Compete on what basis?

This and the Joe's Hotdogs parable brought to you by
Glenn R Harrington of Articulate Consultants Inc
www.articulate.ca

Time to think again, marketer?

This and the Joe's Hotdogs parable brought to you by
Glenn R Harrington of Articulate Consultants Inc
www.articulate.ca

new approach = better results

This and the Joe's Hotdogs parable brought to you by
Glenn R Harrington of Articulate Consultants Inc
www.articulate.ca

better marketing strategy

This and the Joe's Hotdogs parable brought to you by
Glenn R Harrington of Articulate Consultants Inc
www.articulate.ca

An Expert Opinion on Issuing An E-newsletter

On February 28, I delivered a Findings & Recommendations report to a client. This client, incidentally, has had me engaged for a few months as a consultant to refocus his company's marketing efforts and renew its brand-management efforts covering an important profit-center of the business - an important specialty within the company's broader offerings. This Findings & Recommendations report, however, was my first not focused on that specialty, but on the company's new website under construction.

Among my recommendations is not to issue a free e-newsletter, as the home page under construction would offer. The next day, my client wrote to me, "Do you really disagree with a free e-mail newsletter that is educational and simply provides industry information?" For the benefit of all, my reply appears here:

"Thank you for asking me about this.

Yes. Having assessed and addressed newsletter problems for independent business people sine Jan. 2, 1996, I assure you that the vast majority of newsletters take way more time and effort than the issuers expect. Most give up before they manage to get net returns on their investment. This does not bode well for their readers' perceptions of the company.

Really good newsletters are like apple trees. Once you plant the sapling, it needs your diligent care for a few years before you can harvest apples from it. Years more til the harvest is really abundant. If you keep diligent care of it consistently for enough years, then it should give you an abundant harvest for decades. An apple a day for the whole family forever.

Most newsletter issuers downgrade their investment in their newsletter to as low as possible after the first few issues, after they find that it just doesn't pay for itself for a while. In terms of long-term outcome, that is a fatal error. Most cancel their newsletter after reducing the investment still yields low or immeasurable net return.

You can read my articles on how to solve all of these problems at this web page.

However, I am concerned that your market - most importantly, people who already have some variety of business relationship with [the company] - should already be sufficiently communicated to by [the company] through other means. In this case, there should be no void that a newsletter must fill.

Have people who fit your ideal client profile been telling you that they want you to provide them with industry information, or that they feel under-informed with industry information? If so, then maybe a blog would work for you. Here's one.

More important than that, competitors could subscribe to [the newsletter] like bees to a flower, taking all they can for their own use at your expense. If you make the content 'safer' to adapt to competitors being among your readers, then the newsletter could just turn out to be a flyer. In this case, maybe you should go straight to a subscription flyer that has newsletter-like qualities. Is there a business case for that?

I recently conducted a survey on Linked-In that asked people how many e-newsletters they subscribe to, how much un-read e-mail they generally have each day (i.e. always some unread - how many), and how much e-newsletters contribute to their in-box backlog. The survey was treated like a hot potato (many views, few responses) apparently indicating that few people like to admit their answers where their Linked-In connections can see.

If, after further consideration, you want a newsletter or something like, then maybe I can help. What do you think would be a fit?"

Sincerely,
- Glenn R Harrington

This and the Joe's Hotdogs parable brought to you by
Glenn R Harrington of Articulate Consultants Inc
www.articulate.ca

Three Reasons Why Independent Businesses Need Authentic Key Messages To Succeed

Three Reasons Why Independent Businesses Need Authentic Key Messages To Succeed

1. Avoid Direct Competition.

Whether your company operates clothing boutiques, sells insurance and investment products, or makes violins by custom-order, it’s the same. The availability of substitutes or alternatives has grown while communications technology has rendered the world a global village. Because of this, a company not seen as irreplaceable (must-see experts, the leading product, or the highest overall value) increasingly becomes positioned as one of many.

This is how trying harder and doing things that reduce profit margins (e.g. discounting prices, reducing commissions, providing free shipping anywhere) become default ways of competing for business. These can reduce overall profitability and can shorten the life of a company.

With credible, meaningful, authentic key messages, an independent company can claim its turf as must-see experts or the leading product or the highest overall value for its unique value proposition. By doing this effectively, not only can a company avoid direct competition but even grow in service to its niche, serving a broader geographic market than it would serve otherwise, courtesy of the same communications technologies that make intelligently focused niche marketing so important today.


2. Deepen customer loyalty.

A key message concisely communicates identity and purpose, ideally in terms that the target market accepts instantly. Thus, not only can an effective key message (e.g. name, motto, value proposition) gain intuitive acceptance but it can also strike a chord with the values of the market.

Key messages that authentically affirm and harmonize with the market’s values can deepen the sense of personal alignment that loyal clients already feel. This can better ensure their continued purchasing, more business per customer over a given period, and more referrals.

For example, the motto Nothing runs like a Deere from John Deere Corp has transformed some loyal users of John Deere equipment into more dedicated customers. The slogan is so right for some people that it catalyzes their brand loyalty to the point where they do not envision themselves owning any other brand. They talk like it, too. This makes them like an unpaid sales force for John Deere. The rightness of that motto for them encapsulates an overall-positive brand experience into something more.


3. A narrower focus gives a broader reach.

Independent businesses that use authentic key messages to distinguish themselves from competitors and develop greater depth of relationship with their customers often find that narrowing their focus (e.g. from generalists to specialists) is inevitable.

To some, a narrower focus intuitively means limitation and sacrificed opportunity. In some cases, this could be true. On the other hand, independent businesses that narrow their focus often discover that the strengthened status as a specialist brand draws more new business from further afield.

Suppose you go to your family doctor with some health problem. The doctor prescribes treatment and instructs you to return if the condition does not improve in a short time. After a short time, you return with poor results. The doctor then refers you to a specialist.

It’s inconvenient to see the specialist. Yet, you accept this. Care for your ailment has escalated. The specialist assesses your situation and refers you to a more specialized expert in your situation.

Further inconvenience to see the third doctor does not stop you. According to the first two doctors, your medical situation makes it necessary. You view the third doctor as offering the best care and of highest importance in treating your condition.

This principle applies in business situations too. The more a company is perceived as having special expertise, the higher the market values its products and services and the broader its geographic reach.

For the independent business that intelligently uses authentic key messages in its marketing and brand management, competition can be reduced or avoided entirely, customer loyalty increased, and customers willing to pay more could come from farther away. These are three reasons why independent businesses need authentic, compelling key messages to succeed today.


This and the Joe's Hotdogs parable brought to you by
Glenn R Harrington of Articulate Consultants Inc
www.articulate.ca

Marketing Tip: Avoid Direct Competition

Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola have been engaged in direct competition for over 100 years, which is about 99 years too long. Originally marketed as health tonics, the two products are very similar, cost about the same, cater to the same market, and have never established any meaningful product differentiation. Such protracted, intense competition would be very, very costly to most businesses in most industries. There's a lesson in it for all of us, though.

prosper in peace
Direct competition is an unnecessarily difficult way to do business. The level of difficulty relates to the maturity of the market and the innovative capacity of the competitors. Yet, all markets mature and it's better to prosper in peace than to fight and starve.

fill a niche
To enjoy a more comfortable place in a competitive market, it is wise to identify and satisfy an under-served niche through differentiation from competitors. This way, you strive not to dominate the game but to dominate one particular aspect of the game - your own.

cheap like Cott
Even if your product was a knock-off of Coke or Pepsi, you could claim market share by selling it at a lower price. This way, you could attract the most price-conscious segment of the market through price-based positioning and avoid the Coke-Pepsi fight. This is how Cott has prospered in the cola market.

different like Jones
An alternative way to create a niche through differentiation is to create a strong brand image that attracts people to your product - even if the product is essentially the same as everybody else's. The Jones Soda Company does this. Its clear-glass bottles labelled with black-and white photos and overtly modest writing are a hit with the market segment that likes quirky originality.

position for profit
The principles of avoiding direct competition extend well beyond the convenient examples of niche marketing in the soft drink business. Every enterprise has its competitors, but intelligent market positioning can make an enormous difference in how fun and how profitable life can be. At Articulate Consultants Inc., we enjoy helping businesses achieve profitable positioning and have helped to create effective brands.

This and the Joe's Hotdogs parable brought to you by
Glenn R Harrington of Articulate Consultants Inc
www.articulate.ca