THE 6 P's OF MARKETING:

If there is one thing that every business owner must understand it is marketing. The right marketing strategy can bring you success just as the wrong one can lead to failure. The first step in devising a good marketing plan is to understand exactly what marketing is. You might think it is about selling products, but that is not entirely true. While the end result is probably selling products or services, marketing itself has to do more with figuring out what your customers need and finding a way to get it to them. It requires you to carefully evaluate your business to see how you can best provide your product or service to the customer.

In order to have a great marketing plan you have to understand and implement the 6 P’s of marketing. The six P’s are product, place, price, promotion, and people. Those six words are the basis of your marketing plan and to some extent your business as a whole. Here we will explain these six things and how they affect your marketing strategy and business.

Defining The 6 P’s

1. Products - Simply put, a product is anything, good or service, that is needed in the market. All products can be broken down in to three components. The core product is defined as the end benefit for the customer. For example, a person who buys a pair of shoes is buying comfort and foot protection. The next component is the formal products which refers to the actual item and includes it’s physical and psychological aspects. That same person who buys a pair of shoes is buying a brand name because they view it as best. The last component is the augmented product which refers to the entire service or good including any additional support items like a warranty, service, or delivery. As a business owner you must take into consideration all aspects of a product because they each play an important role in whether or not customers choose your product over other products.

2. Place – Place is all about how your customers can get a product. It is incredibly important that business owners think about where their customers are, and how they will get their product to those customers. Positioning your business in the right place so that it is convenient for both your customers and from your manufacture’s standpoint is a great idea. The place also takes into consideration how the product will get to customers, meaning whether you will sell it directly or through a retailer or online.

3. Pricing Strategy - The price at which you sell your product depends on a number of factors. You must set a price that allows you to make a profit while also meeting your competitors’ prices or beating them. It also has to be the right amount to allow you to maintain and increase your customer base. To figure this out, you have to know how much it costs to get your product to a consumer including all costs, not just that of your raw materials. You will also have to do research to find out what your competition charges and what price consumers will pay.

4. Promotion - Promotion is the nuts and bolts of getting your message out to the public. This is mainly done through advertising in the form of radio, newspapers, television, and on line promotions. Getting the right message out to your core customers is a big task. You must try to find a balance between what your competitors are saying and what you need to say to give your product a positive image. There are many rules governing truth in advertising here in Australia, so be certain you comply with all regulations before you launch any promotion campaign.

5. People - You might think that this P refers to customers, but it does not. The most important people in your business are the people who work with and for you. Hiring the right people is one of the most important things you will do for your business. They are the face of your product to the world as well as the hands behind the scene that make sure everything gets done correctly and on time. As a business owner you must work hard to develop your employees and to manage them with dignity so they want to work for you. You also have to figure out what you need done in your business so you can hire the right people to fill each position and task.

6. Process - Process takes into account all of the previous P’s to ensure that each customer has a good experience when they do business with you. Your process includes everything that you did to get your product to the consumer including all of the planning and paperwork and marketing that it took to do it. As you look at your process you have to ensure that you have planned for every possible scenario so that you can guarantee success. You also have to have efficient procedures in place that make your business run as effectively as possible. Also make sure you accurately document each step so you can control the quality of your product and services all the way down the line. You must also be able to review your procedures so that you can improve as necessary all the time.

This is just brief overview of the 6 P’s of marketing. Once you have decided to open a business you will need to spend a great deal of time understanding them as they relate to your particular product. Each one plays an important role in the level of success your business can have.

Eight reasons to leave a Job :


1.When the Management is as confused about the role 1year down the lane as they were at the point of hiring.

2.No Process in place.

3.Work-Culture.

4. Skill-set rapidly diminishing due to multiple role-handling,therby loosing focus.

5.Lastly,when you are deprived of being part of important Events/Customer-Meets due to foggy role-clarity.(Management's ON-OFF attitude towards whether attending Events is a part of your role or not).

6. Believing day long sessions and having endless meetings is solution for every problem and by doing that,expecting drastic results. Else start another series of meetings.

7. Di-motivation.

TOP TEN REASONS WHY LARGE COMPANIES FAIL TO KEEP THEIR BEST TALENT.

Whether it’s a high-profile tech company like Google!, or a more established conglomerate like GE or HUL, large companies have a hard time keeping their best and brightest in house.

Large established companies have a tremendous advantage in retaining their top talent.

In our business, we see the good and the bad things that large companies do in relation to talent management. Here’s my Top Ten list of what large companies do to lose their top talent :

1. Big Company Bureaucracy

This is probably the #1 reason we hear after the fact from disenchanted employees. However, it’s usually a reason that masks the real reason. No one likes rules that make no sense. But, when top talent is complaining along these lines, it’s usually a sign that they didn’t feel as if they had a say in these rules. They were simply told to follow along and get with the program. No voice in the process and really talented people say “check please.”

2.Failing to Find a Project for the Talent that Ignites Their Passion

Big companies have many moving parts — by definition. Therefore, they usually don’t have people going around to their best and brightest asking them if they’re enjoying their current projects or if they want to work on something new that they’re really interested in which would help the company. HR people are usually too busy keeping up with other things to get into this. The bosses are also usually tapped out on time and this becomes a “nice to have” rather than “must have” conversation. However, unless you see it as a “must have,” say adios to some of your best people. Top talent isn’t driven by money and power, but by the opportunity to be a part of something huge, that will change the world, and for which they are really passionate. Big companies usually never spend the time to figure this out with those people.

3.Poor Annual Performance Reviews

You would be amazed at how many companies do not do a very effective job at annual performance reviews. Or, if they have them, they are rushed through, with a form quickly filled out and sent off to HR, and back to real work. The impression this leaves with the employee is that my boss — and, therefore, the company — isn’t really interested in my long-term future here. If you’re talented enough, why stay? This one leads into #4….

4.No Discussion around Career Development

Here’s a secret for most bosses: most employees don’t know what they’ll be doing in 5 years. In our experience, about less than 5% of people could tell you if you asked. However, everyone wants to have a discussion with you about their future. Most bosses never engage with their employees about where they want to go in their careers — even the top talent. This represents a huge opportunity for you and your organization if you do bring it up. Our best clients have separate annual discussions with their employees — apart from their annual or bi-annual performance review meetings — to discuss succession planning or career development. If your best people know that you think there’s a path for them going forward, they’ll be more likely to hang around.

5.Shifting Whims/Strategic Priorities

I applaud Google!’s plans to build an incubator or “brickhouse” around their talent, by giving them new exciting projects to work on. The challenge for most organizations is not setting up a strategic priority, like establishing an incubator, but sticking with it a year or two from now. Top talent hates to be “jerked around.” If you commit to a project that they will be heading up, you’ve got to give them enough opportunity to deliver what they’ve promised.

6.Lack of Accountability and/or telling them how to do their Jobs

Although you can’t “jerk around” top talent, it’s a mistake to treat top talent leading a project as “untouchable.” We’re not saying that you need to get into anyone’s business or telling them what to do. However, top talent demands accountability from others and doesn’t mind being held accountable for their projects. Therefore, have regular touch points with your best people as they work through their projects. They’ll appreciate your insights/observations/suggestions — as long as they don’t spillover into preaching.

7.Top Talent likes other Top Talent

What are the rest of the people around your top talent like? Many organizations keep some people on the payroll that rationally shouldn’t be there. You’ll get a litany of rationales explaining why when you ask. “It’s too hard to find a replacement for him/her….” “Now’s not the time….” However, doing exit interviews with the best people leaving big companies you often hear how they were turned off by some of their former “team mates.” If you want to keep your best people, make sure they’re surrounded by other great people.

8.The Missing Vision Thing

This might sound obvious, but is the future of your organization exciting? What strategy are you executing? What is the vision you want this talented person to fulfill? Did they have a say/input into this vision? If the answer is no, there’s work to do — and fast.

9.Lack of Open-Mindedness

The best people want to share their ideas and have them listened to. However, a lot of companies have a vision/strategy which they are trying to execute against — and, often find opposing voices to this strategy as an annoyance and a sign that someone’s not a “team player.” If all the best people are leaving and disagreeing with the strategy, you’re left with a bunch of “yes” people saying the same things to each other. You’ve got to be able to listen to others’ points of view — always incorporating the best parts of these new suggestions.

10.Who’s the Boss?

If a few people have recently quit at your company who report to the same boss, it’s likely not a coincidence. We’ll often get asked to come in and “fix” someone who’s a great sales person, engineer, or is a founder, but who is driving everyone around them “nuts.” We can try, but unfortunately, executive coaching usually only works 33% of the time in these cases. You’re better off trying to find another spot for them in the organization — or, at the very least, not overseeing your high-potential talent that you want to keep.

It’s never a one-way street. Top talent has to assume some responsibility as much as the organization. However, with the scarcity of talent — which will only increase in the next 5 years — Smart Organizations are ones who get out in front of these ten things, rather than wait for their people to come to them, asking to implement this list.

BRAND

The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."

CONCEPT : Brand is the personality that identifies a product, service or company (name,
term, sign, symbol, or design, or combination of them) and how it relates to key constituencies: customers, staff, partners, investors etc.
Some people distinguish the psychological aspect, brand associations like thoughts, feelings, perceptions, images, experiences, beliefs, attitudes, and so on that become linked to the brand, of a brand from the experiential aspect.

BRAND AWARENESS : Brand awareness refers to customers' ability to recall and recognize the brand under different conditions and link to the brand name, logo, jingles and so on to certain associations in memory. It consists of both brand recognition and brand recall. It helps the customers to understand to which product or service category the particular brand belongs and what products and services are sold under the brand name. It also ensures that customers know which of their needs are satisfied by the brand through its products (Keller). Brand awareness is of critical importance since customers will not consider your brand if they are not aware of it.

GLOBAL BRAND : A global brand is one which is perceived to reflect the same set of values around the world. Global brands transcend their origins and create strong enduring relationships with consumers across countries and cultures. They are brands sold in international markets. Examples of global brands include Facebook, Apple, Pepsi, McDonald's, Mastercard, Gap, Sony and Nike. These brands are used to sell the same product across multiple markets and could be considered successful to the extent that the associated products are easily recognizable by the diverse set of consumers.

Distribution Channels of Business

How do you sell to your end-users? Do you use a direct sales team? Resellers? A catalog or website?

Distribution channels are the pathways that companies use to sell their products to end-users. Both B2C and B2B companies can sell through a single channel or through multiple channels that may include:

Direct/sales team: One or more sales teams that you employ directly. You may use multiple teams that specialize in different products or customer segments.


Direct/internet: Selling through your own e-commerce website.

Direct/catalog: Selling through your own catalog.

Wholesaler/distributor: A company that buys products in bulk from many manufacturers and then re-sells smaller volumes to resellers or retailers.
Value-added reseller (VAR): A VAR works with end-users to provide custom solutions that may include multiple products and services from different manufacturers.

Consultant: A consultant develops relationships with companies and provides either specific or very broad services; they may recommend a manufacturer’s product or simply purchase it to deliver a solution for the customer.

Dealer: A company or person who buys inventory from either a manufacturer or distributor, then re-sells to an end-user.

Retail: Retailers sell directly to end-users via a physical store, website or catalog.

Sales agent/manufacturer’s rep: You can outsource your sales function to a company that sells different manufacturers’ products to a group of similar customers in a specific territory.



Here are three distribution examples:

DIRECT TO END USERS SELL THROUGH A DEALER NETWORK SELL THROUGH A VAR (VALUE-ADDED RESELLER)
You have a sales team that sells directly to Fortune 100 companies. You have a second product line for small businesses. Instead of using your sales team, you sell this line directly to end-users through your website and marketing campaigns. You have two markets and two distribution channels. You sell a product through a geographical network of dealers who sell to end-users in their areas. The dealers may service the product as well. Your dealers are essentially your customers, and you have a strong program to train and support them with marketing campaigns and materials. You sell a product to a company who bundles it with services or other products and re-sells it. That company is called a Value Added Reseller (VAR) because it adds value to your product. A VAR may work with an end-user to determine the right products and configurations, then implement a system that includes your product.
To create a good distribution program, focus on the needs of your end-users.

If they need personalized service, you can utilize a local dealer network or reseller program to provide that service.
If your users prefer to buy online, you can create an e-commerce website and fulfillment system and sell direct; you can also sell to another online retailer or a distributor to offer your product on their own sites.
You can build your own specialized sales team to prospect and close deals directly with customers.
Wholesalers, resellers, retailers, consultants and agents already have resources and relationships to quickly bring your product to market. If you sell through these groups instead of (or in addition to) selling direct, treat the entire channel as a group of customers – and they are, since they’re buying your product and re-selling it. Understand their needs and deliver strong marketing programs; you’ll maximize everyone’s revenue in the process.



Before you begin

You can evaluate a new distribution channel or improve your channel marketing / management at any time. It’s especially important to think about distribution when you’re going after a new customer segment, releasing a new product, or looking for ways to aggressively grow your business.

Evaluate how your end-users need to buy

Your distribution strategy should deliver the information and service your prospects need. For each customer segment, consider

How and where they prefer to buy
Whether they need personalized education and training
Whether they need additional products or services to be used alongside yours
Whether your product needs to be customized or installed
Whether your product needs to be serviced
Match end-user needs to a distribution strategy

If your end-users need a great deal of information and service, your company can deliver it directly through a sales force. You can also build a channel of qualified resellers, consultants or resellers. The size of the market and your price will probably dictate which scenario is best.
If the buying process is fairly straightforward, you can sell direct via a website/catalog or perhaps through a wholesale/retail structure. You may also use an inbound telemarketing group or a field sales team.
If you need complete control over your product’s delivery and service, adding a channel probably isn’t right for you.
Identify natural partners

If you want to grow beyond the direct model, look for companies that have relationships with your end-users. If consultants, wholesalers or retailers already reach your customer base, they’re natural partners.

Build your distribution channel

If you’re setting up a distribution channel with one or more partners, treat it as a sales process:

Approach the potential channel partner and “sell” the value of the partnership
Establish goals, service requirements and reporting requirements
Deliver inventory (if necessary) and sales/support materials
Train the partner
Run promotions and programs to support the partner and help them increase sales
Minimize pricing conflicts

If you use multiple channels, carefully map out the price for each step in your channel and include a fair profit for each type of partner. Then compare the price that the end-user will pay; if a customer can buy from one channel at a lower price than another, your partners will rightfully have concerns. Pricing conflict is common but it can jeopardize your entire strategy, so do your best to map out the price at each step and develop the best solution possible.

Drive revenue through the channel

Service your channel partners as you’d service your best customers and work with them to drive revenue. For example, provide them with marketing funds or materials to promote your products; run campaigns to generate leads and forward them to your partners.

25 Marketing Tactics

Marketing is the battle cry in virtually every business sector today. Most information professionals have not studied the science of marketing as part of our
academic or on-the-job training. There are many complex definitions of marketing,
but I prefer a plainer, simpler approach.
Mu&et& from my viewpoint, has three elements. It
(1) explains-how a product
can help another person solve a problem,

(2) gives the person the information
necessary to make a purchase decision, and

(3) satisfies a significant need.

Before outlining 25 proven marketing tactics, many of which you can implement immediately, let me explain the philosophical foundation on which the marketing of
information services under these ideas. These are GEMS in that this acronym stands
for Guidelines for Educational Marketing. The key word is Educational because the
purpose of marketing elusive information services is equipping the buyer or customer to know what he or she is getting.

Nine Marketing Gems

1. Tell the Truth. A great temptation exists to shape facts to make selling easier. In the information
business, the absence of standards and an information-industry Consumer’s Report
has encouraged the creation of cut-rate information products. In 1984 and 1986, I
described this approach to electronic information product development as the
Seventh Avenue Srmregy. As we all know, the knock-off product drives the fashion
business. More and more information professionals are taking this path as well.
A number of information producers sell a product with a hefty journal list. When
one compares the list with what is in the database, reality is different from the
description.
GEM 1. requires that an information marketer present facts objectively about:
- Consistency of the data
- Other ways to get the same data- Editorial or professional standards used to develop the data
- Copyright and ownership of the data
- Data accuracy
- Costs of other ways to get equivalent data
- Human- and machine-dependent performance features affecting the data.
The essence of truthfulness is your ability to compare your information products
and servicesfocmu(y with similar or competitive products. Avoid describing a
product with a metaphor. When I hear a marketing presentation which says, “Our
database is just like Database X,” the marketer does not know whether the customer will think more or less of his product. In short, the marketer loses control of
the prospect’s thoughts.
It is equally dangerous to compare a new or unknown service with the service of a
large, established company. The credibility of the marketer is at stake. How can an
information broker, for example, expect a client to believe that the service
provided by a small firm to be equivalent to that offered by a nationally-known organization.
Marketing experts rarely take liberties with the truth. They don’t have to cut
comers. They value their credibility. In short, GEM 1 means, “Keep your
credibility.” Without it, you will fail in the long run.

2. Build Relationships. Build relationships with your prospects and customers. It is a often-overlooked information-marketing fact that the number of people who buy information products
and services is very small in comparison with the number of people who sell information products. Equally important and ignored by most information marketers is
that selling information--regardless of form--has more in common with selling a
service than selling a tangible product.
A successful marketing program always pivots on individuals who make a purchasing decision. The ‘relationship approach means that you work on a one-on-one
basis and view the purpose of the marketing exercise as an opportunity to build
trust. You can’t advertise personal service. Provide personal service, then it’s not
necessary to talk about it.
Examples of effective customer service include Dialog’s small group training sessions, IAC’S and Mead Data’s direct visits to customers, and Predicast’s 800
telephone service.
Bad customer service includes a clumsy telephone interface to a help desk, a company which has different representatives calling on the same prospect without coordinating visits, or a self-serving newsletters filled with puffers.

3. Set and Meet High Deliver a product or service that meets your personal standards of excellence. Be
Standards. proud of the work you’re doing.
There is a corporate side to meeting standards of excellence as well. The company
must value excellence and institutionalize procedures which help the individuals do
their best job.
But in my experience, individuals govern the quality of the information product,
and they energize organizations to make the excellence a routine part of what the
company does. The corporate culture, therefore, is shared by the individual
employees and the organization. Steve Goldspiel personally and institutionally
makes Disclosure the outstanding product it is. Similarly, Andrea Broadbent and
Julia Denny drive the quality of the McGraw-Hill electronic products. Andy Mills
and Steve Keeble at Technical Publishing of InvesText create m environment in
which excellence can flourish.

4. Many highly-acclaimed expert marketers sell because they have an uncanny ability
which have not been met, or they can create needs and then sell
products which satisfy them. Is this relationship marketing or cievemess? How
many times do you go io a company one time for a product and service and never
go back? Do you want your marketing to pull repeat business or do you want to
resort to tricks to build business?
Information marketers, in my opinion, are on mote solid footing if they try to meet
a need which exists but is not fully satisfied. Inventing needs degenerates into hucksterism.
Meeting a need is little more than solving a problem for someone. Without making
need satisfaction overly complex, keep in mind that the problem can be solved with
a product or service which provides esteem, power, or pleasure.
Examples of information products and services which meet needs squarely are
the newsletter MLS: Madeting Libmty Services, and
the Corporate Intelligence Seminar series offered by Dun & Bradstreet,
Predicative, and Data Courier. Let’s look at each briefly:
- Books in Print Plus provides a CD-ROM version of Bowker’s Book in Print
with important and ‘useful differences. One can locate a title and then
using the capabilities of the product order the book electronically.
Libraries and book stores find the product reduces paperwork and staff
time.
- MLS: Madeting Libmty Services is a newsletter edited by Sharon LaRosa
in Boston. It provides case studies of libraries which have successfully
marketed theit services. According to LaRosa, no other publication addressed libraries’ need for practical marketing information. As a result,
the newsletter has become a success.
The Corporate Intelligence Seminars are offered to end users and
librarians by three competitors--Dun & Bradstreet, Predicasts, and Data
Courier. The seminar has two parts: A content-oriented review of the
products offered by the three business database producers in the morning
and a how-to session offered in the afternoon with the emphasis on searching techniques used to retrieve the information. The seminars meet the
need of online searchers for comparative looks at business databases and
practical how-to search information.
None of these products is a me-too, a hand-me-down idea, or a knock-off of
another’s idea. Each company has identified a need and developed a product to
satisfy that need. Integrity characterizes the effective satisfaction of an information
need.

5. Focus on a Target. Find a niche and fill a need in it. A niche in marketing jargon is group of prospects
with some unifying characteristic and a common problem. Examples of excellent
niche marketing are the E. 8. Stevens Co.3 magazine subscription services for
library acquisition departments. As most of you know, EBSCO reduces paperwork
and centralizes the subscription process. To cite another example: Dow Jones
News/Retrieval provides business people with access to stock data, gaining on
CompuServe and staying well in front of Delphi, The Source, GENIE, and other
similar services. Dow Jones is positioned to dominate this niche because they have
skiilfuIIy packaged a number of business services of interest to marketing, administrative, and management people. They have captured significant market share
in this niche.
In my experience, the more precisely you can define the niche and the need for
your product, the greater your chance of success. Laser Disclosure provides Iinanciai services firms with a complete Securities & Exchange Commission library, continuously updated on CD-ROM. The market is well-defined and has continuous
need for timely access to various SEC documents. Contrast this with the CD-ROM
versions of ERIC. None has made significant market headway because the library
market does not need ERIC in its present CD-ROM formats.
I learned the hard way that it is easier to find an empty niche and create a product
which meets a specific need than it is to try and create a product which is ail things
to ail people. If you know your market niche:
- You can target your promotional activities to a specifically defined group
of prospects
- Marketing dollars can be used to repeat a message to a small group instead of spending larger amounts to reach more people one time.

6. Seek Friends.
- You can focus your message.
Position your product to win friends, not make enemies. In the information business, it is rare that a single source can answer a complex question adequately.
Information professionals recognize the complementary nature of information
products. Established information companies also realize the supporting roles
products play. It is rarely a wise idea to attack a competitor in his market niche
head on. The established competitor can cut prices or offer a package of services
the newcomer cannot match.
A wise course of action is to establish a complementary relationship among information marketers, their products and services. Then, when it is necessary to compete, everyone helps the customer to make an informed judgment about which
product’s features and benefits are right for meeting his needs. Positioning, thcrefore, means:
- Complement existing products and services
- Fill a specific, empty niche with a product or service which meets a real
need
- Minimize the head-to-head competition and emphasize the mutually supportive nature of products and services.
You sell more when your competitors are avoiding you than when they are actively
selling against you.

7. Remain Steady. Be consistent. I am interested in what marketers call repositioning. This concept
means that the marketing of the product is reshaped in order to attract more sales.
Consider for a moment the directory and database of software marketed as MENU.
Originally the database was to drive software sales. The product was made part of
a large European publisher and then marketed as a database of software with emphasis placed upon the operating versions of each software package. Now MENU is a speciahid directories, more a magazine than a database. With each modification in the way the product is explained to the customers, repositioning is occurred.
In my experience, consistency in product positioning is critical. Repositioning can
be successful only if handled with care. The more frequently a product is repositioned, the message communicated is that the people making the product don’t
have their act together. The different messages sent to the market are confusing.
Contrast MENU’S marketing with the approach taken by Information Sources Inc.
of Berkeley, California. The original product was a business software print directory. The product went online in the mid-80s and has undergone thoughtful evoiution. It now offers customized print listings and will include reviews of business
software products in mid-1989. The marketing of the product and its positioning
have been consistent. Since the product’s inception, its credibility and revenues
have risen steadily.
Chart a course and stick with it. Gradual evolution is preferable to product revolution. Repositioning often foreshadows failure.
Stand behind the product. Most of us have had problems with automobile warranties or know of someone who has. The story is the same. A car develops a problem
and the dealer can’t or won’t Rx the car. Tempers flare and the once-proud owner
says, “I’ll never buy an XYZ again.”
In the information industry, according to Carios Cuadra, publisher of the
CuadraEisevier Dimtoty of Online Databases, the speed of new database development has slowed and the rate of database failure has risen. Fewer and fewer companies are willing to make a long-term commitment to this type of information
product.
The fact of the matter is that it takes time for an information product to take hold
in the marketplace. Only a very few products can be an instant success like InvesText, which contains the full text of reports from investment firms, or Business
Dateline, selected articles from America’s and Canada’s regional business publications. Most information products require a lengthy incubation time. H.W. Wilson,
West Publishing, the New York Times Co., McGraw-Hill, and others have been
working for years to build their information credibility and product portfolios.
These companies offer an implicit money-back guarantee. They want customers to
be pleased with the information they offer and stand behind what they do. They are
in business for the long-haul and do not chase the quick buck. Mead Data, for example, has been committed to full-text business information for more than a
decade, and that commitment says something about the company’s persistence.
If you introduce a product and quit, I have found that it becomes more difficult to
get support for the next product. It is almost better to create a product, work at it,
and fail than to pull the plug. In our world, precipitous actions make people nervous, uncertain, and uncomfortable because you could pull the plug on them.
Be prepared to stand behind your product by providing fast, quality service. At all
costs, make the customer feel good about the product, company, and you.
The formula for success is E-F-A-B. Marketers trained at business schools in the
U.S. and England learn to sell by following the formula F-A-B or Features-AdVantages-Benefits. First the marketer explains the features of the product; that is,
what it does. Next he spells out the technical advantages of the particular product,
typically by showing competing products as lacking these advantagges. Last he tell the customer how the product or service benefits him; for example, saves time or
money, appeals to fear, or improves the life of the prospect.
The problem with this formula is that it works only with products which the customer understands. It assumes a solid foundation of knowledge, experience, and
needs. If I go to buy a big-screen TV, the salesman tells me what the TV’s features
are; for example, remote control, stereo sound, and black-matrix picture tube. He
then gives me the advantages of these features, contrasting them with another
model more or less expensive than the one I’m looking at. Good marketers watch
for non-verbal clues about the price I’m willing to pay or ask, “How much do you
want to spend?” Finally, he gives me the benefits. Last week, the benefits I was offered included no payments until January 1990, free delivery, more enjoyment for
my family, and better audio.
What happens, though, when the product and the service are not well known or understood by the prospect? In my experience, information products and services are
hard to understand and difficult to explain. Even well-informed information professionals are unable to keep at their fingertips the nuances of well-known, established information products. They are not able to have a wide and deep experience
base for new electronic media, new or improved databases, and new print information products.
The more advanced the technology, the more complex the marketing job. Further
complicating marketing is the Marshall McLuhan’s observation that the “medium
is the message.” The print version of Dun’s Million Dollar Direcfoy is a different
product from the online version in File 517.
To market an inform,ltion product requires an additional and crucial step preceding F-A-D. The first step is E, education. The information marketer must explain:
- What the information is (a factual description)
- What the information can do (applications-based examples)
- What the technology is (factual description and comparison and contrast
with the information technology familiar to the prospect)
- How the information and technology interact (allay fears and concerns
about complexity, obsolescence, ease-of-use, and maintenance).
Once this foundation is put in place, then F-A-B approach makes sense.
It is one of my recurring nightmares that I market a new information product and
do not follow E-F-A-B. The result is that I go to conference after conference and
have to explain again and again what the product is and how it works. It is a
modern version of the myth of Sisyphus. You push the rock to the top of the hill by
explaining the product only to have it roll back down when the prospect says, “I
don’t know what you’re selling.” Short cuts lead to confusion.
Remember: the prospect always gets educated. It is better for you to do that job because then you have some influence over the foundation on which a purchase
decision is made. If you let someone else do the teaching, you will have a more difficult time making the sale because you won’t have any first-hand knowledge of
what the prospect knows.
Here’s the list of 25 marketing tactics. Pick and choose the tactics you need to help
you market your products.

To use this list, select the tactics and then implement them using the nine GEMS
outlined above. There is no one way to market. You must innovate and modify.
- Develop a strategic information plan. Know where you are going, what
your budget is, and how you will measure success. A successful marketing
program is not a random walk; it is a purposeful journey.
- Create a newsletter for your customers. There are too many newsletters
today. Keep yours short, easy-to-read, and on schedule. This establishes
routine communication to your prospects and customers.

1. Develop a presentation using slides or flip charts that follow the E-F-A-B format.
This is the basic selling tool.

2. Write articles for professional publications, reprint them, and use them as a
direct mail pieces. This is a third-party endorsement of you.

3. Offer one-on-one training about your product to senior managers or influence
leaders. This provides education and builds relationships.

4 Hold small-group training for departments. This establishes a dialogue with
potential customers.

5 Invite other information professionals to give presentations on complementary
products. This establishes your credibility and demonstrates confidence.

6 Assemble a portfolio of case studies describing the benefits of your product. This
is third-party endorsement and applications selling.

7 Prepare a letter-sized brochure summarizing your product. Keep it simple and
on one page. The more like a technical specification the more credibility the
brochure has. Expensive printing and elaborate design can communicates a lack of
judgment in how to spend money.

8 Publish a compilation of information on a hot topic. This shows how your
product looks and makes it tangible.

9 Publish an annual information report. This documents your track record.
10 Communicate consistently in a variety of media; for example, bulletin boards,
news releases, and memoranda. This provides a routine information flow about
your product.

11 Obtain new signage or a new logo. This calls attention to a new or improved
product. It signals a more aggressive marketing posture.

12 Make sales calls on prospects and ask them what they need. This builds your information base, detines niches, and suggests new products
.
13 Publish a list of new materials available. This is news and communicates positive
change.

14 Offer to assist selected departments with specific projects. This builds a track
record within a niche.

15 Use the inter-office mail to inform individuals of developments important to
them. This maintains communication and reinforces relationships.

16 Hold an annual open house. This creates traffic and provides an opportunity to
talk one-on-one.

17 Establish a telephone hotline. This is the evidence that you are there to help
your customers.

18 Build bridges to the corporate computer center. This gives credence to the complementary nature of your products.

19 Acquire text-retrieval and database software and offer to assist groups wanting
to build databases. This positions you as an expert.

20 Keep track of library usage, queries, and revenue. This builds evidence which
can be used to demonstrate value.

21 Attend trade shows and circulate trip reports. This shows your ability to bring
valuable information to prospects.

22 Get as much knowledge about systems, technology, and competitive products as
you can. This enables you to be spontaneously helpful.

23 Start an online timesharing service using bulletin board software (BBS) like
Galacticom available on your city’s BBS. You can provide a wide range of information and services to create awareness.

24 Organize an annual information services conference in your city. Involve such
outside speakers as local software developers, computer dealers, and university
professors. Publicize the seminar using other tips in this list.

25 Work with your local Chamber of Commerce to start an information special interest group. Meetings can be held every month or two and feature outside
speakers who address various information topics. Publicize the programs using the
Chamber’s mailing list and newsletter.

Social Marketing

The health communications field has been rapidly changing over the past two decades. It has evolved from a one-dimensional reliance on public service announcements to a more sophisticated approach which draws from successful techniques used by commercial marketers, termed "social marketing." Rather than dictating the way that information is to be conveyed from the top-down, public health professionals are learning to listen to the needs and desires of the target audience themselves, and building the program from there. This focus on the "consumer" involves in-depth research and constant re-evaluation of every aspect of the program. In fact, research and evaluation together form the very cornerstone of the social marketing process.

Social marketing was "born" as a discipline in the 1970s, when Philip Kotler and Gerald Zaltman realized that the same marketing principles that were being used to sell products to consumers could be used to "sell" ideas, attitudes and behaviors. Kotler and Andreasen define social marketing as "differing from other areas of marketing only with respect to the objectives of the marketer and his or her organization. Social marketing seeks to influence social behaviors not to benefit the marketer, but to benefit the target audience and the general society." This technique has been used extensively in international health programs, especially for contraceptives and oral rehydration therapy (ORT), and is being used with more frequency in the United States for such diverse topics as drug abuse, heart disease and organ donation.

Like commercial marketing, the primary focus is on the consumer--on learning what people want and need rather than trying to persuade them to buy what we happen to be producing. Marketing talks to the consumer, not about the product. The planning process takes this consumer focus into account by addressing the elements of the "marketing mix." This refers to decisions about 1) the conception of a Product, 2) Price, 3) distribution (Place), and 4) Promotion. These are often called the "Four Ps" of marketing. Social marketing also adds a few more "P's." At the end is an example of the marketing mix.

Product

The social marketing "product" is not necessarily a physical offering. A continuum of products exists, ranging from tangible, physical products (e.g., condoms), to services (e.g., medical exams), practices (e.g., breastfeeding, ORT or eating a heart-healthy diet) and finally, more intangible ideas (e.g., environmental protection). In order to have a viable product, people must first perceive that they have a genuine problem, and that the product offering is a good solution for that problem. The role of research here is to discover the consumers' perceptions of the problem and the product, and to determine how important they feel it is to take action against the problem.

Price

"Price" refers to what the consumer must do in order to obtain the social marketing product. This cost may be monetary, or it may instead require the consumer to give up intangibles, such as time or effort, or to risk embarrassment and disapproval. If the costs outweigh the benefits for an individual, the perceived value of the offering will be low and it will be unlikely to be adopted. However, if the benefits are perceived as greater than their costs, chances of trial and adoption of the product is much greater.

In setting the price, particularly for a physical product, such as contraceptives, there are many issues to consider. If the product is priced too low, or provided free of charge, the consumer may perceive it as being low in quality. On the other hand, if the price is too high, some will not be able to afford it. Social marketers must balance these considerations, and often end up charging at least a nominal fee to increase perceptions of quality and to confer a sense of "dignity" to the transaction. These perceptions of costs and benefits can be determined through research, and used in positioning the product.

Place

"Place" describes the way that the product reaches the consumer. For a tangible product, this refers to the distribution system--including the warehouse, trucks, sales force, retail outlets where it is sold, or places where it is given out for free. For an intangible product, place is less clear-cut, but refers to decisions about the channels through which consumers are reached with information or training. This may include doctors' offices, shopping malls, mass media vehicles or in-home demonstrations. Another element of place is deciding how to ensure accessibility of the offering and quality of the service delivery. By determining the activities and habits of the target audience, as well as their experience and satisfaction with the existing delivery system, researchers can pinpoint the most ideal means of distribution for the offering.
Promotion

Finally, the last "P" is promotion. Because of its visibility, this element is often mistakenly thought of as comprising the whole of social marketing. However, as can be seen by the previous discussion, it is only one piece. Promotion consists of the integrated use of advertising, public relations, promotions, media advocacy, personal selling and entertainment vehicles. The focus is on creating and sustaining demand for the product. Public service announcements or paid ads are one way, but there are other methods such as coupons, media events, editorials, "Tupperware"-style parties or in-store displays. Research is crucial to determine the most effective and efficient vehicles to reach the target audience and increase demand. The primary research findings themselves can also be used to gain publicity for the program at media events and in news stories.
Additional Social Marketing "P's"

Publics--Social marketers often have many different audiences that their program has to address in order to be successful. "Publics" refers to both the external and internal groups involved in the program. External publics include the target audience, secondary audiences, policymakers, and gatekeepers, while the internal publics are those who are involved in some way with either approval or implementation of the program.

Partnership--Social and health issues are often so complex that one agency can't make a dent by itself. You need to team up with other organizations in the community to really be effective. You need to figure out which organizations have similar goals to yours--not necessarily the same goals--and identify ways you can work together.

Policy--Social marketing programs can do well in motivating individual behavior change, but that is difficult to sustain unless the environment they're in supports that change for the long run. Often, policy change is needed, and media advocacy programs can be an effective complement to a social marketing program.

Purse Strings--Most organizations that develop social marketing programs operate through funds provided by sources such as foundations, governmental grants or donations. This adds another dimension to the strategy development-namely, where will you get the money to create your program?

Example of a Marketing Mix Strategy

As an example, the marketing mix strategy for a breast cancer screening campaign for older women might include the following elements:

The product could be any of these three behaviors: getting an annual mammogram, seeing a physician each year for a breast exam and performing monthly breast self-exams.
The price of engaging in these behaviors includes the monetary costs of the mammogram and exam, potential discomfort and/or embarrassment, time and even the possibility of actually finding a lump.
The place that these medical and educational services are offered might be a mobile van, local hospitals, clinics and worksites, depending upon the needs of the target audience.
Promotion could be done through public service announcements, billboards, mass mailings, media events and community outreach.
The "publics" you might need to address include your target audience (let's say low-income women age 40 to 65), the people who influence their decisions like their husbands or physicians, policymakers, public service directors at local radio stations, as well as your board of directors and office staff.
Partnerships could be cultivated with local or national women's groups, corporate sponsors, medical organizations, service clubs or media outlets.
The policy aspects of the campaign might focus on increasing access to mammograms through lower costs, requiring insurance and Medicaid coverage of mammograms or increasing federal funding for breast cancer research.
The purse strings, or where the funding will come from, may be governmental grants, such as from the National Cancer Institute or the local health department, foundation grants or an organization like the American Cancer Society.
Each element of the marketing mix should be taken into consideration as the program is developed, for they are the core of the marketing effort. Research is used to elucidate and shape the final product, price, place, promotion and related decisions.