The Essentials of Marketing

I have crafted successful marketing plans, strategies and campaigns for more than 250 brands over the past thirty-eight years. Over those years, I have witnessed enormous changes in how marketing is executed. However, most marketing fundamentals have not changed in decades. Here is my summary of those fundamentals:

• People are primarily driven by emotions
• Images are more powerful than words and videos can be more powerful than images
• But it is also important to paint vivid pictures with your words
• In copy, generally less is more
• Product / service quality and consistency matter
• Outstanding customer service can overcome other flaws
• Having a unique value proposition is essential 
• Continuous innovation is a must for extending a brand's lifecycle
• Maintaining high brand awareness is critical to customer brand insistence
• Brands that share important values with their customers create the highest loyalty
• Brands are often used as self-expression badges
• Price segmentation yields increased revenues and profits
• One of the most important aspects of marketing is successfully recovering from errors or crises
• Guerrilla marketing, proactive publicity and publicity stunts can yield the highest ROI
• PR and media relations are important elements of the marketing mix
• Identifying and using influencers can be very productive
• Word-of-mouth and viral marketing can be very powerful
• "Unexpected" and "outrageous" almost always work in marketing
• Humor and entertainment are key elements of advertising campaigns 
• Brands can tap into the human propensity for tribalism
• Unfortunately, fear still sells
• Gaining deep customer insight through marketing research is a key marketer's tool
• Market segmentation is as important as ever
• For larger organizations, creating the optimal brand architecture is one of the trickier marketing tasks
• Carefully crafted (and tested) headlines and subject lines can make a huge difference
• It is possible and hugely advantageous to design and implement the optimal customer experience
• Most automated customer service systems are disastrous 
• In the end, it is all about the customer and what motivates him or her