Overcoming Barriers

I really like this youtube of a younger Jack Nicholson trying to overcome the waitress's objections to his order.

Speaking of objections/barriers have you noticed that the terms and conditions of doing business with people is growing?

Greyhound and Coach Canada are notorious for this. Case in point: the driver is able to accept payment from anyone not having a pre purchased ticket but they will not accept payment from you when there is still 2 mins left prior to departure and force you back to the ticket counter. With that little time to spare, the chances of the apathetic driver waiting past departure time are slim to none.

Sure the argument can be made that you should have been there 45 mins prior to departure(terms and conditions), however is this really a necessary barrier?

The marketing message from Coach Drivers: We don't really Care about your business.

Erecting barriers for your customers to overcome is a great way to race to the bottom of marketing efficiency. It is NOT great for building a remarkable company that compels people to say nice things about you.

Update: Yes I understand that coach travel is a commodity, but why should it be? Why not increase profits even more by increasing customer value, and rider experience? There is a huge disconnect between the marketing table at Greyhound/Coach Canada and what the actual perception of their marketing is.

Marketing because you want is so much more authentic than marketing because you have to.

When Marketing Doesn't Work

If you lie or sell junk, no marketing can help. People will find out. When they do, they’ll leave, and tell others about you.

Those who see marketing as investment, will ultimately succeed. Those who view marketing as an expense will ultimately fail.

Harsh words, but so true.

Substance vs Style

Back in the good old days it used to be that substance marketing prevailed - rational middle class people bought goods based on logic and reason. People needed flour (general store), their shoes repaired instead of buying new ones, all while staying in touch with family/friends (Bell Telephone). All logical "decisions" for a normal life.

Back then it was perfectly logical (and reasonable) to expect your wife to douche herself with lysol in order to be "loved", and kept out of the web of indifference. Nobody objected to this rationale. Lysol is still around selling this product - albeit in "spray form" and (now) for household cleaning purposes.

When marketers began to understand how the human brain works specifically on emotion and senses; they acted accordingly on their ads and messages. Now sex is in, lifestyle positioning is Queen, and everybody is looking for the next emotional rush (hello green marketing).

Good marketing doesn't distinguish between these targeting strategies. Good marketing needs both. It needs to capture the emotion and senses of your target audience while providing a rationale that will last way beyond the initial purchase. If you are going to market a green product, it is no good to market the logical (financial savings) reasons but the emotional (helping combat global climate change) in an integrated fashion.

Remember customers buy based on emotion and senses, and then rationalize their purchases afterwards. They need your help and commitment behind what you sell so they have an excuse to buy from you.

Sounds easy? Not likely.

Most marketers and companies only like to take limited responsibility for their marketing side affects. What I just said involves being responsibility's for ALL side effects and responding accordingly. So if your Abercrombie shirts really make people look fat, thats your problem not the customers. If you fail to explain all the terms and condition behind your credit card, you the bank are liable, not the customer.

You're on the right track if you think this sounds like dating. If everyone started marketing like they were talking to a potential companion, we would be in such a better place.

Six Principles of New Marketing

Many people ask me what is "New Marketing" and how it differentiates from Old Marketing?

Below are some of the key principles from Harvard Business Review. It's important to note that New Marketing ideas have been around for a very long time (Peter Drucker was one of the pioneers). But it's only in recent years with the saturation of ads, noise, and a time starved world, that this ideology is finally coming to fruition.

1. Marketing is everything and everything is marketing, suggests that marketing is like quality. It is not a function but an all-pervasive way of doing business
2. The goal of marketing is to own the market, not just to sell the product," is a remedy for companies that adopt a limiting "market-share mentality." When you own a market, you lead the market
3. Marketing evolves as technology evolves." Programmable technology means that companies can promise customers "any thing, any way, any time." Now marketing is evolving to deliver on that promise
4. Marketing moves from monologue to dialogue - argues that advertising is obsolete. Talking at customers is no longer useful. The new marketing requires a feedback loop--a dialogue between company and customer
5. Marketing a product is marketing a service is marketing a product." The line between the categories is fast eroding: the best manufacturing companies provide great service, the best service companies think of themselves as offering high-quality products
6. Technology markets technology," points out the inevitable marriage of marketing and technology and predicts the emergence of marketing workstations, a marketing counterpart to engineers' CAD/CAM systems

The key cornerstone of modern marketing is the integration of marketing into all business activities. This means marketing is placed at the fore front of the production cycle - that is, make solutions for what people demand not what the business demand. All and then promoting your activities to your target audience after you've gained their permission.

Yes it's hard, and yes that's why very few organizations adopt this approach. But then again very few companies are remarkable. Remarkable people recognize the effort is worth it. That the long term success is worth the short term pain.

Are you looking to be remarkable or just average?

Marketing Is The New Finance

According to Hal Varian, Google's Chief Economist, marekting is about to undergo an quantitative revolution like the financial services sector did with qualitative subjects in the 1970's.

Wait, stop right there.

Google has a Chief Economist???

Remember, no one really cares about the product/service you sell. You are just another noisy fish in a very big ocean, trying to get attention. Chances are, if you're selling a commodity (read: competing on price) you may not be around as long as you think.

However Google is different. People care about Google. If you don't believe me, just go research how much the Google T-Shirt alone goes for.

When Google talks people listen, all because they're a remarkable company, that understands their audience and where they need to go to stay noteworthy.

Bring out the ruler and start measuring. And change accordingly.