|
August 21, 2004 Advertising
For The Long Haul and Not the Short Term Gains
"If a young man
tells his date she's intelligent, looks lovely, and is a great
conversationalist, he's saying the right things to the right person and
that's marketing. If the young man tells his date how handsome, smart
and successful he is -- that's advertising. If someone else tells the
young woman how handsome, smart and successful her date is -- that's
public relations." By S.H. Simmons. Welcome to New Age Media Concepts, Inc. where we understand your needs and how to maximize your marketing dollar. Marketing is your
strategy for allocating resources (time and money) in order to achieve
your objectives. People have their own unique
perceptions of the world based on their belief system. The most
innovative ideas, the greatest products, or a superior service succeed
only when you market within the context of people's perceptions.
This is true from something as simple as the pet rock craze of
the 1970s to the marketing muscle of Wall Street and the Internet boom
of the 1990s. Context can be many things,
singly or simultaneously. To name a few, you may market to your
customers within the context of their wants, needs, problems solved, or
situation improved. Current and potential advertisers need to be aware
of many other contexts, such as social and economic trends or
governmental regulations. People don't just
"buy" a product or a service. They "buy" the concept
of what that product will do for them, or help them do for themselves.
People just don’t “buy” a laundry detergent, they buy the
perceived notion of what that laundry detergent brand says it can
accomplish for them. Otherwise every brand in the supermarket will be a
no-frills. This is not to say that if a product fails to meet the
customers’ expectations that product will be successful in the long
haul. No amount of advertising and marketing will help a failed product
succeed in that scenario. To have a successful campaign
a product or service must understand that they need to start out with
something a consumer needs, wants, or improves their situation and that
product or service actually does help the consumer for the long haul. The New York Times said it best in a recent article, “Companies can’t Buy Love with Bargains” Building brand loyalty is more than just hyping the consumer into buying a product, it’s gaining their trust and the trust of their family both today and for years to come. One example of great brand building is H.J. Heinz, (NYSE: HNZ) they have been around for decades and they gained the loyalty and trust of the consumer spanning generations, now that is great brand building. Anyone
could hype a brand for short term gains but that doesn’t accomplish
the goals of the advertiser or the consumer. It looks good initially but
what happens when the product isn’t flying off the shelves any longer
and the consumers have lost trust in the product or the company?. Of
course you need new and innovative ways to get your message to the
consumer but this message has to be geared to building consumer loyalty
and not just hype. Even the largest companies make this mistake and pay
for it with decreased sales and profit margins. So
whether a consumer is buying a car from Ford (NYSE: F) , a can of beer
from Anheuser
Busch (NYSE:BUD) or software from Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT), the
advertiser needs to cater to the needs of the consumer. Anthony Demetroulakos, New Age Media Concepts August 2004. ####
|
