Do your marketing efforts match up with your firm strategy?

“Of course they do!” you reply boldly. But are you sure?

I would surmise that most firm’s have a set of objectives that they would like to achieve. Those objectives set the priorities for the company and therefore the tactics that need to be implemented. The challenge I have often faced is a true confirmation for the strategy the firm has set and a match with the efforts of marketing.

Do you know the three broad strategic approaches that a firm can take?

A company’s strategic direction should be set by the president. Others have input in determining where the firm’s strengths and weaknesses lay but it is the duty of the organizations leader to set the direction. In a nutshell, there are three strategic directions any firm can take: Operational Efficiency, Customer Intimacy or Innovation.

Operational Efficiency is creating a distinct advantage in the market through low-cost production; you have a leg up on the competition because, if necessary, you can sell at a lower price than those in the market due to your ability to produce the product or service at a lower cost. This strategy does not necessarily mean that you sell at the lower price but rather that your approach gives you an advantage to adapt as necessary to various supply and demand environments.

Customer Intimacy is a strategic approach to truly understand the customer’s needs or business and to define your offer to support those needs. You create alignment, and tone, to develop solutions which best serve the success of the customer – even if it means you suffer in the short-term. The long-term success determinate is customer loyalty; you want to create customer advocacy so that you don’t have to work as hard to gain new customers, your existing customers are doing it for you.

Last, Innovation is a strategy to repeatedly deliver new products to existing or new customers and markets. This strategy is heavily invested in research and development and brings a company to the cutting edge of design. The products and services model pushes the envelope for new ideas which can stimulate the market.

Now, it is not realistic to assume that one strategy operates in a vacuum. Every firm will want to have fingers in the other two strategies but it is vital for a firm to define themselves with one strategy – more than that is to not have a strategy.

So, do your marketing efforts match up with your firm strategy? I take the position that marketing is about the process to deliver a good or service to a specific, intended market. In doing so, the activities must align with the overall strategy of the company. If you are Operationally Efficient then your structure is about delivering the offer as quickly and cost effectively as possible and this needs to be reflected in the behavior of the sales force and the communication from the promotions department. If you take a stance on Customer Intimacy then the whole team from Finance to Operations must understand their role to best serve the customer for the long term.

Defining the firm’s strategy establishes a foundation from which to build a culture and communication platform both internally and externally. Every department can change their behavior, their process and their rules-of-engagement in order to reflect the company’s approach. The match of marketing to strategy will empower the firm to be exceeding more successful.

B-to-B Brand Building: Emotional Investment

Are you having trouble energizing your brand or standing out from your competitors? Brand building, particularly in the B-to-B environment, is about creating a long-lasting, positive emotion with your customers. There is no better way to accomplish this task than by energizing your employees.

In the US, Schneider Electric is improving its brand awareness by closely associating itself with its flagship sub-brand Square D; it is evident that they are investing in promotional activities in the parent brand as well as with its other sub-brands but their greatest chance for success is with the Square D brand. Another example is how Nudo recently adjusted its logo treatment and product brand hierarchy in order to create simplicity in its offering. These are two examples of brand building tactics which have relevance; however, nothing is more powerful than the emotional response associated with the human relationship – particularly as it relates to the expectation of the experience in both a positive and negative manner.

The above adjustments are all for naught (and a considerable waste of dollars) if the true meaning is missed in the delivery. People have an inherent desire to want to believe. But your organization, your brand, needs to stand for something and then you need to back it up with action. That action comes from your greatest asset.

When working on a “human sigma” project (a fancy way of saying the employee component of the brand), our team was struck with a saying that I have never forgotten: “that the customer’s experience can be no greater than the employee experience.” What this translates into is two factors: 1) You have to be truthful and honest about who and what the organization is and can stand for; and, 2) Your employees need to be empowered to reinforce that truth. If your employees are not positive how can your customers’ experiences be positive?

Obviously there are many factors that impact employee engagement. As it relates to the brand – and assuming all other factors are equal, your organization can significantly differentiate itself by mixing in three key ingredients: 1) A positive culture fostered through 2) a common vision and 3) a belief that the organization is making the investments to achieve the goal. It is this culture which will energize your B-to-B brand because of the emotional association your customers will now attach to your firm.

There are many important aspects to marketing but it is the investment in the human spirit which sets those aspects apart from your competition. Invest in your employee experience and you will energize your brand.

Which Came First: Performance or Alignment?

Are you wondering how to further alignment between sales, marketing and the rest of the organization? Establishing objectives is a common, if not vital, practice in any firm. But objectives have a tendency to create a new year “rah rah” and then become forgotten as the year progresses. To help overcome this misstep, you need to develop performance objectives and tools to measure the alignment.

Have I lost you because of the all-threatening performance objectives review? Performance objectives are often misunderstood; they are considered a hassle, an HR policy, or a way for an organization to give you a “meets” or “good” rating with an average pay increase in the end. Marketing is a process for bringing a product or service to market; performance objective reviews help to maintain alignment with the operations of marketing to your audience.

To further success for your firm, two things need to happen: performance objectives cannot be a stand-alone; and, tools and resources need to be implemented which further the progress of sales and measurement of marketing. These two activities should ensure alignment with the priorities and objectives of the organization. Wow, that sounds great in theory doesn’t it?! Let me give you an example.

As I look towards 2011, my boss and I have developed objectives for both my division and for myself. These objectives were not created in a vacuum but rather are in alignment with the expectations of the firm for 2011. From there, I will work with my team to develop performance objectives which trickle-down from my objectives (they will not have all of the same objectives but most will support the expectations that the firm has of me.) One of our objectives is to grow our share of architectural specifications within the architectural and design community; as the director of the group I am accountable for reaching the overall target but my team, individually, has their own targets. Now we have created a performance objective.

The performance objectives will not be achieved if two things do not happen: the review process is in-frequent; and, the tools and resources are not put in place. Let’s address the tools and resources first. Back to my specific example, in order to achieve our specification target I realized that the team did not have the resources to properly identify the opportunities as well as no way to collect and report on the success of specification development. We were able to secure a portion of the budget to invest in resources to properly identify the opportunities – which allows the sales force to sell. And, we, as a team, spent the time to properly develop, in-house, a way of maintaining the specifications we collect. Now, we have in place the tools and resources to help us achieve the objectives – which are in alignment with benefitting the firm.

Last, the review process must be a frequent, integral portion of the achievement conversation. Performance objectives are a vehicle to identify positive and negative activity within the market and become a springboard for discussion on adjustments needed to achieve the firm’s objectives. This keeps the goals, priorities and objectives front-and-center for the individual and for the firm. By actively embracing this process alignment is achieved and the organization is better positioned for success.

Business Market Assessment

As the year wraps up and activity slows down now may be a good time to assess your business’ market position. This is an activity which should be done – at a minimum – at least once per year; it is also an activity which should not take more than a couple of weeks. The challenge is finding the right resource. Because of the myriad of perspectives required a business market assessment needs to be directed and supported but not performed by senior management. I recommend looking for a small group (three individuals) internally who have a combined skillset to perform this assessment or look for some outside help.

The assessment I am about to describe is used to ensure alignment with the objectives of the organization and the challenges faced within the marketplace. This assessment has three main components: 1) Organizational Strategy Alignment; 2) Customer Perspective; and, 3) Competitive Positioning. Lets look at each of them independently.

Organizational Strategy Alignment is an internal review to match the vision of the organization with the priorities and tactics deployed. This may not sound complicated nor necessarily important against the daily activities of the organization but I can assure you that it is critical to your success. The decisions that you and your employees make need to be grounded in an overarching understanding for the direction of the company. It is founded in strategy, spoken in vision and realized through activity. This simple formula drives behavior of employees through a connection with where the company desires to go and what activities they perform daily – in the end it creates purpose for the individual and allows them a sense of pride by knowing that they are contributing to the organization.

Customer Perspective is about understanding whether or not the rubber hits the proverbial road by mapping the Organizational Strategy Alignment with the reality of customer satisfaction. I highly recommend some form of customer survey; this can be done in-person, over the phone or even online and does not necessarily need to be statistically significant in the number of responses. What is important is that you engage all customers – satisfied and dissatisfied, good customers and bad customers – in order to gain a complete picture of your organization’s overall performance. You can be fired at any time by your customers! Having their perspective on your ability to deliver on the experience they expect is critical to your long-term success. Ask them some simple closed- and open-ended questions for valid feedback.

Customers may lend perspective on Competitive Positioning but this is also an assessment that a well-tuned sales force and marketing team can provide insight into. What is the competitive landscape look like: How many players? What segments of the business? What product positioning exists? What pricing strategies do they employ? Competitive Positioning allows you the chance to review the Opportunities and Threats (the external factors) of a SWOT Analysis. You may begin to see new areas to target with your offer as well as weaknesses in your ‘stronghold’ that need reinforcement or development.

The three components truly allow any organization to quickly review their business market assessment – which should be a tool to tweak individual or organizational activity. The combination of knowing how your brand (your customer’s expected experience with your company) is viewed in the market by both customers and competitors and your vision alignment will allow you to set a course for success for the year. Use the time now to clearly establish what, why, where and how your organization will spend its time and resources; I have seen firms prove this and establish themselves as leaders in their industry because they took the time.

Hello world!

Having gotten away from what I love and have passion for, I am introducing a blog to help small- and mid-sized firms better understand and apply marketing. Contrary to the generality of the term, “marketing” is a process for better understanding how to take an offer from conception to development to a targeted audience in the form of a “sale.” Although promotions – the common affiliation with the term marketing – is an important aspect of reach, it is not marketing. This blog will look at various aspects of the business from strategy to tactics – and, yes, some of them will include promotions.

Knowing that the luxury of starting a business in an ideal state on a clean sheet of paper is purely academic and impractical, we will dive in and bounce around. I will attempt to use themes and examples to make the point simpler and clear. If there is a specific “pain point” or topic you would like to see addressed – just let me know and I will do my best.

I have a passion for helping businesses grow through a refined approach of understanding the market and “seeing” opportunities. I believe that there is enough business to go around with new areas to grow into and new innovation to disrupt the market and take us all to new heights. I wish you the best and hope you enjoy the blog.

David (aka sightconsulting)

How Eggnog’s Differentiation Can Help Your Business

There Is No Substitute In the Holidays!

Ah, yes, the holidays! It’s the perfect time of year to reflect, enjoy family and friends, and start planning on next year. As I reflect and begin to plan I find myself asking, “How do I stay relevant and differentiated in the coming year?”

The answer lies in this holiday season and a glass of eggnog. When else is eggnog relevant? I never see this beverage available in stores (or at least bother to look for it) except for the last six weeks of the year. Whether you enjoy it or not eggnog’s unique taste produces an emotional connection with the holidays. So how do the producers of eggnog then capitalize on this short window of opportunity?

The answer for eggnog lies in differentiation. Many manufacturers’ have the misperception that if they produce a product there is a market for it. This is also the case in eggnog – just because eggnog has relevance this time of season does not mean that the masses are going to buy it from you (this is obviously a metaphor – I am not talking just to eggnog producers!)

 Here is where the story of relevance and differentiation begins. However, like most great stories there is a prelude to understand. The prelude to reaching your target audience is about Segmentation (where is your area of business focused?) first, Targeting (who, specifically, are you trying to reach and “sell” to?) second, and Positioning third. It is within positioning that we define our differentiation.

How is eggnog different? Within its target market, eggnog quickly differentiates itself from other alcoholic beverages in that it is creamy, frothy and usually garnished with cinnamon or nutmeg; its attributes quickly separate it from the likes of most beers, wines and spirits. But eggnog does have competition. Products like Bailey’s Irish Crème offer a similar experience and differentiate itself through a distinct taste and price point; furthermore, Bailey’s is considered a winter-season beverage with a wider timeframe while eggnog stands within the holiday-season. Last, a final point of differentiation is that eggnog casts a wider net in its target audiences through the introduction of a variety of spirits as it is made with brandy, rum, bourbon or without alcohol. This distinction allows more people to enjoy the holiday affiliation by not separating them too far from what they typically enjoy (i.e., brandy, rum or bourbon.)

You need to answer the question: “What makes you different?” This difference is, in fact, the way you create value for the customer – whether it is through a product benefit, superior customer service, innovative support, price, or a myriad of other tangibles.  It is the added value or uniqueness that separates you from the competition which ultimately creates a position for yourself and defines your differentiation. If there is no good answer to this question then you better look deep within your organization for the next innovation or start looking for a new job because your customers will “fire you” by not buying your product.

By knowing your customer – your targeted audience – you should be able to clearly define in their mind why you are better than a substitute or competitive product. And then you need to tell them! All too often we assume our customers know what value they get for the price they pay. For example, as a marketer at a large manufacturer, I remember developing a program to respond to distribution complaints that our pricing was too high by literally spelling out all of the added value we delivered to the market; we changed the conversation because we demonstrated our differentiation through delivered value as opposed to focusing on product features and benefits. Know where you add value and go tell your customers.

So, next time you are at a holiday party and you see yourself, or those around you, drinking a glass of eggnog ask yourself, “How can I stay relevant and differentiated in 2011 and beyond?” Happy Holiday and Cheers! (In the spirit of things here is an eggnog recipe link: http://www.eggnogrecipe.net/alcoholic-eggnog.html )