So what are the common denominators for successful
marketers in today’s rapidly changing environment? How can leaders best respond to the
challenges of putting consumers in charge … and for making marketing investments
more accountable?
I see six distinct platforms that are the foundation for
consistent, top notch marketing performance in any industry:
1. Continuous product innovation or reinvention. If
you’re not new … or you’re not perceived to be fresh and relevant … then you’re
old news … yesterday’s business. Marketers must maintain their relevance in consumers’ minds or get blown
away by fast-moving competition. Simply
look at what Jet Blue and Southwest Airlines have done to reinvent the airline
industry. By simply adding a few
television screens and by offering consistent, understandable low fares,
they’ve surged past the legacy carriers with sustainable, high quality business
performance.
2. Product and service quality is the next critical
marketing platform. Consistently being the best-in-class -- year-in and
year-out -- is undoubtedly a fundamental component for long-term profitable
success. Starbucks is a classic example of winning in the marketplace by
consistently exceeding customer expectations … and accomplishing that without
the benefit of a sustained communications program.
3. Offering flexible and fair value is an unbeatable way
to win consumers’ hearts and minds. I think that one of the best and most
recent examples of this marketing platform was Wendy’s extra value meal
campaign. Not only was their offering reasonably priced, it was highly
flexible. It provided consumers with the appealing choice of substituting a
salad, chili or baked potato for the standard French fries offering. This was a stroke of brilliance and ingenuity
– and was very useful to blunt the flood of food advertising criticism coming
from Washington and special interest groups.
4. Marketing cost efficiency and streamlined marketing
processes are paramount. Marketers are consistently looking at their own cost
profiles to ensure they are getting the best return for their marketing
investment. They need to know whether
their marketing supply chain is as efficient as it can be. That’s why
procurement departments are becoming increasingly involved in so many
decisions, including agency management and media negotiation. It’s also why
marketers are becoming more directly involved in functions like talent
payments. In fact, the ANA Production
Management Committee has just released guidelines for effectively managing
television talent payments. And the
Committee is encouraging advertisers to meet with their agencies and production
consultants to discuss how these guidelines might help maximize efficiencies.
In addition, marketers are working to understand the
effectiveness and efficiency of their media buys. Looking to maximize weight
against working media, advertisers are striving to reconfigure their marketing
mix to improve overall cost balance and to optimize revenue generation.
American Express is one of the most visible examples of a marketer shrewdly
redeploying its marketing mix.
5. Measurements and Metrics. Perhaps the most profound
change in marketers’ behavior is the intensified focus on measurements and
metrics. Driven by the old adage, “you
can’t manage what you can’t measure,” marketers are seeking greater precision
in assessing the outcomes of their actions, as well as deeper knowledge of
alternative communications disciplines. Indeed, the desire to transform marketing
into a “science” is one of today’s hottest trends.
6. The final platform – and perhaps the most important
transformation for marketers -- is making direct Consumer (or customer)
Connections. Today, one-to-one
connections are more feasible than ever thanks to targeted or addressable media
– whether over the Internet … through the emerging arena of wireless … with the
growing opportunities forged by cable TV … via enhanced forms of e-mail
marketing … or in the new realm of blogging and other such alternative
communication forms. In many respects,
marketers are finding that “mass marketing is not dead,” it’s just undergoing
an exciting transformation to “Mass Marketing – one customer at a time.” The proliferation of communication channels
that we have demonized as “Media Fragmentation” has actually become the
foundation for abundant new opportunities created by “Media Diversity.”
The pathway to each of these six platforms is through
technology, innovation and experimentation. And importantly, they all recognize
that marketing has dramatically shifted -- from a focus on the masses, to a
focus on the individual. Marketing will
continue to evolve -- ultimately, I believe, becoming a true “One-to-One” discipline. Consumers have enormous leverage and power to
determine what they want to see and hear. We marketers must determine how we’re going to get invited to the table
because in essence, marketing is becoming “By invitation only.”
