There are cases in which the reasons for a product’s success are obvious. The success of Viagra, a product that has solved a serious problem for millions of men worldwide – is hardly surprising. Even the success of vacation resorts in Turkey – that have made accessible once a luxurious vacation style to a new middle class segment, is not a mystery. In contrast, in other cases the success of a specific product, place or person over the competition remains unclear. We have all observed the phenomenon of a packed and trendy caffe surrounded by apparently equally attractive but relatively empty coffee bars.

Research of marketing hits is not a new endeavor. Certain categories have accumulated much knowledge enabling planning and launching of hits with a practical probability of success. In the leisure and entertainment segment, companies such as Disney, Warner, HBO, and others have demonstrated such consistent capabilities in theater, television, music, toys, electronic games, and more. On the whole, secrets are kept closely. Many have tried to crack the formula of marketing hits successes.

Short sweet success

In the last few years, more and more sectors have become as high paced and as changeable as the fashion industry. The importance of hits for the success of companies has risen in sectors such as the following: automobiles, food, grooming, hotels, construction, entertainment electronics, software, and the list goes on. It even includes unexpected categories such as financial services.

Personally, I have begun my work in the marketing hits field in the latter half of the 1990’s. I identified a radical change in consumer behavior and a dramatic rise in a new motivation that I coined “The Fear of Missing Out – FoMO”. In extremely concise terms, FoMO turns consumers into serial seekers and adopters of the new (while inevitably forsaking the not-so-new). As such, one consequence among many is that FoMO nibbles at customers’ loyalty to well-established brands.

Upon realizing that our efforts to preserve customers’ loyalty are, more often than not, futile, I concluded that we were now in need of new tools to deal with a new consumer reality that is here to stay. Therefore, I have developed a comprehensive ‘technology’ of rules and tools for the development, launching and management of profitable, “Short-Term Brands (STB)”. STB are planned short-term successes. During this development process, I conducted an extensive, in depth analysis of over 150 marketing hits in various and diverse categories. In parallel, I studied the accumulated experience in sectors that have learned how to methodically develop and generate such hits. In mid 2004, the results culminated in the “Marketing Hits’ Formula” which is now a part of the STB armory.

The Marketing Hits’ Formula and its implementation method allows for marketing innovation that will be accepted with immediate enthusiasm by target consumers and will spread virally. This formula has two major advantages: First, it is applicable to almost all categories. Second, it does not necessitate enormous marketing and advertising budgets (the most common method of attempting to instigate success within a short time frame).

Success has its Rules

The formula postulates that each marketing hit comprises of the following four elements:

1. Marketing hits are usually not large innovative leaps. The new product or service should be based in as much as 80% on a format that has been successful numerous times in the same category. The format assures familiarity, promises consumer satisfaction and minimizes adaptation efforts on the part of the consumer.

2. The product or service should be innovative by approximately 20%. This 20% provides the new experience, the uniqueness, the additional benefit or any other reason to switch from the current product, or to at least try it. This novelty should uphold the following two rules (3 and 4).

3. The product’s novelty should address one of the “unsatisfiable” or “regenerating” needs (explanation to follow).

4. The product should include an element of “Cool”, “WOW”, and/or a “Twist” that creates a “viral motive”, or in other words, will supply buyers with a good reason to tell other potential buyers about the product.
- COOL means ‘right’, fashionable and utterly current, perhaps even a bit edgy.

- WOW means arousing awe and excitement through an amazing design or by an outstanding and an unexpected level pf performance.

- A TWIST means something unusual in a surprising, intriguing and often amusing manner.

Hits are planned and managed short-lived successes (the duration of ’short’ varies among categories) that are replaced by new hits. It is of utmost importance to realize that hits satisfy two types of human needs not catered for by long-term established brands:

“Unsatisfiable needs” – these are wishes that cannot be realized (not to a full extent), however, human beings will relentlessly attempt to fulfill them, while deceiving themselves that it is possible to do so. Amongst the unsatisfiable are the needs for eternal youth, irresistible sex appeal, grandness, omnipotence, domination, an ever-exciting life, and adventure (without investing the effort, taking the risk or paying the price). It is understandable that brands supporting such fantasies are bound to disappoint eventually and must be replaced by new solutions.

“Regenerating needs” – needs that require ceaselessly new fulfillments. Some of them are regenerating psychological needs, such as the need for attention from the environment, the need to renew oneself, to remain up-to-date, to discover, and to be tempted or seduced. There are also regenerating social needs including the need to signal involvement, belonging and openness.

We put the Marketing Hits’ Formula to practice during the last half of 2004 and since then have gained experience in such diverse categories as pharmaceuticals, cigarettes, food products and TV shows, to name but a few.

Creating Meteoric Successes in Marketing is a post from: Marketing Blogs | Albrowmarketing.com

Strategize and Plan For Loyalty!

These four factors will greatly affect your ability to build a loyal customer base:

1. Products that are highly differentiated from those of the competition.

2. Higher-end products where price is not the primary buying factor.

3. Products with a high service component.

4. Multiple products for the same customer.

1. Market To Your Own Customers

Giving a lot of thought to your marketing programs aimed at current customers is one aspect of building customer loyalty.

When you buy a new car, many dealers will within minutes try to sell you an extended warranty, an alarm system, and maybe rust proofing. It’s often a very easy sale and costs the dealer almost nothing to make. Are there additional products or services you can sell your customers? Three years ago my house was painted, and it’s now due for another coat. Why hasn’t the painter called or at least sent a card? It would be a lot less expensive than getting new customers through his newspaper ad, and since I was happy with his work I won’t get four competing bids this time. Keep all the information you can on your customers and don’t hesitate to ask for the next sale.

2. Use Complaints To Build Business!

When customers aren’t happy with your business they usually won’t complain to you – instead, they’ll probably complain to just about everyone else they know – and take their business to your competition next time. That’s why an increasing number of businesses are making follow-up calls or mailing satisfaction questionnaires after the sale is made. They find that if they promptly follow up and resolve a customer’s complaint, the customer might be even more likely to do business than the average customer who didn’t have a complaint.

3. Reach Out To Your Customers!

Contact with current customers is a good way to build their loyalty.

The more the customer sees someone from your firm, the more likely you’ll get the next order. Send Holiday cards, see them at trade shows, stop by to make sure everything’s okay. Send a simple email newsletter to your customers-tell them about the great things that are happening at your firm and include some useful information for them. Send them copies of any media clippings about your firm. Invite them to free seminars or exclusive events. The more they know about you, the more they see you as someone out to help them, the more they know about your accomplishments-the more loyal a customer they will be.

Recommended Tool: Loyal Email

The Loyal Email solution enables businesses of any size to communicate directly with customers via permission-based email campaigns which helps companies save time and money while increasing sales and customer loyalty.

This solution is geared towards companies whom want to harness the effectiveness and cost efficiencies of email communications but do not want the hassles of managing their own program in-house. Loyal Email is a 100% managed service which doesn’t require any additional investment in hardware, software or personnel. They take care of everything so you don’t have to. Get your own custom designed email marketing and customer loyalty program at http://www.loyalemail.com

Wishing you great business success,

Chris Swemba
Kinetica

Creating Customer Loyalty For Your Business is a post from: Marketing Blogs | Albrowmarketing.com

Deliver value that your customers recognize, appreciate and reward. If you want your customers to value what you offer – you must demonstrate that you value them.

Value implies trust so start by building trust. Always under-promise and over-deliver. Be known for keeping your promise and then some. Be honest. Never promise what you cannot deliver.

Don’t confuse value with cost. A product’s value is almost never equal to its cost. For example, your product might cost you $2 and you sell it for $10. The value to you is $10. The value to the customer will usually be more than the selling price. If it was only worth $10 to the customer then they have no motivation to buy. But if the value to them is greater than the selling price, they are motivated to trade their money for something of greater value. It may be worth $25 to the customer. Then they will gladly give up $10 of their money for the product. The more that value exceeds the cost of the purchase, the more the customer will want to buy from you. Always offer value that is greater than the price they pay. Your challenge is to ensure the customer sees much more value than their cost.

The Value Formula
How can value be so different from cost? Examine the following formula, then discover where you can concentrate your efforts to enhance value.

Total value = real value + perceived value

Let’s take it apart to understand it. Real value comprises the tangibles. It is relatively easy to measure. Real value can be expressed in this manner:

Real value = function/cost

Function is what the product or service does in mechanical or analytical terms. Imagine you are buying a new car. If you are shopping for the best real value, you would get the most function efficient ground transportation for the lowest cost. You could measure the car’s function factor by comparing it with the cost of your practical alternatives; public transit, car pooling, taxi, bicycle, limousine, various car models. You might wish to consider the costs of these alternatives in terms of time and inconvenience. What does your new car give you that these other modes of transportation don’t?

Having determined the new car’s function factor, you can divide it by its cost. Is its function worth more to you than its cost? If so, the new car has real value. At the end of your analysis you would buy the cheapest car. Not necessarily. Remember that what you are willing to pay for your car is based on the total value to you, which is a factor of both real and perceived value. So, sometimes without realizing it, you assign value to less quantifiable benefits and buy something that you like. Liking is not part of real value, it is part of a product’s perceived value.

Perceived Value = belief x emotion

Compared with real value, perceived value is more difficult to measure directly. Yet it can have greater impact on total value. Perceived value is the product of belief times emotion. It is influenced by intangibles such as image, credibility, beauty and feelings – all the benefits you should emphasize in your marketing efforts. Emphasizing your perceived value is the surest way to differentiate yourself from the competition – and gain you more profit. Perceived value is what makes a brand name more valuable than a no-name. Nike is one example of a company that built a fortune on perceived value. As individuals we think differently, perceive differently, and place different values on things. Beware of that. Use it to your advantage. When your prospect wants to negotiate price, remember to build up your product’s perceived value.

How can you enhance the value of what you sell? If you are only looking at the cost of paper and ink then you are forcing yourself to compete in the commodity game. Instead find ways to emphasize the value of your relationship, the creative, – the intangibles.
Always deliver real value too but compete on the perceived value.

Creating, Recognizing & Measuring Value is a post from: Marketing Blogs | Albrowmarketing.com

The odd thing about blue is that it can make you feel trusting. It is subtle. You are probably not aware of it. Other colors work in the same way. Shades of colors also have a subtle effect on your mood. Bars are often decorated in dark shades of red, grey or blue in order to soothe customers into staying. Kindergartens are filled with pastel shades to keep children happy.

How can a color help sell your product? Easy. It can put your customer in the buying mood. You can color anything your customer sees – your product, its packaging, the website, sales materials or your logo. If you choose the right color, you could send people scrambling for their wallet.

Here are some colors and their power:

* Blue is an all-time favorite. If you use blue, people see you as trustworthy. It is conservative and solid. Blue is the color for little boys because according to folklore, baby boys are born in the blue shadow under a cabbage. Good products and services for blue are boys’ clothes, jewelry, travel, insurance, business services and art.

Blue exerts another extraordinary effect: it curbs the appetite. Dieters sometimes eat in blue light, from a blue plate in a blue-colored room. It odd thing is – it works. They do not eat as much.

* Red signals excitement – and danger. It makes people feel expectant. It is often used for introducing a new product. Some good products for red are security products, toys, sports accessories, cars, children’s clothing and pet products.

* Pink is a calming color. Pink is used to sell girls’ clothes and toys as well as cosmetics. Pink shades and lampshades soften the light in a room. A sales price printed in pink tends to make it appear less expensive. Perhaps, it is the calming effect at work. Pink is also pure innocence. Little girls are given the color because ancient folklore has it that girl babies are born in the heart of a rose. *Yellow grabs the eye. In fact, it is the first color babies recognize. It gives off a secure feeling. It is excellent for children’s clothing, health services, vitamins, pet items, music, flowers and household appliances.

* Cream is serious and elegant. It is good for costly items. It
is used in women’s fashions, interior design, linen, bedding,
kitchens and books.

* Grey is serious. Light grey is efficient and sleek. It is good for men’s fine clothing, silverware, machinery, genealogy and family crests. The walls of office buildings are often light grey. Dark grey is ultra serious.

* Green expresses freedom, purity and spaciousness. A soothing color, it goes well with food, water, cooking, flowers, house shutters and doors. Light green is associated with money and ties in with the stock market and business.

* Purple is commanding and sure. In olden days it was used only for royalty. It gives the impression of quality and works well for exclusive and costly items. It is used for heirlooms, books, music and memberships in exclusive clubs.

* Orange makes you look twice. It says: danger is near. It is a bold, hot color that works well with sports clothes, games, camping gear, outdoor vests and children’s apparel.

Create Marketing Magic With The Right Color is a post from: Marketing Blogs | Albrowmarketing.com

Maybe it’s time to get your nose off the grindstone and have a little fun. Why? Creativity plays an important role in marketing, and sometimes we need to take the time to get our creative juices flowing.

Don’t believe it? Take a close look at Disney. Now that’s a perfect sample of creativity and marketing going hand-in-hand! Walt Disney… a dreamer who put magic into his marketing.

Creativity can take on several different “personas”…

1. The Explorer
The explorer seeks out bits of interesting and new information like a sponge. Curiosity keeps him hunting for the unknown and ready to plunge into brand new experiences.

2. The Dreamer
A wild imagination is the best friend of a true dreamer. Nothing is impossible in the world of imagination.

3. The Artist
An artist is able to take a variety of bits and pieces, mix them all together and come up with a collage that entrances the mind.

Before you set this article aside and get back into the daily grind, let’s think of what all of this could mean to your marketing campaign.

Creativity may…

1. Add pizzas to your flyers
2. Spark a brand new idea for a product/service to market
3. Bring to light a brand new way to market your current product/service
4. Give color to your ads
5. Expose a new way to beat out the competition

Hey, any one of those are great boosters for a marketing campaign. The trouble is that sometimes we feel that everyone is creative, but we’re just an unimaginative lump of clay destined to plod through life.

Not so! Everyone has an imagination. Sometimes it just needs to be oiled up a little bit to get it loosened up. How long has it been since you put your imagination to work?

You can give your creativity a leg up by…

1. Watching a sunrise or sunset
2. Organizing a party
3. Smelling a flower

Hah! You thought I’d have some extravagant exercises all laid out for you, didn’t you? Relax, there’s no secret key to being successfully creative. Creativity comes in all sizes, shapes and colors. There’s no right or wrong way to be creative.

The biggest hurdle most people face is the “I’m just not creative” cop out. Sure they’re creative. In fact, if I asked, they could create quite a long list of the reasons they aren’t creative.

Research has shown that this biggest difference between “creative” and “non-creative” people is that “creative” people believe they are creative and “noncreative” people don’t believe they are creative. It’s as simple as that.

Every marketer gets stale after a while, if they don’t find refreshing and new ideas to incorporate into their work. If your marketing has lost its pizzazz or seem to be in the dumps, simply take a little time to stimulate your creativity and just see what happens.

Create Marketing Magic is a post from: Marketing Blogs | Albrowmarketing.com

Have you ever noticed that some people seem to attract success like a magnet? While others can’t catch a break no matter how hard they seem to try?

Few places is this more prevalent than in the online business world. With more than 97% of all business owners never making a dime from their ventures, it seems that lady luck is calling the shots. But maybe there is more to it than random chance.

After all, success rarely happens by accident. It’s actually our own failure that many of us plan.

Those who succeed at anything in life – in particular business – know what they want to achieve, visualize themselves achieving it and then make it a reality. They have a success mindset that goes beyond just the idea of wanting something; it becomes a part of who they are until they have no choice but to make it a reality.

In the early 20th century, multimillionaire Andrew Carnegie hired Napoleon Hill to study the world’s most successful people. Hill spent 20 years interviewing, learning from, and understanding more than 500 of the most successful people to ever live. Among them were the super wealthy Henry Ford, John D. Rockefeller and Thomas Edison.

Using his research, Hill published Think and Grow Rich in 1937. Today it is still one of the most read books of it’s kind. It has stood the test of time because his principles for success can be applied by anyone at any time. In fact, many of his ideas have since been substantiated through scientific studies. One of which is the idea that people possess the power to think their way to success.

Key in Hill’s research was the discovery that successful people think differently. They have adopted a set of beliefs that enable them to be successful.

Research now shows what the world’s most successful people have always known. If you want to succeed you have to believe you will succeed. Believe that failure is not an option and it won’t be.

So, how can you develop your own success mindset?

The best place to start is to stop listening to the little voice in your head that says, “No you can’t”. Instead believe that you can do anything you put your mind to. Visualize yourself already having the thing you most desire and live your life as though it’s inevitable that you’ll eventually get there.

“Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe it can achieve.”- Napoleon Hill

Use this powerful technique in your own life and you’re sure to be rewarded personally and professionally. Get started today and you’ll be amazed how quickly your “luck“ changes!

Could This Be The Key To Your Success? is a post from: Marketing Blogs | Albrowmarketing.com

The easiest way to do this, both on- and off-line, is through a content newsletter. There is no doubt that content sells. Useful content builds trust and credibility, and over time turns your customer from a stranger to a friend.

An online newsletter is easy to begin–all you need is an autoresponder. I use Aweber for my newsletter (http://aweber.com/?203081). You can advertise your newsletter on your website, on forums, on your business card, in articles you write, on traffic exchanges, and in your email signature. If you faithfully do these marketing tasks, your email list will grow over time.

You must provide useful and informative content in your newsletter. If you want subscribers to read it and (eventually) buy from you, do not offer them junk. I define “junk” as opt-in spam. Don’t fall into the habit of sending out advertisements veiled as “articles.” Don’t send only solo ads. Instead, research topics for your newsletter and write quality articles. Subscribers who are impressed with your newsletter will buy from you. But it will take time to build trust. Trust is not built through junk.

There are three phases to this process: 1) Get a lead; 2) Convert that lead into a customer; and 3) Convert that customer into a super-customer. Your newsletter will help you accomplish all three tasks.

If you sell or market a product or service, and you are driving traffic to your website, you typically have only one shot at capturing the interest of a prospect. If I go to your site and click away, I may never come back. You need some sort of follow-up system. A newsletter is the perfect vehicle for follow-up.

If you are sending targeted traffic to your site (any other type of traffic is a waste), visitors will be interested in the content of what you are offering. To keep their interest, and to keep your name in front of them, offer a f-re-e newsletter. Even a simple, once-a-month newsletter will do.

If they sign up, you then have a chance to build a relationship. This is done through your content. Many people don’t buy something the first time they see it, but as they come to know you and your product through your newsletter, they become more willing to purchase. Over time, just by offering a newsletter, you can convert more leads into customers.

You turn those customers into super-customers also through your newsletter. If the product or service they bought from you was quality, you have built even more credibility with them. Perhaps now they will make repeat purchases, or join a membership site you offer, or even become an affiliate for your product or service.

But the key is to offer useful, informative content. If the premier issue of your newsletter is nothing but an ad similar to your site, you will lose that lead. Build relationships through high-quality content, and you will convert leads into paying customers into paying super-customers.

Remember – no list, no money.

Convert Leads Into Customers, And Customers Into Super-customers! is a post from: Marketing Blogs | Albrowmarketing.com

That might seem like an obvious statement, but the actions of many small business owners might indicate otherwise. For many you build a web site, or create a brochure, or go to a few networking events and then you wait for results to happen. Effective marketing rarely works like that.

It takes regular and consistent effort to keep your pipeline full of good high-quality leads that you can work on converting into paying clients. It doesn’t have to be an all-consuming effort, but it does take consistent effort.

Here are four ideas for continuously moving your marketing forward:

Study up on marketing. There is no shortage of resources out there including books, audio programs, tele-classes, courses, etc. Look for the ones that offer proven, hands-on strategies and tactics, not get-rich-quick schemes.

Form or join a “think tank” or “mastermind group.” Find a group of people who will care just as much about your success as you do (and that you’ll care about their success). This isn’t just a group of friends who will tell you what you want to hear, but a group that will hold you accountable and support you.

Attend talks and workshops regularly. If you go an participate fully, you’ll often get just a much from the other participants as you will from the talk itself. Brainstorm with those you meet and find out what’s working for them in their business.

Get hands-on assistance. Working with a marketing coach or consultant who can help you focus, set goals, prioritize, create action plans, and help hold you accountable could be one of the best investments you make in your business.

Support from outside resources like these can help you shift your mindset and make marketing the ongoing journey it needs to be.

Continuously Moving Your Marketing Forward is a post from: Marketing Blogs | Albrowmarketing.com

What, you may ask, is contest management? Contests basically take care of themselves, right? No. And anyone who believes that is not only in for a world of trouble, but potential legal problems. For this reason, when creating a contest it is essential to create a project team which a specific project leader.

This project team will design the contest, operate the contest, and offer all the contest management support required during the contest period. Among the most important of contest management tools is a mailings database and its management. Almost all contests require the contest applicant to send you something. A form, a box top, the answer to a question, something. And the receipt of all this material must be tracked, so that it can be shown that the contest function according to its rules — if questions are ever raised.

The project manager of you contest management team should appoint a single person to oversee the mailings database management. Like all records management activities this is uniquely important to ensure quality control. You may have the best data entry clerks on planet earth, but even they cannot do their job without a system. You mailings database management team and its leader will create this system, and ensure that it is efficiently and accurately administered.

It is probably best if you offer the mailings database management position to someone in your firm who is an expert in records management. This, for instance, might be a great chance to allow someone in research or even accounting to get a taste of the creative side of your business. Although running a contest is hard work, there is something inherently exciting about it. The promise of prizes. The randomness. The novelty. And because of these factors will believe you will have no problem attracting highly qualified people to the project in-house.

However, if you have no one in-house, we recommend selecting a contest specialist. Although there may be many people outside your firm who could handle contest management or mailings database management, it is always unwise to bring someone new into the equation who is not an expert in the task at hand. A new or temporary employee already has the problems of acclimating to your practices and procedures. In most firms, that can take days, even weeks. There is not need to complicate this process by forcing them to do “on the job” training.

Running a contest can be an exciting prospect. We highly recommend it. However, as we have laid out in this brief article, one needs to understand the importance of contest management and mailings database management. But, if you get this right, and we know you will, your client will be very happy. And so will those contest winners! And, by the way, make sure to send us an entry form!

Contest Management and Mailings Database Management: A Marketing Plan For Winners is a post from: Marketing Blogs | Albrowmarketing.com

In post liberalisation India the healthcare industry is waking up to the fact that the consumer has to be pursued and enticed into visiting healthcare facilities of a particular brand and to buy healthcare products of a particular brand. With the government permitting 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the health care industry, there is a deluge of private players in the Indian Healthcare market today. And this has dramatically changed the facade of healthcare marketing and communications in India.
Taking the case of hospitals, there is a wide variety of services (that are not just medical) on offer for the patient. From in-house multi cuisine restaurants, swimming pools, walking tracks, indoor games facilities, libraries and play areas to travel desks that arrange sightseeing tours and shopping for patients, you name it and they have it, all in a bid to woo more and more patients. Hospital promotions take on the form of Public Relations, VIP and visitor hospital tours and walk in exhibitions, loyalty and outreach programmes, support groups etc.
Similarly the pharmaceutical industry is going overboard in its attempts to appease the two routes that they have to reach out to the end consumers- doctors and pharmacists. For retailers it is boom time as they get free supplies of medicines, expensive gifts, holiday trips and also huge margins for promoting and selling particular brands at their outlets. With doctors the gifts, incentives and schemes are getting wilder by the day. The trend is to customise the gift to the doctor so that the pharmaceutical company actually meets a relevant need of the doctor rather than flooding him with things that he throws away or hands over to others. Taking examples of customised gifts it could be admission of a doctor’s child to a reputed school or even the reimbursement of shopping bills. All in an attempt to get a better hold on this indirect consumer. For over the counter drugs there are advertisements in all shapes and sizes visible just anywhere. With sponsoring TV programmes to conducting mass consumer contact programmes to free sampling, pharmaceutical companies are trying innovative marketing ideas to get a share of the consumer’s wallet.

One look at the statistics and the reason behind this intense competition gets clear. According to a Confederation of Indian Industry — McKinsey study on India’s health industry, the country’s spending on health care is expected to increase from Rs 86,000 crore at present to Rs 200,000 crore in the next decade. Health care’s contribution to India’s GDP will increase from the current 5.2 per cent to 8.5 per cent by 2012. The players in the healthcare industry fully realise that these predictions will come true with harnessing the burgeoning purchasing power of the Indian consumer.

Consumer Directed Healthcare – A New trend is a post from: Marketing Blogs | Albrowmarketing.com