Unravelling the Marketing Mystery

THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF MARKETING – PART SCIENCE, PART PSYCHOLOGY AND PART ART

THIS PRESENTATION CONCENTRATES ON:

• What marketing is and what it does• Key principles that should be underpinning

your marketing practices• The importance of marketing as a catalyst to

fuel business growth• Proven best practice in setting a proper

marketing framework

WHAT MARKETING IS AND WHAT IT DOES

• Marketing is not selling.• The primary purpose of marketing is to instil such a

need/ desire within the hearts/ minds of a target audience that the individuals become driven/ compelled to engage with the business(es) which will satisfy this need.

• Selling is the act of converting this need into a purchase transaction.

• Marketing increases the potential for a successful sale to take place…but it is not ultimately responsible for the sale transaction eventuating.

WHAT MARKETING IS AND WHAT IT DOES

• Marketing sets the stage for a successful sales conversion (transaction) to transpire. The backbone of marketing is a model called the ‘AIDA’ model.

• A – Awareness/ Attention• I – Interest• D – Desire• A – Action

AWARENESS/ ATTENTION -

• Effective marketing will – in the first instance - cause a person to become aware of (and attend to) what the message (or other marketing stimulus) is.

• The level of awareness that results will depend on:• The extent to which the marketing stimulus (e.g. billboard, signage,

website, newspaper ad, etc) can be easily and quickly accessed and observed.

• The design characteristics of the marketing initiatives (e.g. use of colour, application of proven best design practices in web design, level of creativity, etc)

• The extent to which an observer is attracted to the stimulus – because it has “wow” factor and is well aligned to their tastes (i.e. the appeal that it has).

INTEREST -

• If the marketing stimulus is powerful enough and is clear and easy to interpret, interest in what the marketing stimulus is presenting/ communicating will develop within the observer.

• Marketers try to cause interest to develop within a few seconds (only) of awareness taking place.

• Examples: • Typical website visitor interest capture timeframe = 2 – 3 seconds • Typical timeframe in which the interest of customers needs to be captured

when they are passing by the front windows of a bricks and mortar store = 3 – 5 seconds

• Typical timeframe available for a printed ad (e.g. newspaper) to capture the interest of a reader = 2 – 3 seconds

• Important: Generally we are busy people a lot of the time, and need to interpret information and make decisions quickly

DESIRE -

• If the marketing stimulus is sufficiently powerful then interest will quickly transform into desire in the mind of the consumer.

• The skilled marketer knows the importance of influencing this feeling of desire to happen as quickly as possible – and this is where the emotions of the observer are “played upon” to instil desire.

• Marketing stimulus which possesses a high level of emotional content (e.g. Valentine’s Day television commercial featuring a man providing his partner with breakfast in bed) is purposely this way, to drive target audiences to desire the product/ service that the stimulus is communicating.

• Generally, most people (particularly women) are influenced to proceed to purchase based on emotion…far more so than using rational logic.

ACTION -

• The ultimate goal of the marketer is to instil such a sense of desire in the heart and mind of the targeted customer that it causes the customer to take action to relieve/ satisfy the need that has built-up within them to experience what the marketing stimulus has told them they “need”.• Action can take the form of the consumer:

• making a phone call (or sending to TXT or email) to the business to ask questions/ seek clarification/ validation

• completing a booking or order form• meeting a business representative face-to-face• proceeding to enter the selling process (online or in a store)

THE ‘AIDA’ MODEL SHOULD BE USED TO GOVERN THE SETTING OF MARKETING STRATEGY AND WHEN DESIGNING EACH MARKETING INITIATIVE -

• The ‘AIDA’ model should be the primary reference when:• setting marketing strategy• finalising a marketing mix per Financial Year• briefing a marketing agency to produce

marketing collateral/ initiatives

This model underpins the very essence of the psychology of marketing.

KEY MARKETING PRINCIPLES -

• ‘Business Brand’ – • for most SME scale businesses, this is typically the trading name

of the business• For others, their business brand may comprise:

• Trading Name, plus • Brand Logo, plus• Tag-line (Bi-line)

• ‘Brand Awareness’ – • ‘Brand Reinforcement’ – • ‘Consideration Set’ - • ‘Brand Integrity and/ or Reputation’ – • ‘Client Centricity’ -


• ‘Business Brand’ – • A Business Brand is the single most important IP

that your business owns.• It is highly recommended that business owners

protect their Business Brand as best they can by at least registering it as a Trade Mark with IPONZ (Intellectual Property Office of N.Z.)


• ‘Business Brand’ – • A well designed business brand should reflect these attributes:

• Be as distinct/ unique as possible (ensures market “cut-through”)• Be simplistic in its construction• Be easy to be interpreted and to be associated with the nature of the

business that it represents• Is readily scalable • Is memorable

• Work with a professional to finalise your desired Business Brand.• Your Business Brand should create a higher profile (and stronger

customer connection) than you as the business owner, and could well become the most valuable intangible asset that you can offer an incoming new owner at the time you choose to sell your business.


• ‘Brand Awareness’ – • Is the extent to which a person or group of people are aware

of the existence of a brand.• Companies that understand the principle of brand awareness

do their utmost to develop brand awareness in the minds of as many people (who are their target market) as possible. • The goal is to achieve as broad an awareness base as

possible, knowing that when the conversion of people through the AIDA process occurs, the ‘Action’ conversion outcome is only a fraction of the population of consumers who are aware of your brand and business to start with.


• ‘Brand Awareness’ – General Rule of Thumb…The broader (wider) that the base of aware consumers is, and the higher the conversion rate is, the greater the market share and sales volume ($) a business will have compared to its competitors.


• ‘Brand Reinforcement’ – • Is the degree to which a business promotes its brand

and business proposition in the market with marketing stimulus that is aligned.• A poor brand reinforcement strategy would be where

½ dozen different depictions of a brand logo are used across say 3 – 4 different consecutive ads.• A good brand reinforcement strategy is where a

company uses the same basic “shell” (template) for communicating its marketing message.


• ‘Brand Reinforcement’ – General Rule of Thumb...• Generally, the greater the uniformity in how a brand and

business is marketed, the more firmly the brand and business will be reinforced in consumer minds…which will cause greater awareness of that brand/ business to occur more quickly.• That’s how our memories and recall work. The more often

we see/ taste/ hear/ feel/ smell something, the more that experience becomes cemented in our mind...and the more readily we are able to recall it.


• ‘Consideration Set’ – • Is the finite set of provider (supplier) options that a

customer chooses to consider when contemplating which provider is going to be best placed to satisfy their need for a product/ service. • Marketers aim to have a business/ brand feature in the

consideration set of target audiences as often as possible. • General Rule of Thumb: The more often a brand features in

the consideration set of a person, the greater the chance will be that the given business will be remembered (and brought into the consideration set of the person) on future occasions when the same/ similar need arises in the person.


• ‘Brand Integrity/ Reputation’ – • Every positive experience that a consumer associates

with a brand serves to build the integrity/ reputation of that brand and business.• Examples: how we conduct ourselves when meeting

with clients, the speed at which we turn around replies to client queries…and the clarity of our answers.• Conversely, every negative experience that a consumer

associates with a brand serves to reduce the integrity/ reputation of that brand and business.


• ‘Brand Integrity/ Reputation’ – • Because brand integrity is integrally related to how consumers

perceive us, everything we say and do will either build or reduce our brand integrity. • General Rule of Thumb: Generally, those businesses that enjoy

a high level of brand integrity also enjoy the highest consumer brand awareness ratings and the greatest share of their respective markets.• It is just as easy to lose brand integrity as it is to gain it. • It takes a lot of energy and commitment (attitudinal/ financial/

behavioural) to build and maintain brand awareness and integrity.


• ‘Client Centricity’ – • Is the extent to which a business’s actions and outputs

(product/ service delivery) are governed by what the identified needs of target customers are known to be.• The most successful businesses in the world are those

which are genuinely “marketing led” (i.e. have a true client centric focus).• Client-centric businesses research and validate the

perceived need for a product/ service they are contemplating commercialising prior to heading down the commercialisation path.

THE IMPORTANCE OF MARKETING TO CATALYST BUSINESS GROWTH• Many SME scale businesses are resistant to

considering growth through inviting other investors to join them. • This then means that businesses which have this

mind-set are reliant on achieving growth by way of generating EOY surpluses which they can then choose to feed back into the business as working capital…to then afford new/ better equipment, etc.

THE IMPORTANCE OF MARKETING TO CATALYST BUSINESS GROWTH

• So for these businesses, they must necessarily generate levels of revenue and profit which realise EOY surpluses.

• The formula of doing the same old thing from year to year, will arguably not give rise to increases in revenue/ profit. At best, you might be lucky to retain existing market share.

• These businesses should look to apply better marketing practices to catalyst their growth. It is through marketing that:• Their client awareness base may broaden• Their customer ‘action’ conversion rate may improve • …and ultimately more customers may commit to enter into the

selling process with them, which (if their sales resources are suitable/ effective) could mean increased revenue being realised.

PROVEN BEST PRACTICE IN SETTING MARKETING AS A CORNERSTONE FUNCTION IN YOUR BUSINESS-• Marketing strategy versus tactical delivery. • The discipline of going from strategy…to…an

annual operational Marketing Activity Schedule…to… validated Marketing Activity Schedule (using a marketing agency)…to…committing to an annual Marketing Budget.

PROVEN BEST PRACTICE IN SETTING MARKETING AS A CORNERSTONE FUNCTION IN YOUR BUSINESS-• Without a written strategy being in place to start with, you may inadvertently:• Choose marketing channels which perhaps aren’t

favoured by your target customers.• Choose a marketing mix which isn’t geared towards

engaging your target customers.• Incur a great deal of “marketing waste” (i.e. marketing

investment which doesn’t generate any return).• Not realise optimal brand/ business awareness amongst

your target customers, which will then ultimately mean you will not realise optimal market share for your business.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PROVIDING A WRITTEN BRIEF TO A MARKETING AGENCY-• It is interesting to hear about the “surprise marketing

invoice” experiences of some business owners.• In most cases, these ‘surprises” have arisen simply

because the person engaging the services of the given marketing agency hasn’t been definitive and finite in specifying their marketing needs to the agency.• A carefully defined written brief per marketing agency

engagement occasion can save a lot of heartache. It also serves to guide the agency to produce a ‘Scope of Work’ doc and final marketing collateral which best meet your needs and expectations.

POINTS TO REMEMBER…• Key Points to Keep Foremost in Mind –• Make marketing a cornerstone of your

business (not a random budget).• Marketing is an essential driver of business

growth.

POINTS TO REMEMBER…• Key Points to Keep Foremost in Mind –• Marketing is not sales…salespeople sell

(convert interested prospective customers into buying customers). Marketers stimulate interest, desire and need…which then improves the potential for a sale to take place.• In the case of every marketing initiative that

you commit to in your annual Marketing Activity Schedule – ask yourself what purpose will the given initiative serve and what impact will the given initiative be likely to have in reference to the AIDA model.

POINTS TO REMEMBER…• Key Points to Keep Foremost in Mind –

• Businesses that set themselves growth objectives need to commit to a Marketing Strategy, Marketing Activity Schedule and Budget which is reflective of their growth aspirations.

• If you are in a highly competitive market and the “total pie” is not likely to expand significantly year to year, then this will call for a marketing strategy, activity schedule and budget which will take market share away from competitors.

• A key aim of a growth-orientated business should be to grow brand and business awareness in the consideration set of your target market(s) – and optimise the conversion rate at each stage of the AIDA model.

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Unravelling the Marketing Mystery