guidelines

An important way to ensure quality control is to have specific written guidelines for your product. These standards must be followed at all times. Do not turn a blind eye and make the excuse to let it pass just this one time. If you turn a blind eye to quality you are on a slippery downward slope.

Teach your vendor about your products

Having a good relationship with your vendor will go a long way to getting good results. Help them understand and teach them what is important about your product . Regularly rank your vendors so you can determine which of them needs improvement and work on getting that improvement.

By making these recommendations I am not meaning to act like I know better than Lululemon. I’m not. It’s hard to beat a Billion dollars in revenue.  But what I do know is I can protect my business ….and with all pun intended … that’s the bottom line.