Application of Fundamental Marketing Concepts

The semester is nearly over, and we are done with our fundamental marketing concepts as well. Many, in fact most us tried to make the best out of this course. And now, so near our exams, it's the time to thoroughly reinforce our concepts. I got my hands on this wonderful video. Kindly have a look at it


Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkBvzS_fJ2g&feature=related

Top Ten Taglines

Here are the taglines declared top ten by a site, and personally I think they are really effective too


The Top 10 Taglines

1. Got milk? (1993) California Milk Processor Board

2. Don’t leave home without it. (1975) American Express

3. Just do it. (1988) Nike

4. Where’s the beef? (1984) Wendy’s

5. You’re in good hands with Allstate. (1956) Allstate Insurance

6. Think different. (1998) Apple Computer

7. We try harder. (1962) Avis

8. Tastes great, less filling. (1974) Miller Lite

9. Melts in your mouth, not in your hands. (1954) M&M Candies

10. Takes a licking and keeps on ticking. (1956) Timex

Source : http://sbinformation.about.com/b/2006/04/27/top-10-taglines.htm


Now, if you look at these taglines and compare it with my previous post of tips for effective taglines, it is very clear that all these taglines are in accordance with those tips. Originality, symbol of brand personality, the positive touch, and even the brand name included, and well, if you look at these examples, it will be very obvious that accordance with those tips really make a tagline eye-catching and interesting

OMORE initial advertising campaign : The eLement of Suspense

Yesterday, in section B, when we were discussing high-budget advertisement for new products the example that popped up was OMORE. Just about its launch, Omore was literally everywhere. Olper made it dead sure that you could not come back home without having a look at the word OMORE, so it was inevitable for you to desperately wait for the launch of OMORE only to get your hands on the product that was so massively promoted. I used to pass along the canal every morning and was of course attracted to all their splendid work along the canal.

But, as it was mentioned in the class, while one could easily notice all that hype was being generated for OMORE, but initially it was hard to read the word ice-cream for a distance, and was it a good thing or bad? This vagueness related to OMORE, what it was and all.

Well, being no expert, I can't really explain the general rule whether it is a good thing or bad, and I am not even sure it was a part of their advertising campaign, but according to me it really worked well for OMORE, I don't know about the opinion of others but I will imply my example over here.

I really wanted to try OMORE !! But not because it was an ice-cream, but because it was OMORE, the OMORE that was being forced into my eyes again and again, the OMORE that forced the words, "WOW, what an effort, the Canal looks cool", just OMORE, OMORE, OMORE. And finally, when I came to know it was an ice-cream, even though I am not a big ice-cream fanatic, I said I want it now, because obviously I was forced to think that way by their advertisement.

Now, one may question, that if I knew it was an ice-cream even then I would be impressed by their campaign. I would say no. If I had known in the start , I would have been inspired but not desperate to taste it, the element of surprise increased my interest massively, but I think it worked for an ice-cream, but it wont have worked for some shopping mall, or car or something like this

And I can understand if someone disagrees, as this topic is highly subjective

Tips for an effective TAGLINE

In the last class, we looked at few taglines like the "Just Do it" Tagline of Nike, which is no doubt an effective tag line, and "naam hi kafi hai" tagline of Waves, which is no doubt a very,very vague and ineffective tag line. So the point automatically comes in our mind that writing an effective tag line is very very important. But the question is how

I found these very useful 10 tips for writing an effective tag line, which I found useful to share with you guys, and those tips are:

1. Simple
2. Positive
3. Original
4. Benefit-laden?
5. Memorable
6. Meaningful
7. With the brand name included
8. With a sense of the brand’s personality in it
9. Interesting
10. Free from the possibility of prompting a negative remark

For, detail, and examples please refer to

http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Write-a-Tag-Line---10-Tips&id=283476

Ensuring QCD For Customer Satisfaction

Image source: http://www.power9.net/images/customersatisfaction.jpg
Well, as I mentioned in my previous post we can't satisfy our customers merely by dealing with them politely, other steps are damn-important too, and here is an excellent image that summarizes all the factors that are important for customer satisfaction and it is easy to learn : QCD

Quality, that will differentiate and uplift our product
Cost, through which we should ensure to deliver superior value at every unit our customers pay
and
Delivery, which includes all the remaining factors, our quick response, customer-dealing, additional services and volume production

So all we have to do to tackle the critical aspect of customer satisfaction is to keep this QCD in mind ! Simple

Steps For Customer Satisfaction

Image source:
www.elmer.co.za/customer-satisfaction
Heyy ppl, here are seven excellent steps to yield customer satisfaction

1. Encourage face-to-face dealings
2. Respond to messages promptly and keep your clients informed
3. Be Friendly and Approachable
4. Have a clearly-defined Customer Service Policy
5. Attention to detail
6. Anticipate your client's needs and go out of your way to help them
7. Honor your promises

Source: http://articles.sitepoint.com/article/satisfaction-7-steps#


I felt like sharing these steps with you guys, since I think this stuff's very useful for enhanced customer satisfaction. And of course enhancing customer-relationship is what marketing is all about.

Plus, I would like to add that besides these steps for dealing with customers, you should ensure maximum quality so that your customers don't assess you to be displaying fake sugar-coated behavior only to attract them.

Finding Your Voice and Inspiring Others To Find Theirs -- 8th Habit

The 8th Habit: From effectiveness to greatness

Anyone who goes through the book "The 7 habits of Highly Effective People" cant help being fascinated from the splendid principles of this book. So I just decided to go through Stephen Covey's other Marvel "The 8th habit From Effectiveness to Greatness" just to complete the journey started in the 7 habits.

According to Covey the 8th habit that escorts you from effectiveness to greatness is "Finding your Voice and Inspiring Others to Find Theirs"

So, the 8th habit focuses on two things:

Finding Your Own Voice
Inspiring Others to Find their Voice

The essence of this habit is that you will find your voice when you can say you are 100% involved with what you are doing in your life, so that your body, mind, heart and spirit are all engaged in whatever is important to you. To find your voice, you need to examine your natural talent, what you absolutely love to do, what really interests you. And you must listen to the confirming inner voice of your conscience that tells you what is the right thing to do.

And then you should inspire others to find their voice. When you have found your voice, you can begin inspiring others to do the same, this is really about leadership. Great leaders have always inspired people to be self aware, to find themselves and to find their voice, that is the essence of greatness. People and organizations who have truly found their voices go on to become great.

Image source: http://www.audiobooksonline.com/media/Stephen_Covey_8th_Habit_abridged_compact_disc.jpg

Best approach to Problem Solving and Decision making

Most of the problems though look complicated and having many shades like this cube, but if they are dealt systematically, a lot of hassle can be avoided and one can come out of the problem easily

The basic steps for any solving any problem are:

1. Define the Problem
2. Look at Potential causes for the Problem
3. Identify your alternatives
4. Select an approach to resolve the problem
5. Implement the best alternative
6. Monitor/control the implementation closely
7. Verify the outcome i.e. check it if the problem has been resolved or not

As management students, we should definitely be at ease with this approach. The important thing here is that each step is equally important. You cannot overstate or understate any one step.

And what I personally think is, all of us are very eager for step 1,3, 4, 5, but we dont pay that much heed to step number 2,6,7, and the lack of their implementation most of the time causes a lot of new problems.
Material Source: http://managementhelp.org/prsn_prd/prb_bsc.htm
Image source: http://starrcline.com/images/s_rubik-cube.jpg

PASSION - The secret of success

I don't exactly remember the source, as it was back in my 8th grade when I came across this article in a kids mag, but surprisingly kids' magazines have some very useful articles, and even back then it inspired me so much, that I had it saved in my memory after going through it for one time, it was

"Passion is powerful; nothing was ever achieved without it and nothing can take its place; no matter what you face in life; if your passion is strong enough, you will find the way to succeed; so, put your heart, mind and soul into even the smallest of your acts for this is the essence of passion, and the secret of success"

Now at this stage I can realize the full worth of this article. For if we look back to most of the successful persons in the world, whatever time period they belonged to, they had just one thing in common Passion. In pre-historic times, there have been people like Aristotle, there has been a passion behind the Pyramids of Egypt and every other achievement. Recently you see people like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and many others including Mr. Abidoon who are now at a much higher level than others only because of their drive and passion.

These four years are probably the most important time of our life. Here, if we indulge ourselves fully into every thing we do, we can definitely be much better off than everyone else we come across.

Some Effective Stress Relievers

All of us feel immensely stressed at times, and it is very important how to learn how to relieve ourselves of stress. Here are some effective stress-relievers


1. Meditation
2. Breathing
3. Playing Games
4. Nice Company
5. Laughter
6. Music
7. Take a Walk
8. Plant a Garden
9.Time Management
10. Listen To Music
11. Eat a Balanced Diet
12. Learn Assertive Communication Skills
13. Reduce Caffeine Intake
14. Don’t Procrastinate
15. Drink Green Tea

Find Out, what works best for you. I don't agree with number 13 though, since I always get a coke when stressed and it helps me, yet lots of articles reckon avoiding caffeine to be a good stress-reliever

Skimming Vs Penetration Pricing and what the author of our Mangerial Accounting Text has to say !

So, most of us don't really think it's a good idea to study Ronlad Hilton's Managerial Accounting. Same is my case. But amazingly, though I couldn't learn much from Hilton in Managerial Accounting but when searching for Pricing strategies found a very good tip by Hilton

When To Choose Which Pricing

"The decision between skimming and penetration pricing," said Hilton, "depends on the type of product and involves trade-offs of price versus volume. Skimming pricing results in much slower acceptance of a new product, but higher unit profits. Penetration pricing results in greater initial sales volume, but lower unit profits."

Skimming Pricing

It's a strategy wherein the initial price for the product is set quite high for a relatively short time after introduction. Even though sales will likely be modest with skimming, the profit margin is great. This pricing approach is most often used for high-prestige or otherwise unique products with significant cache. Once the product's appeal broadens, the price is then reduced to appeal to a greater range of consumers.

Penetration Pricing

Penetration pricing is a strategy employed by businesses introducing new goods or services into the marketplace. With this policy, the initial price of the good or service is set relatively low in hopes of "penetrating" into the marketplace quickly and securing significant market share. "This pricing approach," wrote Ronald W. Hilton in Managerial Accounting, "often is used for products that are of good quality, but do not stand out as vastly better than competing products."

Tips For A Start-Up

Here are five great start-up tips from Father of Google Paul Buccheit

1. Launch a scaled-back version

You can find a simple, scaled-down way of launching anything. “Tesla [the financially struggling electric car startup] spent a lot of money making these cars, but there are people making electric cars in their garages. So it’s always possible to do a scaled-back version of what you have in mind.”
2. Notice sluggish competitors

google-logoWhen he considered building Gmail, he looked at Yahoo! Mail, the leading Web-based email provider and noticed that “they were actively making their products worse. Which I think is a really good indicator of an opportunity. Yahoo! decreased their [email storage capacity] from 6 megabytes to 4 megabytes.”

The free email providers at the time “were trying to push you into their paid accounts. And in general, people had a low opinion of Web mail because they thought it couldn’t be good.”
3. You don’t need virality if your product is good

“I think the best kind of virality,” he said, “is a product that people like so much that they just want to tell people about it.”

“Think about Google search itself. Where’s the virality? There is none. But people just love the product, so they tell their friends, and somehow it just grew to where it is now, with some huge share of the market.”
4. Follow your passion

Instead of setting goals, he said, “I have a different approach. I look to see what things I enjoy doing and just try to figure out how to spend my time doing things that I enjoy.”

“I like writing code. I like building product. I like making things that people like.”
5. Sometimes you have to go off on your own

“Inside of a big company like Google,” he said, “you can do just about anything and a million people will show up just because the Google name is attached. That’s kind of like cheating. What you make doesn’t have to be good.”

“Consequently, of course, Google has to be careful that you’re not just releasing random things. That means that there tends to be a lot more process to prevent you from doing those random things. Because that would harm their brand over time.”

The Value Proposition Funnel

I came across this Value Proposition funnel while doing the Chapter 7 assignment, and well I think following it is a really really useful tactic to make your product successful. Have a look !

Steve JObs On Firing

Sharing his experience about firing, Steve Jobs said

"We’ve had one of these before, when the dot-com bubble burst. What I told our company was that we were just going to invest our way through the downturn, that we weren’t going to lay off people, that we’d taken a tremendous amount of effort to get them into Apple in the first place – the last thing we were going to do is lay them off."


This Just shows, that the CEO of the most chic organization knows how to take care of his subordinates, and this thing certainly keeps the workers more focused, enthusiastic and going.

Plus, this quote of his also explains, why Apple has always got out of every difficult situation !! Instead of focusing on firing the workforce and other such unnecessary tactics, Apple has always stayed focused on fighting the circumstances

And that's a food for thought for those of us who manage to get a top position in some organization !

Steve Jobs On Hiring

"Recruiting is hard. It’s just finding the needles in the haystack. You can’t know enough in a one-hour interview.

So, in the end, it’s ultimately based on your gut. How do I feel about this person? What are they like when they’re challenged? I ask everybody that: ‘Why are you here?’ The answers themselves are not what you’re looking for. It’s the meta-data."

Well, here Steve Jobs has expresses his views about Hiring people, which is definitely a crucial part of an organization's strategy.

As you see over here, he has confessed hiring people just on objective analysis can prove tricky and in the long run one has to consider his gut feeling. But even for that you have to analyze the person in question thoroughly. YOu have to consider what the person is like and you also have to see how he/she will fit into your organization at various times i.e, during challenges, everyday etc.

And in the end, it's ultimately based on your get and what kind of vibes you get

The Greatest Marketing Campaign in the History : Apple iphone

Apple's campaign to launch the iphone may be one of the most successful marketing campaigns ever !

Prior to the product's release

*2/3rd of the US population was aware of the device
*The hype surrounding the introduction was phenomenal.
*Over the six months prior to the product’s introduction it was the subject of 14,000 articles, 311,000 blog posts and it generated 69 million hits on Google


Marketing experts feel that the iPhone campaign even surpassed such legendary marketing efforts as the introduction of the Mustang by Ford in 1964 and Microsoft’s launch of Windows 95. The iPhone generated more pre-sale media coverage than any other product, according to Al Ries, a leading marketing strategist. (Bloomberg.com) “Ask yourself how many companies can announce a product six months in advance and not just sustain public interest but even build the frenzy. It’s staggering to me,” commented Jeremy Horwitz of iLounge. (NY Times)

How did Apple do it? They not only created a revolutionary product, but they also were able to create an incredible amount of buzz, through a highly effective teaser campaign. Steve Jobs introduced the product at Macworld Expo prior to the launch. Apple didn’t give the product to the press initially, so they had to write about it and then they wrote about it again when they were given the product just prior to the launch. (Michael Stelzner’s Blog)

Apple then utilized video clips on the Internet and a breakthrough TV commercial that ran during the Academy Awards called “hello” with stars like Marilyn Monroe saying “Hello” to announce the release in June. Subsequent ads showed close-ups shots demonstrating what people can do on the phone. “It gave me the sense that I was actually experiencing the product,” said Matt Wills from the advertising firm Martin Agency. “They’ve spent some money on advertising ($100 million according to JupiterResearch), but certainly not a lot,” according to Ries. “The PR, the hype, the publicity, it makes the advertising more visible.” (Bloomberg.com)

The formula for Apple’s extraordinary success is really quite simple. They produce ground-breaking products that consumers want and no one is better at advertising and marketing them.

Microsoft buys a $240 million piece of Facebook

For the bargain prize of 117 millions pounds, Microsoft bought a 1.6% stake of Facebook. Other companies such as Yahoo or Google also wanted to invest in one of the most popular social networking websites but Facebook declined their offer.

The aim of this partnership is simply to increase profits through advertising on both sides.


Microsoft VS Google
The Facebook deal is Microsoft's answer in its battle with Google. Looking one year back in October 2006, Google beat Microsoft with the 1.65bn dollar acquisition of online video sharing website YouTube.


Common Benefit For Microsoft and Facebook
Microsoft will sell internet ads for Facebook outside the US. The company already had an agreement with Facebook to provide banner advertising and links to the US version of the social networking site. This was the part of the deal discussed during several weeks.
With this acquisition, Microsoft will become the exclusive third party seller of overseas advertising outside the US on Facebook. Knowing that the social networking site currently has 49 millions users, this could be a huge financial opportunity for Microsoft.

With this partnership Facebook is looking to increase its current audience of nearly 50 million active users by becoming a real magnet for advertiser and also to compete fiercely with its rival MySpace which currently has 100 million users. Facebook also wants to take advantage of existing Microsoft skills.

According to Charlene Li, an analyst at Forrester Research, the software group knew better -in comparison to Google- how to work with program developers and build computing environments. She said that "Microsoft is a company that knows how to build platforms, knows how to develop relationships with developers. The social networking site is hoping with Microsoft 's collaboration to struggle less to reach leader position."

Common Eithical Dilemmas Related to Marketing !!!

Good ethics really affect an organization's success !! Marketing departments face their own particular set of uncertain problems pertaining to product development, pricing policy, distribution activities and promotion. Here are given the dilemmas and some areas where business ethics must be employed in order to controvert the common ethical ethical dilemmas prevalent over there.

Misleading advertising is a common ethical dilemma.

The ethics related to direct marketing is another concern of marketing departments.Customers may feel invaded by direct mail or telemarketing. The use of these promotion avenues should be governed by sound ethical principles.

Another dilemma is the marketing of harmful products-for example, tobacco

Marketers should attend to pricing ethics. Predatory pricing, the practice of setting prices to drive out competition, can be harmful to consumers so marketers must tread carefully. Policy designed to foster a healthy marketing environment must be balanced against profit requirements.

Marketing departments responsible for the relationship with a cause must manage it openly and honestly.

How their product affects the environment is of increasing concern to marketing departments.Marketers may be challenged by the costs of some environmentally-friendly choices but must consider their responsibility to society.

How clearly and in what way consumers are informed of price or size changes must be weighed against costs.

Marketing departments of resellers must consider the ethics behind their mark-up policies.

Distribution issues include quality of transport


Ultimately, ethics relates to organizational performance in generating goodwill for a particular company. This goodwill should translate into sales. Ethical behaviour by the marketing department will make the department and even the company a more attractive place to work as the company's good reputation will transfer to its employees. Motivated, proud employees will improve performance. Bad marketing ethics will destroy a good reputations which is arguably much harder to build than sales numbers.

DESIGN THINKING

Lately many more people are talking and writing about the application of design thinking to intangible problems, design not only as a verb but as a way of — as Herbert Simon wrote — improving situations.

The main characteristics of a design thinking process are :

* Collaborative, especially with others having different and complimentary experience, to generate better work and form agreement
* Abductive, inventing new options to find new and better solutions to new problems
* Experimental, building prototypes and posing hypotheses, testing them, and iterating this activity to find what works and what doesn’t work to manage risk
* Personal, considering the unique context of each problem and the people involved
* Integrative, perceiving an entire system and its linkages
* Interpretive, devising how to frame the problem and judge the possible solutions

I’m sure one could play with the language and categorization to find more or less characteristics, but I’m happy with just those six.

This articles easily differentiates LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

Leadership and Management

What is leadership, and what is the difference between leadership and management?

In a nutshell, the difference between leadership and management is:

* Leadership is setting a new direction or vision for a group that they follow, ie: a leader is the spearhead for that new direction

* Management controls or directs people/resources in a group according to principles or values that have already been established.

The difference between leadership and management can be illustrated by considering what happens when you have one without the other.
Leadership without management

...sets a direction or vision that others follow, without considering too much how the new direction is going to be achieved. Other people then have to work hard in the trail that is left behind, picking up the pieces and making it work. Eg: in Lord of the Rings, at the council of Elrond, Frodo Baggins rescues the council from conflict by taking responsibility for the quest of destroying the ring - but most of the management of the group comes from others.

Management without leadership

...controls resources to maintain the status quo or ensure things happen according to already-established plans. Eg: a referee manages a sports game, but does not usually provide "leadership" because there is no new change, no new direction - the referee is controlling resources to ensure that the laws of the game are followed and status quo is maintained.

Leadership combined with management

...does both - it both sets a new direction and manages the resources to achieve it. Eg: a newly elected president or prime minister.

Some potential confusions...
The absence of leadership/management is not to be confused with participatory or facilitative management, which can be a very effective form of leadership.

Also, the absence of leadership should not be confused with the type of leadership that calls for 'no action' to be taken. For example, Gandhi's calls for protests to stop demonstrated great leadership, because taking no action was a new direction for the Indian people at that time.

Symbolic Leadership
When a leader acts as a figure-head without setting any direction, technically this is not leadership. However, the figure head may be viewed as a leader. For example, in the UK, the monarch is often viewed as a leader, but actually provides very little leadership (most of the 'leadership' in the UK comes from political figures).

However, if a new group sets a direction of its own accord, it will often express that new direction in the form of a leader. For example, Nelson Mandela was regarded as a great leader even though he was in prison and unable to communicate with his followers! And he had been historically classified as a "terrorist"! Yet his symbolic power grew across the world. This was because he was a symbolic spearhead of the anti-apartheid movement.

However, Nelson Mandela was more than just a symbolic leader. When he was released from prison, he showed great leadership in the statesmanship he showed, and in reaching out a hand of friendship to his oppressors. This landed a double-whammy blow against the apartheid regime, because:

* During the period when Nelson Mandela was imprisoned (when his ability to provide personal, direct leadership was limited) he continued to grow in power and influence as the symbolic leader for the anti-apartheid movement.
* Following his release from prison, he demonstrated actual leadership.

Leadership and Management Summary

Leadership is about setting a new direction for a group; management is about directing and controlling according to established principles. However, someone can be a symbolic leader if they emerge as the spearhead of a direction the group sets for itself.

Source: www.teamtechnology.co.uk/leadership-basics.html