Best Practice for Small Business. Marketing ideas for small business.

In an article on his blog, Seth Godin discusses that there are essential four types of marketing. These different types of marketing depend on how many people you are targetting: ‘One’, a ‘few’, ‘most’, or ‘all’. Below are his descriptions of each type of marketing.

ONE: You’re a needle, the market is a haystack. Make your needle as sharp as you can, put it in as many haystacks as you can afford. Alternatively, you’ve already decided on your one (the date for the prom or the perfect job). In that case, throw the haystack out and engage in a custom, one-on-one patient effort to tell your story to the person who needs to hear it.

A FEW: Being exceptional matters most. Stand out, don’t fit in. Shun the non-believers.

MOST: Amplify the excitement of the few and make it easy for them to spread the story to the caring majority.

ALL: Compromise. You need to be many things to many people, embraced by the passionate but not offensive to the masses. Sooner or later, the issue for the reluctant part of the buyer community is that it becomes more expensive/risky to stand in the way of the group than it is to go along.

You can view the full article by clicking here.

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Maurice Saatchi has usually got something interesting to say and this is certainly the case in an article in last week’s Financial Times. He doesn’t quite say so outright, but he does on more than one occasion challenge the reliability of market research as a tool. He cites Henry Ford, who when asked if he had carried out research before he invented the Model T Ford, replied: “If I had asked people what they wanted, I would have built a faster horse.”

We all have some sympathy with this answer. In the same way we know that Mr Sony would not have got a sensible answer from questions that asked if people wanted to walk around with a hi-fi on their heads. However, this is to suggest that all research is confounded just because some is.

It would be a very dangerous game to never ask your customers if they are satisfied. It would be foolhardy to not check if you are meeting their needs. When you have a product modification to make, it would be reckless to launch it without checking on the market’s likely response. Anyone who does not know their competitors inside out is going to get a nasty shock. And understanding the trends in the market is how Mr Sony and Mr Ford were able to so successfully meet the un-met needs of so many consumers.

Maurice Saatchi implies that research isn’t valid because it won’t come up with a new Google. True, it won’t come up with a new Google. It won’t tell you what fashions will be in vogue in three years time. However, it will tell Google and Yahoo how to get more revenues from different advertising packages. It will tell Toyota and Ford what people think of their cars. And it is for this reason that research has grown to be a £1 billion industry in the UK and a £15 billion industry worldwide.

Google data versus human nature
By Maurice Saatchi
Financial Times May 30 2007

Now I am going to tell you about a scorpion. This scorpion wanted to cross a river, so he asked the frog to carry him. “No,” said the frog. “No, thank you. If I let you on my back, you may sting me and the sting of the scorpion is death.” “Now, where,” asked the scorpion, “is the logic of that?” (For scorpions always try to be logical.) “If I sting you, you will die and I will drown.” So the frog was convinced and allowed the scorpion on his back. But just in the middle of the river he felt a terrible pain and realised that, after all, the scorpion had stung him. “Logic!” cried the dying frog as he started under, bearing the scorpion down with him. “There is no logic in this!” “I know,” said the scorpion, “but I cannot help it - it is my nature.”

Orson Welles told this story to show the importance of understanding human nature. If the frog had known the scorpion’s true nature he would still be alive.

Today, the world’s great consumer goods companies are agog at the potential of the internet to identify “human nature”, measure it and control it; at how Google’s systematic, logical computation can lead the advertiser into an earthly paradise of universal enlightenment - where all the problems of selling and marketing are solved by the same method: the method of data.

Haunted by the pronouncement of the founder of Unilever that, “Half my advertising is wasted but I don’t know which half,” marketers have long sought a set of testable rules about selling as robust as the laws of physics. So they are understandably mesmerised by the possibility that the wastage involved in the $600bn (£302bn) spent annually on advertising can be eliminated at the touch of a button.

First, under the Yellow Pages model of advertising known as “Search”, advertisers are relieved of the burden of addressing those who are not interested in buying their product. If I am selling washing machines, why waste money on costly advertisements for people who are not in the market for a washing machine at the time? How much better if I could talk only to people who are just about to buy a washing machine.

Second, the advertiser is said to have been disadvantaged by lack of data about human nature. The proponents of this theory point out that the amount of data stored on computers last year is equal to the sum of all previously recorded human knowledge; 74,000 times all the books in the US Library of Congress. So now, they say, we can go beyond mere “demographics” and “buying habits” to reach our target market. You could always reach women in Vogue, and gardeners in The Gardeners’ Chronicle, but now internet data technology can provide “personal profiling” or “strategic targeting” - an intimate knowledge of who you are, your true nature. As the founder of Google says, it can tell you: “What to do tomorrow.”

No wonder people are so excited about all the saving of money this knowledge could bring.

Unfortunately, it will not work out quite like that.

All of us know that the sensations produced by the same object can vary with the circumstances. Lukewarm water will seem hot to a cold hand and cold to a hot hand. Colours look very different through a microscope. Even the sun in the heavens we see only as it was eight minutes before.

The commercial proof of this was best explained by Britain’s most successful newspaper publisher, the late Viscount Rothermere. When challenged on why he did not conduct more research among Daily Mail readers to find out what they wanted, he said this type of data would be unhelpful. Newspapers were emotional items, he said, because: “Getting someone else’s newspaper is like getting into someone else’s bath after they’ve just left it.”

He said it was not that easy. If it were, it would have been the researchers sitting behind the desk of Lord Northcliffe, the Mail’s founder, not him.

It is an inconvenient and stubborn fact that outside Newton’s universe, where physical laws govern reality, the world is conditioned by perception. And, as Freud’s Law of Ambivalence stated, human beings are so complicated that they can love and hate the same object at the same time.

People do not know what they want until a brilliant person shows them. Henry Ford confirmed the point. Asked if he had carried out research before he invented the Model T Ford, he replied: “If I had asked people what they wanted, I would have built a faster horse.”

Human nature is not amenable to prediction based on the trends or tendencies prevailing at the time. It is amenable to startling creativity of the kind practised by great artists, directors, writers, musicians, actors, who know how to touch a chord in humans everywhere. They are the people that are needed to help advertisers navigate the internet because, as Aristotle knew 2,000 years ago: “Fire burns both here and in Persia. But what is thought just changes before our eyes. The decision rests with perception.”

If anybody should know this it is the founding geniuses of Google - the living embodiment of the irrational human dream of “two men in a garage” who change the world.

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One of the great of the ad world, David Ogilvy, once said that advertising people who ignore research are “as dangerous as generals who ignore decodes of enemy signals.”

Whilst most people in advertising accept that they and researchers are on the same side of the battle for business and consumer hearts and wallets, it’s often an uneasy alliance.

Dan O’Donoghue, Worldwide strategic Planning Director with Publicis Worldwide says “All the great advertising people, whether you consider David Ogilvy or John Webster or Bill Bernbach, you’ll find they were all advocates of market research.”

“What’s happened in the last 10 to 15 years is the creative area’s been taken over by loonies. They see researching, understanding people who they need to sell things to as a bad thing. That’s led to a bad relationship between advertising and research, but it’s historically inaccurate.”

Loonies or not, something’s clearly soured the relationship. So, where has it all gone wrong? The problem seems to be not so much with the research itself but the way the results are delivered or interpreted.

“A lot of planners would say market research gets in the way!” Says Jon Steel, planning director with WPP, the media group led by Sir Martin Sorrell that includes creative agencies Ogilvy & Mather, Bates and JWT.

“What they’re talking about is bad market research or market research applied wrongly by the client. I’m in favour of any information that can help me make a better decision, but some people take what it says too literally, and if you follow research findings to the letter, you’ll make big mistakes and your work will be very dull. You have to believe in a healthy degree of opinion and intuition.”

The founder of Sony, Akio Morita, used to say that if he’d listened to market research, he’d never have launched the Walkman.

At creative agency BBDO Europe, there’s no policy on when, how much and what kind of research should be applied to a campaign, but market research, particularly qualitative research, is seen as a vital part of the process of creating and testing advertising. BBDO has DaimlerChryler, FedEx, Pepsi and Ikea among its list of clients around the world.

“Without proper research, I think advertising becomes simply a game of chance and nobody wants to play a game of chance with the kind of sums we’re looking at” says Williams Eccleshire, the agency’s Europe chairman and CEO.

Undoubtedly it’s a help if it’s used properly but if it’s misused, it becomes simply a crutch to support a bad decision.”

These is a growing focus on research meaning researchers need to provide insight in addition to facts and figures.

In the future research will spilt into two divisions, one to carry out fieldwork and the other to have more of a consultancy and interpretive role.

The future of the relationship between market research and advertising will not, it is clear, be without its challenges, even though the prospects are looking up.

If you wish to know more on this topic, there is a B2B International White Paper on “Making the promotional pound go further.”

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We business to business marketers can sometimes be too focussed on the function of the product rather than its form. Our consumer cousins can teach us a thing or two about design and how it improves people’s perceptions of a product. We have discussed previously in this blog how people make up their minds within seconds about products and suppliers.

There is much research around on the influence of colour on these initial perceptions and we have seen results that range from 60% to 90% of the assessment being based on colours alone. So, the careful and considered use of colours can contribute not only to differentiating products from competitors, but also to influencing moods and feelings - positively or negatively - and therefore, to our attitude towards certain products. Given that our moods and feelings are unstable and that colours play roles in forming attitude, it is important that managers understand the importance of colours in marketing.

This article by Kristen Petersen is a great contribution to the debate.

Communicating With Colour
By Kristen Petersen C 2002

Colour is a strong and effective communication tool that can quickly deliver a message, set a mood or establish emotion within a consumer in the blink of an eye. With this in mind, the correct colour choice is an essential aspect of a brands success. Think of the brands that have the strongest presence in today’s marketplace. Coca-Cola is thought to be exciting, energetic and refreshing, which is why it will always be red.

IBM will always be cool blue, strong, trustworthy and reliable. For advertisers and marketers, choosing the right colour is not only an art; it is also a science.

Red - Sexy, dynamic, stimulating, exciting, provocative Warm tones are known as high-arousal colours, red in particular creates the highest arousal threshold in humans. When the human eye sees red the hormone epinephrine is released altering our body chemistry causing high energy and excitement. Red is aggressive in nature, it commands attention and more importantly it demands action. At the point of purchase, red is virtually impossible to ignore.

Word association studies and consumer response studies tell us that the consumer sees red as passionate, provocative, exciting and dynamic. Red is seen as the sexiest colour and is therefore equally seductive in the marketplace.

Even when red shades are darkened to become a burgundy shade, they still maintain the enticement and excitement of the primary colour from which they came, but the result is more subdued. Consumers tend to respond to these wine tones as rich, refined, expensive and are seen as more authoritative, mature, lush, opulent, and elegant than primary red making them a good choice for expensive, high involvement products.

Pink - Romantic, youthful, happy, sweet, spirited Pink transmits the same high energy as primary red from where it came however; it also has diverse mood swings that depend upon the value or intensity of the colour. Pink is often seen as energetic and youthful resulting in a feeling of movement and wild abandon. The best use for the more vivid shades of pink tends to be trendy products such as toys and novelty goods. Be cautious of bubble gummy pinks that tend to look cheap, artificial and immature. Pink is often perceived as a faddish colour and does not age as well as the more luxurious red.
Vibrant, sexy pinks are a favourite of the cosmetic industry and like red, they create great attention at the point of purchase when a sultry, up-scale look is the goal. Magenta and fuchsia pinks that lean to red or purple are perceived as more “grown-up” because they’re sensual yet theatrical at the same time.

Once pink becomes lighter and the raw sensuality of red is gone, the result is a romantic, soft and feminine feel. Pink can give a rosy glow to anyone, resulting in a healthier look. For this reason pink would be an excellent choice in marketing health care products, cosmetic products and for facial salons and spas.

Orange - Energizing, tangy, vital, friendly, inviting Radiant glowing sunsets, autumn’s burnt leaves; bright and warm orange is seen as the hottest of all the colours. Playful and happy it is the perfect colour to choose for toys, games, inexpensive plastics or any product that is targeted towards a younger or young at heart audience.

Since it can at times give a comedic, or cartoon like impression, it is not a good choice for conveying a serious or important message.

The radiant warmth of orange tends to show very well in “ethnic” themes or products such as a Mexican salsa or an Indian Restaurant. Research indicates that orange has shown to exert a measurable effect on the appetite as it is inevitably connected to the sweet and juicy tang of the orange fruit. This combined with the overall warmth of orange makes it the perfect colour choice for dining areas, food service and food packaging.

Further studies also indicate that lighter shades of orange such as peach, apricot, coral and melon tend to be pleasing to a more sophisticated eye and appeal to an upscale market. Like pink, peach also tends to deliver a healthy glow to skin. With this in mind, peach is an outstanding choice for healthcare products, cosmetics, make-up salons, and beauty products.

Yellow - Cheerful, luminous, sunny, enlightening, warm Like the sun, yellow exudes light and warmth. When it is lightened, consumers see yellow as cheerful, mellow and soft. Even bright yellow is seen as cheerful although more energetic than the paler shades.

Unlike other colours that deepen with saturation, yellow becomes brighter when it is saturated, making it highly reflective and noticeable before any other colour. Since the eye sees yellow first, it is the ideal colour to use on point of purchase displays to grab consumer’s attention. Yellows that are similar to food in colour such as bananas, lemons, and custards are best used in the food service arena such as food products or dining areas.

Studies show that American consumers prefer creamy, warm or sun-baked yellows to green-based yellows. On the flip side all shades of yellow, especially green-based are pleasing to Asian consumers. It is important to remember that the closer yellow gets to green, the more it is associated with acidic and tart tastes such as a Granny Smith apple.

Just like in the natural world, yellow and black are difficult to ignore.

Put together they have an almost dangerous connotation that forces people to beware and take notice (think stinging insects like bees). Likewise in a marketing sense, yellow and black force the consumer to take notice and pay attention making them an outstanding choice for signage or the packaging of products that are blatantly calling out from the market shelves.

Brown - Rustic, rich, sheltering, durable, earthy Hearth and home, substance and stability; brown is the ultimate earth tone. Tones of brown such as brick, tan, clay and terracotta are seen as the most protective and secure shades since they are unavoidably connected to the earth. The brown shade of earth itself generally receives a positive response from consumers although from time to time, it can be related to dirt or being dirty which can be particularly problematic in the fashion industry.

In interior design, brown has gained enormous visibility and respect and coveys a feeling of style and richness. People tend to feel secure in a brown interior; some say this is rooted in the days of cave dwellings, which were the only safe place from outside predators.

In the food industry, the homey and earthy aspect of brown works exceptionally well. Some of the most healthy and organic foods are brown such as brown rice, bread and grains. Brown is also the colour of one of the world’s most decadent and delicious food - chocolate! All in all, brown is well connected to fine tastes and is a good choice for food service and restaurants.

Blue - Cool, serene, dependable, quiet, constant Since the beginning of time, water and sky have existed here on earth. It is because of this association that blue is seen as reliable, trustworthy and committed. It is a constant and dependable colour that inspires confidence making it an ideal choice for corporations that want to convey the same message to consumers.

Banks and financial institutions often use blue to convey a message of dependability and trust to the public.

Blue is also a very restful colour. When humans see blue they often feel serene and calm. Scientific evidence shows that when our eyes see blue, chemical signals that work like tranquilizers are released from the brain.

Many hospitals now use blue frequently on the walls as well as for the uniforms on doctors and nurses. Blue is the perfect choice for use in products or services that promote relaxation and meditation.
When any hue is darkened so that it moves closer to black, it immediately gives the colour a sense of power and strength. Navy blue is commonly used as a uniform colour for policemen and airline pilots as it conveys a message of instant authority and credibility in any area of business.

Where black can seem a little too dark and ominous, navy blue tends to be a more approachable and friendly colour.

Brilliant and electric blue add an entire new dimension of drama and exhilaration to this colour family. Periwinkle blues carry an undertone of purple incorporating the energy of red and are seen as the most playful blues. Consumers usually see teal blue as rich, unique, upscale and pleasing to every eye. It is the least gender specific colour in the spectrum.

Traditionally blue has not been used in food packaging because of the strange association between the colour and food itself. However, because of blue’s connection to clean water, it is commonly used in packaging and/or containers for some drinks and is a popular choice for designer drinking water.

Green - Natural, refreshing, healing, soothing, lush Of any colour in the spectrum, green offers the widest array of choices.

Word association tests show that most people link the majority of green shades to nature. Green provides the perfect background to plants and flowers of every conceivable colour and can therefore be used much in the same way as a neutral colour. It is also because of this connection to nature and foliage that most consumers respond to green as fresh, especially when viewing a mint green. Bright greens are commonly linked to grass and newness while emerald greens are seen as more elegant. Deep greens are commonly associated with pine trees and covey the same freshness as in a pine scent.
Deep greens can also be associated with money, power and prestige. It offers a feeling of security and strength much like blue presents and is also a common choice for financial institutions.

Blue greens such as aqua always elicit a pleasant response. There is an underlying element of warmth in aqua greens as in the temperature of warm, tropical waters. Blue-greens are an excellent choice for the use of packaging or for the actual colour of the product itself in personal hygiene or beauty products that reveal a soothing quality.

Caution must be taken when using yellow-greens, which are best suited and accepted for gardening products or services. Yellow-greens are sometimes associated with illness and nausea and are therefore not recommended for use in marketing healthcare, dining areas, and boat or airplane interiors.

On the flip side, children tend to love yellow-green, mainly because most adults dislike it. It’s a trendy colour and when in fashion, it grabs attention and can be extremely effective when used out of context. Olive is also a shade of green that does not rate well, unless it is used in a complex way that appeals to the upscale buyer. Responses are also more positive when it is referred to as a name other than olive such as ‘Verdant Moss’.

Vegetable shades of green work very well and are a good choice for food service, dining areas and especially in the packaging of environmentally healthy or organic foods.

Purple - Sensual, mysterious, regal, spiritual, dramatic The colour purple is something of an enigma. It conveys very different messages that depend largely upon the background of the person viewing it.
Having a touch of red and blue in it’s make up, it is both sensual and tranquil at the same time. It is a fantastic eye catcher and is very under-used in packaging, at point of purchase as well as in signage. The presence of red in the hue causes it to stand out but in a more controlled way than red. A deep purple with navy blue undertones is a good substitute for navy blue itself which is often overused.
In it’s more radiant intensities, it expresses a very futuristic quality that works well for products that involve cutting edge technologies. It is a complex colour that embraces a diversity of hues and undertones and is linked with artistry and uniqueness.

Deep purple or royal purple is viewed by many as regal and majestic as the name implies, so the perceived value of products that use this hue are seen to be greater than with other colours. This is especially true in the European market or for people with European backgrounds. When gray is present as an undertone in purple, it lends a more sophisticated feel to the hue.

As pink is to red, so is lavender to purple. This softer, diluted shade of purple carries a gentle, and sentimental tone. With the wide acceptance of lavender in the fashion industry, it has moved away from its previous association of ‘little old ladies’ and is now accepted by both genders and by a diverse age group. However, there is still a soft and delicate side to lavender and it is also connected to sweet tastes such as grapes along with soft, inviting scents.

Neutrals - Classic, natural, quiet, timeless, quality The neutral tones of beige, gray and taupe are classified as a-chromatics, literally without colour, yet these shades succeed in delivering a message of dependability and timelessness. These colours can be seen in ancient monuments, buildings, temples and sand, all of which are viewed as being solid, enduring, and above all classic. These connotations are also transferred to the product or service in which neutrals are used. If the message is durability, permanence, high quality and dependability, neutrals are an ideal choice and can be used anywhere from interior design, packaging, clothing or other products.

Neutrals are timeless and never go out of style therefore they will never date a product or service. However, depending on the undertones used, it can shift the temperature of a neutral and change its psychological impact. For instance, a sandy beige is more welcoming and friendly than a cool white and a warm gray is never as calm and collected as a cool gray.

Light to medium grays are the most “non-committal” of all the colours in the spectrum and are highly recommended for work surfaces or areas where other colour matching takes place. It will not compete with any other colours and works well to reduce the intensity of bright, brilliant hues.

A good alternative to black’s power and presence is a charcoal gray, which is never as severe or overpowering as total black can be, particularly in living environments, clothing or packaging. For a futuristic or techno look, silver grays are a perfect choice as they are connected to minimal and sleek images.

White - Pure, bright, innocent, pristine, elegant White undeniably coveys purity and simplicity but it is important to remember that the human eye sees white as a bright, brilliant colour. It is because of this that white is excellent for using as a contrasting colour in signage, packaging or at point of purchase, white will always catch the human eye. White also gives a feeling of cleanliness and is a good choice for infants’ products or products involving personal hygiene and health.

When pure white is used in interiors, it tends to be rather stark and lacks any feeling of warmth. However, it is also the symbol of absolute minimalism and when contrasted to another colour, can have a dramatic and stylish effect. It is the ultimate contrast to black however in print, packaging and product design it can give a very clean, minimalist and generic look which can be very effective.
Off whites are extremely elegant and creamy whites in particular are often perceived as delicious making them an excellent choice for dining areas or food packaging.

Black - Strong, classic, sophisticated, mysterious, powerful Mysterious and intriguing, the powerful essence of black is viewed by every product category as the most sophisticated and stylish shade. The power of black should not be underestimated; the consumer sees black as the most powerful, dramatic, elegant and expensive presence. Where food packaging is concerned the consumer will actually pay more for this “gourmet image” that black conveys.

People’s perception of black has changed dramatically over recent years and although it is still the colour of mourning in certain cultures, more people tend to identify black with sophisticated and upscale items causing the positive associations to outweigh the negative ones.

Of course too much black can be a bit overpowering and packaging, signage, and advertising in general should never be entirely black as the message itself must be visible. However, black does give the message of strength and in consumer products wherever power, longevity and weight are concerned this is a definite asset. Black is an excellent choice for cars or appliances that imply durability and substance. The most quintessential and classic combination of colours is black and white, which conveys a message of strength, class, clarity and power.

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There are few places where so many factors can influence the smooth execution of market research studies as Latin America. Here are some basic rules critical to mission success, to be followed for a happy ending to any project.

These “LatAm Research Laws” can be summarised in three broad categories:

Language and Culture
Logistics and Climate
Legal and Economical

For many global research projects, researchers try to adopt identical methods, even in vastly different markets and cultures. For Latin America, this approach may function well in two diverse situations: where that method is so basic that it will suit even very low-tech environments, or if the target respondents are culturally similar worldwide, such as software developers, the project may be successful.

But this is not the case for research in Latin America with consumers, the trade, or most B2B publics. Without a local interface to smooth the way, there is little chance of the uniform worldwide method functioning throughout the region; and if it is applied without adjustments, there is only a low probability that the results will be as desired.

Heed language differences, including those among countries with the deceiving similarity of a common language; i.e. Spanish.

Heed cultural particularities. For example, the telephone may be the most appropriate method for a study in some LatAm countries, while elsewhere telephone will not function. It depends on diverse factors such as sample demographics, interview timing, the subject matter and the questionnaire structure.

Respect your Providers. Do not impose eminently pragmatic business treatment on professionals accustomed to a warmer, personal dialogue. Don’t expect them to give same-day turnaround for your anonymously-addressed “gang e-mail”.

Speak a global language. Avoid using buzz words and acronyms in communications and especially in questionnaires.

Use universal terminology. Don’t even think of asking all your local providers for a sample of classes “A, B and C1” unless you are willing to have a sample equivalent to the top 15%in one Latin American country, but only the top 40% in another part of the region. Use the universal language such as “per cent”.

Don’t ask what people will not answer. Beginning an interview with an income filter is a direct route to sampling error, because half the respondents might refuse, and those at both ends of the income spectrum might distort their responses.

Don’t shop in the dark. Seek help both “here” and “there”. First get suggestions and references from experience research buyers. A “gang e-mail” sent to a long list of potential suppliers is roulette, and is unlikely to help breed a long term relationship with a trusted partner.

Effective international research requires quick, clear two way communications and timely input from local project managers. To avoid delay, embarrassment, wasted budget and unhappy clients, it’s wide to consult trusted in-market researchers before defining appropriate methodology, sampling procedures, or logistic solutions.

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