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Pabst Blue Ribbon beer has become a cult favorite despite what appears to be no marketing over the last decade. Expensive star-studded and effects-laden films bust at the box office, while small independents such as My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Bend It Like Beckham thrive. Designer labels have given way to store brands and markdowns from merchandisers such as Target, WalMart and Kohl's. The band Pearl Jam announced that it will bypass large global record labels to go with regional representation in different parts of the world. There's a common thread in all of these examples, and probably dozens of others: the diminishing relevance of the in-your-face, be-everywhere, company-fed marketing. These examples are from the consumer market, but the same movement applies to technology - perhaps even more so. Technology people have always been suspicious of marketing "wienies" and being told what to do and how to do it. That accounts for Microsoft possibly being one of the most reviled companies on the planet and Bill Gates being one of the most despised individuals, despite what Microsoft has done for standardized computing and what Gates has done as a philanthropist. So, what do you do when traditional marketing is ineffective or actually backfires? The simple answer: Refocus your priorities and budget. What might appear as "unmarketing" is actually an approach that emphasizes marketing driven by the customer. A lot of companies profess a "customer-centric" approach to business, but the execution is often as dubious as the buzzword. The real money still goes to traditional, "ain't-we-great" marketing. A credible program emanating
from the customer requires creating products and services based
on customer needs, not a developer's zeal; establishing real product
differentiation; showing rather than telling; building word of mouth
and a constituency of fans; and listening to your customers and
responding quickly and thoroughly. All basic stuff, right? Right, but it tends to be stuff companies forget about once they obtain some level of success and have the luxury of larger marketing budgets. As recent trends show, customer-driven marketing is much more than a low-budget strategy - it should be your central focus. Have views on this or
another topic? Please e-mail Bob
Cramblitt.
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Look
at moving your advertising budget into public relations, but
not PR as hype. PR should be a tool to create awareness of the factors
that differentiate your company and its products. Think application
stories, technical articles, opinion pieces, establishing the company's
top managers as media commentators, and factual press releases with
quotes from customers.| PAST TOOLS:
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