When it comes to understanding buyer behavior, one thing that always is taken note of is trends. Brands that set trends such as Apple’s  line of products show  it is possible for a brand to establish a value proposition that is driven by and in fact, drives style.  But how is it possible for a single brand to gain a following that can probably be considered close to cultish? Perhaps the answer lies in understanding the buzz that lies beneath the creation of a herd.

It is a very human need to belong and be part of something — herding is practically a basic human reaction. Take for instance the creation of a market for mobile gadgets. Since mobile technology kept people who were on that same technology together, others would get it as well. But, let’s say you’re going for something else. Let’s say your product is about being set apart from the rest.

The entire line of Apple’s products is probably the best case when it comes to being “different”. Its popular PC vs. Mac campaign attracted people by marketing themselves as different from the more popular and therefore more “boring” or “safer” brand. And even in its past campaigns, there was a focus on the Mac user being the innovative one—the clearly different one. The value proposition placed on Apple’s products was based more on a focus of who its users were instead of simply what the product is about.

So, is it possible to create a value proposition for your own brand through a focus on users? Definitely. And it helps in the creation of buzz as well. If the brand encourages a youthful image with the right features to go with it, then it isn’t a far-fetched idea to market it as something used by a youthful market. Creating an image to go with the brand is a powerful way to draw in a herd.

And a herd is even easier to keep nowadays with the latest marketing tools that put a higher premium on community building and being social. With the right mix of marketing, it becomes possible to build a brand’s value on the quality of its community alone.

Is your product or service clearly connecting with a specific customer? Does its style and brand elements align to that target market?

Related articles for further reading:

• Mac vs PC Guy Commercials May Not Be Over Yet (corporate-eye.com)
• Crowdsourcing: Beyond the Basics (convinceandconvert.com)
• Microsoft launches “PC vs. Mac” site to explain why Macs are no good (geek.com)

Gone are the days when companies would simply create a product or service, market it and hope for a successful, profitable outcome. Products and services are now deeply commoditized and consumers are increasingly fickle and hard to please. People don’t just want something to spend their money on; they want solutions. They want something that can satisfy a specific need in a specific way. It is a must for companies and marketers to understand this basic consumer reality.

Innovative, Indispensible, Inspirational.

Innovative, Indispensible, Inspirational. These are the three I’s of an effective Value Proposition. If you want to make your brand work, you’ve got to cater to your target consumers’ needs. We’re not just talking about basic  needs here. A product or service can also satisfy emotional and perhaps even spiritual needs. It all depends on how you position your offering.

Is it innovative? Does your product bring something new to the table? Have you discovered a need nobody thought they had, or are you riding the bandwagon with a me-too offering? Is your offering truly useful/beneficial over time? That is, does it represent a continuous stream of goodness to its owner?  Does your your brand  inspire action or complacency? By answering these questions, among others, you can pinpoint the ideal way to market your product. The next step is to see if the target audience is going to be receptive to the messages you send.

Know thy customer. It is a crucial commandment that must be heeded, if you want your brand messages to come across positively. We  live in an age where information is easily accessible. Especially information about how your product is doing in multiple dimensions besides “unit sales”. Not too long ago, it wasn’t practical to do intensive consumer research, simply because by the time enough information has already been gathered, it  was already be obsolete and useless for brand-building.

The Internet is a great way to find out about your target market and its specific needs. The rise of social media has made it incredibly easy for companies to connect with consumers and find out their current needs. By becoming receptive to your followers or potential buyers, you can have a greater idea of what makes them tick and translate that into your brand. You can raise the power of I3 with the aid of Internet tools.

Whenever I look for a particular product or service, the company’s website has a lot to do with whether I engage with a vendor or not. I don’t disregard product or service quality, of course, but the power of the website is great: It can draw you in or turn you off.

We all know that today, consumers search for products and services online before making purchases. In order to get an advantage over their competition, companies create websites to gain visibility and promote credibility with their consumers online.

How then, can one stand out? This is where visual design takes a step forward.  Here are a few reasons why a good visual design can be powerful marketing tool:

Visually Appealing Websites are Fresh.

Visual elements that reinforce your objectives, appropriate and nicely done images of your products — these add up to your web site’s appeal to your consumers. Visual design supports a company’s brand positioning, thus effectively communicating information and interactivity to its readers.

A Visually Appealing Website can Increase Your Market Share and Expand your Audience Reach.

The ability to pique your audience’s interest and get them to view your site is essential in getting them to learn more about your product or service, and ultimately lead them to inquire, sign up and purchase. Your website speaks volumes more than you know — a poorly designed one shows inconsistencies which can reflect badly on your company’s service and products. A well-designed site can indicate a service or brand that is professional, consistent and reliable, and consumers can have more confidence in and prefer doing business with you.

Visually Appealing Websites Improve Efficiency.

Is your consumer browsing through a website and not really getting the information they want? Your visual design might be a little too cluttered and confusing. A few minutes of delayed and fruitless searching, and your viewers may soon be giving up and moving on to the next site. A well-designed website provides positive experiences to its audience by delivering useful, fresh content that allows them to accomplish their goals quickly and easily.

A visually appealing website ultimately gives you and your audience the best of both worlds: An overall organized feel that is consistent and professional for your company, and a portal of information for your viewers that is organized and easy to find. Creating this makes it possible to achieve more with less time and effort, and gives you a great and lasting impression on the Web in today’s hectic society.

NOTE: a great resource on this topic is the book, “Don’t Make Me Think“, by Steve Krug.

No brand is immune to competition. Even market leaders have their nemesis, and direct competitors keep a company from having the entire pie for itself. In many cases, competition can actually be mutually beneficial, as it keeps the competing parties from becoming complacent. In always trying to outdo each other, the companies push themselves to improve their brands and the products or services they carry. It is a welcome cycle that not many businesses want to admit (or enjoy).

Competitive analysis begins in much the same way a company would evaluate its own brand. You can examine your competitor’s value proposition in I³ terms based on their marketing claims. Find out exactly what they are saying that gives them an edge from their competition and compare that to your own unique selling points. If both of you are claiming the same thing, you end up canceling each other out on that factor, all other things remaining equal. I call this the overlapping value proposition: two companies making equally valid claims to a differentiator, neutralizing each other in the market on that attribute.

Take for example, Coca Cola and Pepsi. Both of these fizzy drinks are refreshing, affordable, and, for a time, they were actually marketed as health tonics. The Cola Wars are infamous in the marketing world. When it finally hit them that there is no use trying to convince consumers that one brand of soda tastes better than the other, they decided to go with more distinct (and emotional) approaches.

(image from Brand New )

Rather than win a consumer following with proof of taste superiority (a virtual unprovable), the beverage giants decided to woo the market by creating ‘personalities’ for their brand. It is evident in the evolution of their logos. Coca-Cola positions itself as a feel-good drink that encompasses all generations; thus, its logo has remained consistent over the years. Pepsi, on the other hand, keeps reinventing itself as the ‘cool drink.’ It mainly targets youth, which is why it also tends to get popular celebrities and artists to promote its brand.

Despite their difference in marketing approaches, Coke and Pepsi still enjoy a healthy rivalry. They were able to avoid the rut of the overlapping value proposition by re-thinking their challenge in other dimensions. They observed consumers more intently and creatively constructed brand personalities that resonate with their target market. Value proposition don’t have to be tangible or factual – they can simply be a matter of style.

There used to be a time when ads had to be written with hyperbole. ‘Amazing,’ ‘Miraculous’ and ‘Spectacular’ made common appearances in old print ads, usually in large bold letters. Add to that a few more impressive, flowery phrases and an image of a person with a wide-mouthed smile, and the product was almost as good as sold.

Selling meant singing nothing but praises, and getting customers to buy was the only end point for marketing efforts.

And then… it changed. Over the years, sales and marketing have become quite sophisticated due in part to evolving consumer behaviors and expectations. Today’s customers are not as so easily wowed by “smoke and mirrors”. It is not enough that marketers say their product is the best. Even ‘New!’ doesn’t work as well any more. We live in an over-saturated — over-messaged – marketplace. Nothing is really new, and every trick in the book has already been tried and tested. Smoke and mirrors, flowery words and calls to action do nothing except annoy consumers and make them ignore the product being promoted in that way. Of course, direct marketing and hard sells live on in the world of infomercials – but fundamental brand advertising has changed.

Now, selling means providing solutions, and the end point of marketing is something much more long-lasting and substantial than simply getting a single sale.

Developing an effective value proposition is the first step to effective sales and marketing. The principle entails sending targeted messages rather than making broad sweeping promotions. Instead of “Buy this now,” it should be “Here’s what we can do for you.” Customers want the respect and autonomy to obtain products and services at their own leisure and according to their own considered criteria. They also like knowing what’s in it for them. Ask yourself: Would you buy something simply because someone told you to?

Building brand loyalty can be considered a much higher priority than making sales. Sporadic deals won’t get the company anywhere in the long run. With a loyal customer base, the company can build continued success. It is a win-win situation for both sides, as the customers will be getting what they want while the company can streamline their marketing efforts and focus their marketing budgets to yield greater ROI on dollars spent.

• Does your marketing speak to long term benefits?
• Does your messaging meet your best buyers in their language?
• Are you counting on tricks and clever words to close the deal?

“I’m a woman. I think, feel and see differently. How well do you think you really know me?

There are few smart guys (even experienced husbands) who wouldn’t welcome these words of wisdom when jammed up in a “what did I do now?” situation. Of course, truly knowing and understanding women doesn’t just apply to relationships. (I know I’m on thin ice writing this – but I am trying to make a broader point, so please hang in there with me).

Women are the primary purchase decision-makers in most American households. According to one study, women make up the majority of all consumer purchases — clothes, computers, new homes, vacations, healthcare, food, etc. It was found that although both partners work in a particular household, it’s the women that direct how 80% of the combined income gets spent!

So what does this mean for marketers, especially those of the male kind? (and by the way, this includes women marketers – because so much of the profession has been historically documented by men)

The way men and women think and react differently and make decisions has an impact on marketers. How do you communicate and illustrate your value proposition to a female prospect, customer or client? How do you market to women online?

Now, this post is primarily looking at marketing of consumer (and therefore, media-marketed) products. B2B and Direct Sales is a somewhat different topic with different issues as it relates to gender.

Marketing to women online is all about creating relationships. If you have products or services for women, your website has to speak to women in their language and address their specific needs. Design that appeals to women counts a lot too. Here are some suggestions for marketers looking to connect with women:

• Provide excellent service. Answer her questions promptly, create meaningful emails, have giveaways!
• Listen to her needs. Create discussion forums and online communities where she can share her thoughts and experiences with others.
• Be her go-to site. Be an expert. Depending on what product or service you offer, try creating a section of your site that answers her questions and provides her free valuable information. With expert information, she will feel more confident in her choice and is more likely to buy.
• Create and establish a site personality. Women relate to sites similar to the way they relate to people – that’s why it’s all about relationships. Your site and your value proposition should accurately reflect who you are. Trustworthiness, warmth and networking matter to her, so get rid of all the hype and speak to her the way you would to a friend.

Once you get her nod of approval, it will be much easier to connect and sell to them. If you do connect – it’s very likely she’ll refer you to her friends and family too!

What do you think? Does this “ring true”?

I’m sure many of you have read “Getting Things Done”, David Allen’s excellent book for managing time in a chaotic and heavily demanding work context. This is where you have so much coming at you all the time. The book and philosophy helps you organize and survive it all. One of David Allen’s rules is called the “two minute rule”. The two minute rule means that if something takes two minutes or less then just do it– don’t even put it on your list — don’t prioritize it — you just need to knock it out and get it done.

I have applied this principle with varying degrees of consistency over the last four years and it has actually helped me accomplish a lot of things and keep my ‘To Do List’ manageable. But there is another principle which I call the ‘one hour push’ that is a little different but still consistent with GTD or other time management systems.

We often procrastinate or don’t start a difficult task or avoid things that are just not in our sweet spot because we fear our ability to ever complete the task. This fear may be grounded in “Do I have enough time to get this task done?” or it could be grounded in the belief that “We don’t have the necessary resources, abilities or talents to accomplish the task”. More importantly, we fear that the task will consume more of our day than we would have wanted to allocate to it.

We really just see these things as a black hole of unpleasantness that will ultimately knock us off the track of things that are more important. This will inevitably run into important things in your life like reading to your children or attending their school play or even in doing the budget or making some networking calls to advance your business. We view these things as important but we tend to put off doing them. We need to stop glossing them over with the good old saying “I don’t have enough time”.

Here is a suggestion: pause for a few seconds, catch your breath and quickly answer these three questions:

• Do I (we) even have the ability to do this task?
• Do I have the resources (budget, people, skills) to complete this task (paperwork or whatever else you might need)?
• If I have to describe this task in three steps what would those steps be (gather bills, post the bills, calculate the total, put into the annual total)?

Lastly, now that you have done this, take a look at what YOU have said and ask yourself how long this whole thing will actually take. Add fifty percent for good measure. So look at each step and total it. Maybe something like “tax prep” could take 25 minutes or 2 hours and 25 minutes. The point is this: it is a finite and specific amount of time and it is probably an amount of time you can “find”.

You should also ask yourself about the budget at hand. Can I do it in one sitting? I would suggest that if you could make it an hour or less – knock it out with ease. You can put it into your calendar with a one hour block of time and formulate your thoughts step by step so you can put that into your calendar or just make a mental note of it. You have just demystified that thing that has been sitting there not getting any attention because you felt it was too big.

What if it is big? What if it is in fact a large task? Then break it down. Usually you will find a way to take a three to five hour task and you can do it in three chunks spread out over two weeks. You may ask- is two weeks a form of procrastination? I would suggest that by human nature, and my own observations, that if you get it done in two weeks in this fashion then you will actually get it done much sooner then you would have if you just put it off until the perfect time.

Face down your fears! And get things done!

Whenever my marketer friend visits a website, right after looking at the product or service, he goes directly to the company’s blog. He tells me, “Show me a company’s blog and I’ll tell you if that company will be successful or not.” He makes an interesting point.

A blog, when used strategically, is an effective way to communicate with customers and clients – it’s also a powerful tool that can help directly generate revenue.

Blogging doesn’t require upfront expenses (well, except the time to create the content, which is something that can be managed by a dedicated person). Built attractively and written well, a blog can also drive traffic from search engines. Since each blog post can stand alone as its own page, marketers can merchandise relevant products and services on those pages, without any direct cost!

So how is your blog working out for you? Are you making the most of its potential for helping you earn more and communicate your value proposition? If your blog is new, or if it’s been up for quite some time but you’re experiencing a slump, you may want to review what else blogging can do for you and your business:

• Inform your visitors and clients about new products or services, or any changes in existing ones. It’s great how you can introduce new products through your blog and/or keep in touch with your affiliates and potential customers.
• Provide information that’s free and valuable. Because content is stored using archives, your information can be readily available for those who might be looking for it.
• Improve your rankings and help your website’s visibility. Because you store plenty of content in your blog, and even put in links to other sites and affiliates, your site becomes more visible to people who are searching for products and services every day. This is one of the most useful ways a blog can help drive a business, so brush up on excellent content writing and SEO for your blog.
• Provide valuable feedback. Encouraging visitors to add comments to your blog is a great way to get feedback so you can improve your site, products or services.
• Connect with other bloggers to improve prominence on the Web. If you have a great blog, other bloggers would not hesitate to link your site, giving you additional visitors from their sites.

The story of David and Goliath is, of course, a classic Biblical story. Some of you might have heard it at Sunday School when you were kids.

The headline would read: “Shepherd boy defeats giant, using only slingshot and a few carefully chosen stones!”

The story is often told as a metaphor for the victory of the underdog — how a small, usually insignificant entity can overthrow the dominating opposition.

In the realm of marketing and sales, the Davids are small businesses while the Goliaths are big, established brands. The latter overshadows its little competitors by their sheer size and reach. Everyone knows about Starbucks, what to buy there and how much it costs. The same cannot be said for the local café down the other block.

Using Size as an Advantage

Sure, a small company may not have the same strengths as the ‘big guys,’ but that doesn’t mean it lacks other competitive strengths at all. A more compact scale can give a business a different edge over its established competition. Small businesses tend to be nimble and flexible, able to act fast and adapt to changes quickly. This can be a definite differentiator. The company must be able to exert some control over its market, however. It is one thing to cater to the consumer’s specific needs, and another to spoil them. If a small company modifies every single deal to meet specific customer requests, it may run the risk of stifling its own growth.

Pick Your Stones and Sling Well

Before David went out to defeat Goliath, he went off to a nearby brook to pick out the stones for his sling. For a small business to match up with larger competition, it should be able to pinpoint its unique selling points and position them well to draw in its audience. What does your small business have that the big company doesn’t? It can be anything from more affordable prices to an exclusive product offering. Or it can simply be that you are more familiar with the target market than the giant looming around the corner. Whatever it is, the best way to beat Goliath is by capitalizing on your own strengths.

Original Post From: Culture Buzz

Now and then, we see the Internet blow up with activity. A picture or video spreads across all the social networking sites. This sometimes leads to the creation of spin-offs – inspired pictures and videos which follow the same cycle of viral circulation. In today’s Internet parlance, this is called a ‘meme’. And while many “old horses” from more traditional marketing backgrounds can think of this as just another mind-boggling phenomenon of the Screen Age, others see a potential innovation.

When Old Spice and its advertising agency, Wieden + Kennedy, saw its latest campaign was becoming a viral success, they immediately capitalized on it. Now, not only has the Old Spice Guy, perpetually wrapped in a bath towel and flashing a debonair smile, become a household name; product sales are growing and the company is enjoying a breath of new life in its industry.

What Old Spice and Wieden + Kennedy did is a perfect example of making good use of the power of “I3″. They positioned the men’s grooming product line as inspirational; an exciting trend any man would be crazy not to get into. The creative execution was simple and novel – show a good-looking guy seamlessly weaved through women’s fantasy settings, all the while boasting how any man can be like him if they just used some Old Spice body wash. A “net new” (innovative)twist on an old product. Given that cats and dogs and men and women remain interested in each other, this also made the product seem indispensable. Innovative, Indispensable, Inspirational… an I3 Value Proposition.

Interestingly, the ad was first aired on television, often taken as a dying medium for marketing (which it surely isn’t – just changing in how it needs to be used). Soon, however, it started making its way into YouTube and the rest of the Internet. When the hype still wouldn’t die down months after its first showing, the agency decided to further feed the flame with exclusive YouTube videos of the Old Spice Guy, (actor Isaiah Mustafa), addressing various celebrities and online personalities. Not only did this succeed in ‘fleshing out’ the character endorser, the stunt ultimately led to a 107% sales increase. Wearing Old Spice is finally cool again – a seemingly impossible feat just a year or two ago. This is a huge feat for a men’s grooming line that has long been associated with middle-aged men (ahem!). This is all thanks to innovative execution of a globally thought-through marketing campaign.

Are you dismissive of the “new” marketing? Yes, there’s lots of hype and snake-oil… but if a medium can take Old Spice and make it a New Spice – then it IS powerful and must be included in the mix – at least considered.

Question: Is your value proposition reflected in your landing page? Can people tell right away:

• What you are offering?
• Who you wish to appeal to?
• Why they would be interested in your offer?
• What they need to do to participate/purchase?

If you own a website, a particular challenge that you’ll face is how you can be found amidst a throng of like-minded individuals who are also grappling for a potential customer’s attention in this free-for-all space. What will make you stand out from the rest? What will set you apart?

As trivial as it may seem, first impressions really do last, so look your best the first time. And this is where landing pages, the first thing that they will see, will play a crucial role in your business.

What is a landing page?

When you reach a page that  you have been directed to after you have clicked on a link from an outside source like an advertisement usually from a Pay Per Click (PPC) ad, an article, a press release, or any other write-up or mention about you or your product, that page is called the landing page.

The goal of the landing page is to usually convert potential clients quickly. It’s also called a capture page. Indeed, your value proposition should be kept in mind when creating your landing page. Here’s how you can make the best of that page to draw customers in.

4 Tips in making your landing pages effective

1. Call to action. Your readers should be driven into contacting you either through phone, email, or online submission form. Make sure this information is readily available and clear, along with your value proposition.

2. KISS. Keep it short and simple – this should apply to your statements and page length. You don’t want to bore your readers and potential clients. Be brief and direct to the point.

3. Come-ons. Bonuses, freebies, and other specials are excellent promotional activities. This should also reflect the value that you want to give customers. Be careful not to dilute your brand equity with a non-aligned approach to these (”cheap” vs. “quality”).

4. Images. Graphics and images must be appropriate, clear, and supports your content and value proposition. It should not take away focus from what is being offered.

Remember that not only should your landing page be attractive in order to entice potential customers – it has to provide interesting content, and reflect your value propositions. This will make your readers want to know more about you, and what your company has to offer.

Original Post From: Neuromarketing “Cut Products, Boost Sales”

“I’ve written about some of the research that shows that shoppers don’t always respond positively to a bigger selection of products (see More Choices, Fewer Sales) and extreme product/brand proliferation (see Mega-Branding: The Purple Oreo Problem). Now, retailers are implementing the concept of reducing selection in their stores and finding that it can indeed increase sales.” (more…)

My Quick Take…

Great move on Wal-mart and P&G’s part. Generally, it does make sense to only give customers a controlled amount of choices. I think that having too much of one thing has a tendency to overwhelm the senses. Giving customers too many options, in a sense, devalues what your selling. You remove a product’s distinctiveness by making it just part of a mass of other choices.

Of course, there should also be some exceptions to this. I guess, the “Purple Oreo Problem” is just similar to being served too much sushi or chocolate. A lot of us like them and there’s an unending variety to both. However, when these chocolates and sushi are laid right in front of you at your table, in all shapes and sizes and flavors, there’s no guarantee you’re going to eat everything. You can only take on so much. There comes a point when you just have to step back and say you’ve had enough. Thanks for this highly interesting post, Roger! Looking forward to reading even more from you.

While driving to a client meeting I looked at my dashboard and noticed the warning light again. I was about 2,000 miles “over” on getting an oil change.

Now, I have always made a habit of taking great care of my cars and 2,000 miles on an oil change on a well maintained car is not going to kill the car. Why haven’t I done it? It has a lot to do with scheduling and the fact that it is going to take an hour out of my life at a critical juncture when I am working on several key projects. And really I have just not been able to do it or maybe it’s that I have not made it a priority to get it done.

So Commerce Bank opened 7 days a week, with late hours all 7 days. Many banks have had to follow them and not close the teller window at 3pm because of some age old operational constraints that are just not true in our electronic age.

So the lesson here is that you need to really rethink – especially in older type industries- whether or not what you accept as a true limitation is a REAL limitation … or is it just an industry habit. 
Maybe, it was a limitation that was born from boundaries that your industry had from years ago that are no longer valid with newer technologies and processes?

Whether you run a bank or local car dealer or a donut shop – have you looked at your business from the perspective of your customers? And do you do it often?

Original Post From: Blogging Innovation

“I came across the following video of a BMW advertising installation thanks to a tweet from Blogging Innovation contributor @RowanGibson and I think it serves as a perfect case study of how one firm – in this case BMW – can succeed and fail in utilizing some of the modern incremental innovations in the traditional marketing methods (including social media) to bond itself to an emotion – in this case ‘joy’.” (more…)

My Quick Take…

An example of an excellent idea that has been poorly executed so far. Marketing is about reaching out to a specific audience who is or can be passionate about your brand. I think you gave a good list of reasons why this campaign is a current failure, and that companies like BMW should be reading this. It’s such a waste to see good ideas come to a stop when they aren’t carried out in a way that touches its intended market.

Big ideas lose their potential to become great when they don’t reach those who can pass them on, build momentum, and make that initial spark catch brilliant flame. Metaphors aside, companies and their agencies are responsible for translating their initial ideas into something their market can consume. Concepts should not stop at just being new and exciting. They should also be relatable, relevant, and useful as well.

I think BMW should pay attention, listen, and salvage this idea from being forgotten. Potential is nothing without opportunity. It’s every good marketer’s job to open doors for their brands and customers.