Knowledge Snippets on Sales & Marketing: Marketing

Showing posts with label Marketing. Show all posts

Sep 14, 2007

Rural Marketing

Rural marketing presents interesting challenge to a marketer. Different social, cultural and psychological aspects present new challenges in Rural Marketing. I would like to segment these aspects into 4 areas, this would help to characterize the rural marketing and tackle the issue in the focused manner. 1. Awareness : A rural marketer can easily leverage the local religious melas, weekly village haats or panchayat meetings to create the awareness of products or services. TV particularly national TV is also a good medium. The word of mouth publicity is also used many times, using village head or influential person in village to talk benefits of the products or services is certainly good idea. 2. Psychological, cultural and social and political barriers: One of the most important aspect of Rural marketing. The deep rooted psychological, cultural and social systems are difficult to be changed, marketing programs should be aligned taking care of aspects like social practices like caste systems, religious practices etc. One of the good example is ITC choupal program, in these programs ITC has taken care very well of existing political system and power equations in small villages. The shared kitchen programs of Indian National oil companies also are some examples of this aspect. The training programs if geared for the use of technology in the traditional services are very well accepted by the youths and the parents as well. This helps to make the rural economy more effective and increase the productivity of local economy. 3. Affordability : Another important aspect of rural marketing, affordability is an important factor in rural marketing. Ties up with banks, micro finance institutions or taking advantage government schemes is very important as rural masses have issues in finance. The rural economy runs mostly on agricultural produce which being cyclic present new challenges. Also losses arising out of non-payments for failure of crops, drought or floods affect the marketing programs. Building suitable financial programs taking care of these aspects is important in rural marketing 4. Availability : Making the services and products available all the time in required quantity is a challenge as the forecasting is tough and supply chain elements are non-existent. Using the local resources to fulfill the requirement is best option but it may not be available all the time. A program such as train the trainer where trained youths provide the training is good option for providing employment to the trained resource and bring more youths under training programs.

Jul 16, 2007

Marketing of Open Source Softwares

Recently I read an interesting article on the marketing of Open Source Software. Author claims marketing of open source software is marketing in its purest form. Well I must say it is statement in its purest form. However, some points made in the article seems interesting. The fact that open source software projects are great involvement for the developers and not for the general users certainly drew my attention. Author reminds marketing is not advertising nor it is telecalling. He feels generally people think; marketing is all about conning people, making people buy what they don't need. I feel failure of marketing is evident when it fails to stops the organization to produce or promote something people don't want buy. One of the first thing a marketer does is to define the set of people with a need or want for some product or service. In term of Open Source software marketers have a different challenge, as I assume primarily one develops the software for his/her own need and release it in open source license scheme for people so that a collaborative effort can help people to use the product which is available at lower cost and can be customized as per requirement. Challenge for marketers it to build the community and keep it going. It shall involve people for different walk of life and involve technical and not- technical people. A community that can build and serve the needs each other and grow to involve more people. I compare this to a small village, where it has people providing services and using services of the people in the same community. There is governance to regulate the behaviour of the people in community. Everyone promotes its services and in turn the community get propelled. This is a different world of marketing, one needs to be open, transparent and mindset has to change for command-n-control to collaboration. The governance needs to be flexible and people have to give chance to test and try the projects to others. The best of them excel and give a platform for others to climb. And taking this aspects through the conventional aspect of 4 P's of marketing. Product - Open Source software products are unique as it doesn't comes with the guarantee and warranty. The provider gives you the products in as best form however doesn't assure of usability to your requirement, neither takes any liability for losses you incur. The feature aspects of the product is dependent on the community size and contribution from the community. Pricing - Open Source software are pitched as free software under some conditions. However, one does incur cost in terms of time and resources. The pricing is the most important aspect of Open Source software, as it is pitched as community model, the bigger is community and better is contribution, the more feature rich product is available Promotion- Promotion of the product in some terms is dependent on community again, members of community are the best promoters of the product with word of mouth publicity Placement or Distribution of the product is also done by the community, being in information product category, Internet has been biggest contributor in distribution of the Open Source software. It is cheapest medium of distribution and being the free removes the obstacles of payment issues. The fact marketing of the open source software is most interesting comes from the aspect of personalization, resource sharing and collaboration with Peer to Peer Connection. It poses new challenges for execution , drives innovating thoughts and changes existing rules of game. The marketing in last few decades has changed in the way it is executed, the primary reason being because the product and related aspects have changed in terms of mechanics of physical products or physical evidence related to delivery of services associated with the product. However, what has not changed is the basics of marketing, it is only the application which is now executed in different fashion. As Galileo Galilee Said : We cannot teach people anything; We can only help them discover it within themselves."

Dec 12, 2006

Gandhian Concepts in Marketing

I have been reading about Gandhism off-late and more I read about the concept, greater I have respect for Mahatma Gandhi. And the thought which goes in mind very often; Are the Gandhi's thoughts relevant to marketing as well? The Gandhian concepts have become more relevant with concept of 8th P "PHILOSOPHY" being more talked about in the marketing field.

The elementary basis of Gandhian philosophy is Satya and Ahimsa. Satya is a sanskrit word meaning "truth" and Ahimsa means "Non-Violence". The context of truth can be external and internal as applied to products and services marketing. The truth factor can have long lasting effect on product management, product marketing, promotion or product distribution. I am sure this statement must have raised question in your mind. But remember concepts of branding, it is continuity with good characteristics that make a successful brand. And in Hindu philosophy they say "Satyam Shivam Sundaram" which means truth is beautiful and truth is God. God is considered as eternal. So I may say the truth is ultimate for branding - Who doesn't like beautiful product and services forever.

In todays highly competitive world one is compelled to think of shortcuts and quick results. Advertisement with asterix mark "condition apply" are very common. However such tricks are short lived and what is needed a character for product or services which evolves and stays in mind for ever. If one develops a philosophy around the product (remember 8th P), it gives a character to the product. Question is what character, think about this, who would you like to be friends with. A person with good habits, easy to go along a friendly person who can help you in need. Associating such characteristics with product is a challenge, reason: it is about other P's of marketing- People, Processes and Physical evidence (behaviour).

I say challenging as the product or service characteristics is about the external and internal environment. The internal environment comprises of team which work on product right from design team, production team, sales/marketing team to service team. The ability to influence such a team for a longer period can be attained by being truthful to self and team. The external environment comprises of customer and vendors, being truthful to your customers by communication, be it from advertisement or product features is undoubtedly a better strategy. It also helps in honest feedback for improvement in product and processes. Similarly vendors and distributors also appreciate the true communication and it helps in longstanding fruitful relationship.

The most important aspect of Gandhian concept of truth is to build culture of truthfulness. The culture in an organization is important in handling "moments of Truth" and that is the way to guide for better performance. Being true to oneself one see the shortcomings, agrees to transform for betterment and deliver on the areas required. By being true you build the conducive behavior of the internal and external environment and reap the fruit of success.

I have not touched on Ahimsa aspect of Gandhian philosophy. As I understand the Ahimsa is not being defensive. Ashimsa is about realizing one strong areas and weak areas. Using Strong product attributes to market the right need of the customer is an important aspect in product marketing. Ahimsa is about understanding the strong and weak areas of the team capabilities and using it best possible way to use the strength of the team and improve on weaker areas. I see ahimsa as the pointer for niche positioning, in marketing identifying niche is important as it helps to save energy (money) and use it on right target. Ahimsa can very well used for giving characteristics like being natural, calm and internally strong product features.

There can many other areas where these concepts can be applied like waranty services, pricing of the products and services. However, it should also be remembered it is application and execution which needs to fine tuned. The concpets are normally well said then done. M.K. Gandhi is called "Mahatma" for not only he understood but applied and followed concepts on himself. That is truly a characteristics of "Mahatma - A Great Soul" . We need to give a soul to product and services and then we need not advertise it. For great brands need not be advertised they build the followers.

Your thoughts on the subject are welcome. Please drop in your comments

Cheers

Sudeep

Dec 4, 2006

Key Aspect of eMarkeing

eMarketing is a comprehensive domain, it includes marketing via internet i.e. the banner ads marketing, affiliation programs, search marketing etc. It also includes marketing through email, blog marketing etc. The business model associated with are B2B (business to business), B2C (Business to consumers) and P2P (Peers to Peers). eMarketing has huge promises and certain limitation as well. The advantages include the availability of information to consumers, anytime purchase and wide range to select from. It facilitates the seller to sell huge line of products and services without actually stocking the inventories to the consumers which are not limited by geographical or physical boundaries. eMarketing provides a platform to experiment and sellers can be as innovative as they can be. Online auction programs are a good example of such innovativeness. There are limitations as well as the users can’t sense by touch and feel. The security of the transaction is major concern along with huge information overload. The eMarketing has huge impact on the dynamics of the industry, way the business is sought and executed particularly in industry related to information and entertainment. The changing technology with new enabling medium and an ability to communicate directly is presenting new challenges to entertainment companies. At the same time it is destroying the value of intermediate entertainment companies which broker between the consumer and content producer. With this view in mind I suggest for a eMarketing Model that can be very helpful in promoting the websites. The key Aspects of eMarketing in developing websites Personalization: This aspect of the website deals with information on the visitor of the website and individual preference. Installing cookies is very common method of collecting information on visitors. It is important to collect information for offering customized products and services offerings to the visitors. However, the personalization factors are also related to the privacy issue of the visitors. So the need for the information collection should be driven by sound strategy so that the information collection does infringe the privacy rights of the visitors. Sales & Services: This aspect of the website deals with the sales offering and ease of navigation. The products and service offering should be relevant to the profile of visitors at your website. They should find it easy to navigate the services and products easily and should be able to purchase with ease, with speed and securely. The small aspects like ability to compare products features, prices, see the similar purchase made by other visitors and security makes a big difference. Community: The community aspect of the website makes it a happening place, a desired place. Reason is people tend to trust the third party for taking suggestion and word of mouth is best and cost effective publicity medium. The community can build by allowing moderated discussion boards and enabling comments by the visitors. In the long run community provides vital feedback for improvement and fine tuning the website for the visitor’s requirement. Medium of Communication: If you would have noticed the information delivery is not only about internet but now it encompasses multiple platforms mobile is newest form where as new fixed phone lines and emails are traditional forms. So the visitor can use any of the channels or the multiple channels. The information compilation and retrieval through these multiple channels should be taken care of by the emarketing strategy. Apart from these Radio, newspaper and outdoor/indoor media are also vital part for information dissemination and best part is all are interconnected. So many visitors may see your brand in any of the medium and may plan the visit to your website. And this leads to interconnection of the media leading for one to cover network strategy in its emarketing plan. Network : The network aspect of the website covers the partnerships which are business enablers. Though in ecommerce much of the part business happens online yet there is still some offline part which is the most important part. This is the part where online companies fail most of the time as the business processes doesn't get aligned. The affiliation with other websites not only helps build revenues it also helps to draw traffic and build online brand awareness. The affiliation can be for the other website promotions, advertisers or other services. Promotions: Promotions has been traditionally major tool for increasing the sales and brand awareness in marketing. Same stands true for emarketing as well. The promotion of the website for special offers or features through network and community helps increase traffic on the website. Increase in traffic leads to better business if the other aspects of website are put in place. Cheers Sudeep

Dec 3, 2006

A note on Marketing Metrics

More than ever, marketers are being pressured to deliver hard data on how their efforts increased the company's bottom line. In these days of lean profits and leaner budgets, a focus on metrics can mean the difference between a marketing department that's considered highly valuable and one on the brink of extinction. Three primary metrics are suggested as a starting point for marketers to track their performance. Once they are aware of their competitive position, their desired outcomes, and what it will take to achieve these outcomes, companies will be better able to identify their success factors, the benchmarks, and the appropriate metrics to meet their target. In order to determine which success factors to measure and the appropriate metrics for each, marketers must have a clear understanding of the company's goals Listed below are four key performance indicators that support three metrics gauges:

market share
lifetime value and
brand equity.

These gauges are directly linked to the three specific performance areas that marketing can impact - Acquisition, Penetration and Monetization Acquistion : The first responsibility of marketing is to identify and enable the organization to acquire customers --- for without customers, there is no revenue and without revenue, there is no business. Acquisition enables the company to increase its market share. While marketing may not close the deal, marketing strategies move the customer through the buying process, from awareness to consideration. There are four key performance indicators that enable you to address market share: > Customer Growth Rate > Share of Preference > Share of Voice > Share of Distribution Penetration : The second responsibility of marketing is to keep the customers the company acquires and grow the value of these customers. It is expensive and ultimately disastrous to have customers coming in one door to only just go out another. High customer churn signals a variety of problems and hinders your ability to create leverage. Four performance indicators that will help you drive these penetration-related metrics include: Frequency and Recency of Purchase > Share Of Wallet: Purchase Value Growth Rate > Customer Tenure > Customer Loyalty and Advocacy Brand Equity: Over time, intangible assets, such as a company's intellectual property, customer value, franchises, goodwill, etc. have had an increasing effect on a company's market value. Marketing professionals can improve the market value of their company's by improving their performance in four key areas. > Price Premium > Customer Franchise Value > Rate of New Product Acceptance > Net-Advocate Score A recently published report, Measures + Metrics: Assessing Marketing Value + Impact, written by Glazier, Nelson, and O'Sullivan, corroborates these gauges and performance metrics. Cheers Sudeep

Dec 1, 2006

Marketing Options for Gaming Companies setting up in India

The gaming market is in infancy but it is growing fast. The companies like Microsoft are aggressively promoting XBox 360 (first of its kind in India) and SONY is also very active with PS3. The telecom companies like Airtel are promoting the Gaming through Internet sites in a big way. Reliance Infocom recently announced for PC gaming facility in their 240 odd webstores. Hutchison-Essar also offers a range of 450 games on their site.

So it is right time to take decisions to enter into India. As per the estimate, the Indian gaming market is currently valued at around $30 million and growing by at least 60-80 per cent annually. According to a Nasscom report, the market for gaming is expected to witness a CAGR of 78 percent and reach $ 300 million by 2009 from $ 30 million in 2005.

The potential customers would be kids and teenager. The adults I doubt would be interested in Gaming. In India retails shopping malls are mushrooming everywhere, most Indians rarely do lots of shopping in malls it is more of a window shopping. However, Indians prefer to eat the food which offers good value of money and other foreign brands are only for taste sometime purpose. Nevertheless, even taste sometime is big business. So one need to decide on pricing strategy he would want to position premium or for masses, off course this will also depend on the cost incurred for the presence in the malls. The advantage of the mall is that you spend less effort in drawing crowd so more visibility, ease of operations and jump start in the business.

Similarly, one may think of tie up with Cinema theaters, in India concept of Multiplex has just started and many theaters are still stand alone. People may like to experiment while waiting for tickets or in intermission. Many multiplex's are now in malls and many malls have gaming corner. Presence in a malls gaming corner is also a good idea.

Another option is start a large outlet, this will act as signature outlet for your brand and create an experience for the user. However, looking at real estates prices in India this would be very costly proposition. But if you pockets are deep this would be good step and great brand experience.

One can also try for partnership with hotels and restaurants, as the children accompanying families like to play games and normally Indian families go outing every weekends. Some foreign owned brands in India are Pizza Hut, Subway. You can also try for the Coffee Shops in India. Barista and Coffee Day are very popular outlet in India. There are many local hotels chains very popular in India like Bangalore it is Nandini

The Biggest market though difficult to enter in Airports and Railway stations. Many people wait and your franchise can be good handout. However, for this permission has to be taken from adequate authorities. For railways it IRCTC and Airports it AAI

One can also tie up small telcom cards retails vendors which are present in every nook and corner.

One notable example for online lottery started by ZEE branded as Playwin, its outlet were very common in Bombay and Bangalore, but it ran into regulation trouble.

You may have to look into legal aspect as there are some limitations in the FDI in retail. I would suggest for a proper due diligence before taking any steps.

PR and Marketing in New Age

This question comes to every one's mind: is the PR and Marketing in New Age is different from the PR and Marketing in the old times. The pictures CNN flashed during Iraq war or the google advert sing program. Are they diff rent then the news published by your good old newspaper or Lux being marketed to Indian public. Do we have to learn new subjects in management programs to tackle these new age PR & Marketing responsibilities in new economy companies. My feeling in the subject the basics principle remain same however the medium of delivery is changed. This has led to the paradigm shift in value enhancer aspects of the medium. Take for example the news channel, the content has changed not much a news is always news, however the value drivers ( ex. freshness in case of news or presentation like photos, coverage etc.) has been enhanced by the medium so when news comes via Internet or TV channel the coverage is live with pictures so it is fresh as of now and presentation is with pictures. Internet goes step ahead it can customize based on user preference so user can choose the customize the news with statistics with linkages to similar type of news related old news article etc. Also the another aspect in case of new medium as compared to traditional medium is involvement of the user, so you can suggest, comment or poll to news article by SMS or email this helps in instant feedback and content provider can customize the content as per users need. Similar context can be drawn from marketing as well. In the traditional marketing companies would send the sales literature to the potential users or do the road shows to explain the features and benefits of the production in the new mediums like Internet or email companies are no limited by boundaries of material physics so it can entertain million potential user in the website, send the customized sales literature to the potentials users. The process becomes far easier in terms of the handling leads and converting them to opportunities. To identify the target segment and customizing the offering for the potentials user. Consider this example where potentials users can decide on the look and feel and order for a product. However, when value enhancers of the subject are getting changed to the availability of new mediums it also reducing the entry barriers as these new medium gives even the new entrants chance for matching up the speed and perform with limited finances. The only thing that remains unique is the innovation and new ideas. For that one doesn't any course, it is something to do with the thinking process. The ability to think would be supreme in coming generation and to execute you will have multiple options. To use which medium or mix of mediums will again be driven by thinking process. You comments on the topic are welcome Cheers Sudeep DIV>