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The leap forward in thinking at the time was that it put the
customer at the forefront of the company thinking. Although marketing has got
much more sophisticated over the years, I still find this model a very useful
way of communicating to non-marketers exactly what marketing is all about.
There are a vast array of circumstances that will dictate
which elements of the marketing mix are to be employed and in which proportion.
If you have put sufficient time into accurately defining your marketplace, your
market segment, your product positioning, and your unique selling propositions
then it becomes much easier to carry out this task.
I cannot stress this point strongly enough. Taking time to
think through your marketing strategy forces you to take some very difficult
decisions. The most difficult ones are those where you decide NOT to do certain
things; such as deciding certain market sectors are not key to your company's
success due to the difficulty in competing effectively. The benefits of taking
such decisions are that it really helps you to focus on a more limited (and
achievable) set of objectives. It then becomes much clearer which elements of
the marketing mix need to be used, and hence you achieve profitable results
from your marketing budget.
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A few years ago I took on a senior marketing role within a
large organisation and one of the biggest problems I experienced over the
initial weeks was a constant supply of "promotional opportunities" being
offered up by a whole range of agencies and promotional companies. Because I
had not inherited a clearly defined marketing strategy I could not decide which
of these opportunities were good and which were inappropriate. Although this is
a frustrating situation to be in, I knew that it was only a matter of time
before I could put together an agreed marketing strategy and then cherry pick
the most appropriate of those promotional ideas.
The point is that less experienced managers can easily
become totally snowed under by such an array of conflicting and costly
opportunities. This then leads to a promotional campaign based on "which agency
sent in the glossiest brochure" rather than on a promotional campaign that
supports the marketing objectives/strategies. |
