Tuesday, February 15, 2022

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