Marketing Overview

by Daniel Wadleigh

T here are two basic markets. They are

A) A piece of the existing pie (market share)

B) A new product/service development

For market share to increase, that is, if you want to increase your sales above existing status quo, you have only two choices

1) You can lower your price or

2) You can add perceived value and communicate the benefits in a full and effective way.

There are dozens of different kinds of “added-values.” You can add value by:

a) Determining which human desires that you address and do a better job than the other guys of describing what you can do for the customer, and add an irresistible offer to cause them to switch to you.

b) Adding an additional value to your product/service that the other guys don’t have. This can be either a mental, emotional, or physical added value, that is an irresistible offer to get them to switch to you.

c) Creating an exaggerated image about the positive benefits of using your product/service. This is the favorite approach of Madison Avenue. “You’ll defeat the town bully and get the Prom Queen if you eat our pretzels.”

For new product/service development (a non-commodity, i.e. a not yet proven value) you need to make the big promise of benefits, prove all claims, and make an irresistible offer wrapped around a power-word rich promotion. These are the basics for success.

In my next article we will discuss a Marketing Mission Statement. It’s not the same as the company mission statement and the difference could throw you off focus!

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