three lessons in practical marketing, or applying 4 ps in real-life situation

Three lessons in practical marketing

or Applying 4Ps in real-life situation

By Leo Exter With many, many thanks to

There really is NO “silver bullet”

Clever is good… well-funded is better

Marketing isn’t complex… it’s complicated

Oh, and…

…without understanding that comes with experience

Theoretical frameworks don’t mean …

Beginning of complexity: the small differences

Company dominated by engineers and sales guys

This is what I started with…

State-of-the-art marketingTaiwan 2004

A bit of an eyesore really…

11

We did develop better-looking stuff. Eventually.

Now back to our story

Trend: GPS moves into

Mainstream

Key consequence: women play more

important role in buying decision

Good Value for Money

Strong brand image, but one dimension only:

Real problem, though:

30+ competitors

Same product

Same price

Same channel

We chose to differentiate on

PROMOTION

Branding and more

SERVICE

Accessory sales

Repairs

First, make sure men are convinced • Coverage in all technical and automotive press

(and Playboy)

• Online visibility via social media

• In-store presence

• Training sales staff in channel

• Promotions in through catalogues/folders

Second, do whatever else we canSofter visual on package

… and that’s about it

Can’t get coverage

in relevant media.

No relevant

social media

Features don’t matter

Our PRODUCT solution: Mio H610

Pretty, handbag-friendly – perfect for women!

Key feature (according to media, at least):

swappable cover

PRICED to support high-end positioning

€ 399

Our entry-level product:€ 199

Our mid-range best seller:€ 299

PROMOTIONEpicenter:youngprofessionaltech-savvywomen

Dedicated mini-site

PR campaign with strong visuals and content

Cosmopolitan

POS materials

It didn’t go well…So we did a bit more PROMOTION

(limited budget)…

It still didn’t help.Because our P(DISTRIBUTION)

was wrong.

Years later I found out that…

20,000 units of H610 ended up at an automotive parts discounter.

Next to Chinese-made tires.

Lessons learned

• More dimensions to marketing than you think: e.g. relationship with your sales guys – Remember ogres and onions?

• Doing something well is not enough – you need budget to amplify– Fund it well or don’t do it at all

• Any one thing done well doesn’t assure success– No silver bullets (well, maybe one if you’re

Dropbox)

leo.exter@westartup.eu

www.westartup.eu

@westartup

www.facebook.com/westartup

Don’t hesitate to ask questions!