Toys R’Us and Power Rangers – a potent kid marketing combination!
As the father of a five-and-a-half year old boy, I naturally have a deep interest in what goes into that little cranium of his.
Why is my son attracted to certain brands and products more so than others? What made his tastes in toys so different from his cousin who is merely 5 years older than him?
Newspaper reports add credibility to one’s business (courtesy of Matt Callow)
With so much information easily available at the click of a mouse (or the tap of an iPhone), consumers are becoming more enlightened than ever before. As Mulder and Fox would have told you, “the truth is out there”, and it is now showing at an Internet-enabled screen near you. With so many websites, forums and blogs established to conduct independent consumer and product reviews, people will no longer take your word for it.
What can companies and businesses do to ride this trend? Is it enough to claim that you are able to make them taller, smarter, cleaner or more relaxed than the competition? No, it isn’t.
In the hyper-competitive world of marketing and sales, it isn’t sufficient just to push out an ad or a sales letter and hope and pray for a response.
Consumers and corporate buyers are increasingly spoilt for choice. Selling based on price alone is no longer sustainable in the long haul.
Courtesy of AZ Quotes
“People don’t buy for logical reasons. They buy for emotional reasons.” – Zig Ziglar
This quote from the legendary sales guru Zig Ziglar aptly describes the world of marketing, where it is vital to reach the heart in order to generate a buying response.
While the rational part of us would sort through the price, features, and logical needs we have for a particular product or service, it is the emotional part – the feelings, benefits, wants and beliefs – which determine the purchase decision.
Can you deliver what your customers want – before they even ask? (Designed by Freepik)
Remember the last time you visited a store which offered you a cup of warm tea on a cold day?
How did that make you feel? Warm, welcomed, and ready to reward your hosts, I bet.
Its the journey and not the destination (courtesy of dadadreams)
What is the best way to capture your customer’s hearts and minds? How do you make them feel a sense of ownership for your brands, products and services?
The secret lies in getting them involved as much as possible.
Courtesy of doombride
We have all been victims at one point or other. Apparently, the older one gets, the more one suffers from it.
This syndrome is manifested in a periodic penchant for the past. Life was more carefree then, unfettered by the stresses and strains of modernity and technology.
Art or sheer marketing brilliance? (Damien Hirst’s £50 million For The Love of God courtesy of Secretly Ironic)
There is an underlying tension in the field of cultural management where one has to balance between giving customers what they want and preserving artistic integrity. This is especially prevalent in what we term as the ‘high arts’ like classical music, ballet, theatre and museums.
Against the ever growing competition from lifestyle activities coupled with the ever shrinking discretionary time of today’s consumers, it appears suicidal for art organisations to hold their ground for the sake of their art. Considered by many to be a discretionary expense (compared to purchasing groceries, fuel and homes), cultural activities have never faced such tremendous competition as the present age.
Extreme co-branding in action! (courtesy of Haendal Dantas)
Here are some interesting little snippets that I picked up this week.
To kick it off, Seth Godin warns us that marketing isn’t just about being better or more efficient, but rather, just being the right thing for customers, no matter how idiosyncratic those demands may be. Its interesting to read about his new middle-aged fetish for button fly jeans though.
Courtesy of mexcast
Suppose that you are feeling unwell (hopefully not!), and you go and see your regular physician. What will be the FIRST thing that he or she does?
a) Ask you questions, check your temperature/pulse/blood pressure, and conduct a series of examinations?