ENCIETY
Marketing is not merely a function or a process that delivers value to meet customer needs. It is a philosophy that every part of a company should understand and practice.
Ideas and creativity can help a brand stay top of mind when every team is involved in making a quality product. Customers often abandon a purchase not because the product is poor or too expensive, but because the service feels unwelcoming.
Customer, Competitor, and Capability
Marketing needs three Cs: customer, competitor, and capability. To understand customers, ask who your main and prospective customers are, how they buy, how satisfied and loyal they are, whether they return, and what their demographics and segments look like.
Different experiences among analog generations, digital immigrants, and digital natives matter in B2C. Disruption and Industry 4.0 also have serious implications for B2B. This makes modern marketing challenging, interesting, and rich in data.
Competitors are not only direct competitors selling similar products. Indirect competitors matter too. A change in share of wallet can shift spending—for example, less spending on food and beverage as more goes to mobile data.
Finally, an organization needs the individual and collective capability to deliver value. Each person should understand how the product reflects the values of both the organization and the people behind it.
Marketers need analytical skills, process discipline, quality control, creativity, the ability to grow resources, and genuine belief in the product.
Unbelievable Service
A marketer selling a health supplement should understand its benefits and, ideally, have experienced or adopted a healthier lifestyle. The value being offered is a healthier life.
A confident smile and open posture can matter when meeting customers. The value delivered should exceed what was requested: service that feels remarkable. As customers make choices in increasingly complex ways, businesses should be ready to understand and serve them better.