bwagy

Every christmas there are two I remember:

1. The Salvation Army, they provide cheer and good will by having the band play christmas carols.  I really enjoy this and typically give them a few dollars.
2. Cruelty against Animals, they typically dress up in dog costumes asking for money.

(Note: I ran into both of these within 10 minutes of each other a weekend before christmas.)

One of these is providing a positive experience and thus building their brand and goodwill.  The other is hassling consumers and destroying brand value.

I daresay the collections for the former are much higher than that of the latter.

I do not hold anything against the cause itself I just think they could be doing it better.

How about having big cute dogs out in public to pat? Or having some dogs doing some tricks, or show huge photos of animals that have been saved.

As honestly when we (yes you and me) are stressed, pushing through the crowds, doing our shopping, the absolute last thing we want is something to make us feel guilty.  We are already wired! Try and cheer us up.

The Salvation Army certainly are….

Interesting question.

But why was I thinking this?

Driving around – I thought it was neat how all roads are virtually flat and smoothen out the bumps.

Then I was like, ok same with car parks.  But what about car parking buildings?

Quick calculations (using the old 1, 2, square root 3) we can find if we elevate a 4m car park 30 degreees, we can accommodate a flat surface area saving of 15%.

That is, if you elevated every car park in a building, you would have 15% more room for extra car parks.

So why haven’t they done it?

• Most likely the fundamental assumptions haven’t been questioned
• Comfort / Usability
• The norm

From a cost perspective

• Increase car density within a car park (thus higher ROI for the same surface area)
• Setup price discrimination, flat car park 50c/hour

Clearly there are some issues that need to be investigated…such as safety, consumer reaction, cost of setting up.

Flipping the fundamental assumption that parks need to be flat – yields a whole new insight.

Crazy huh? This exact approach is what is going to differentiate your firms service offering, flipping solutions on their head to deliver something no one else can.  What better way to obsess about your customers?

Sit down and think about all the interactions people have with your brand before, during and post your value exchange.

Now at each point – are you communicating your message as you would like it?

(Let’s be honest unless you have done this exercise before it isn’t.)

Now modify in light of the bigger picture.

This simple exercise can completely change how you interact with customers.

No matter how much drugs Customs find, dealers are still looking for new ways to hide it.

And why are they doing it? The allure of the wealth.

I see this as the equivalent of a price war in a downward spiral.  As adept as customs officials are they aren’t nearly as motivated as the drug dealers who keep one step ahead of them.

What do I propose to end this? Crowdsourcing.

Open up the problem to the public, give them the constraints Customs operate under and what the avenues are.  Get the public to help you figure 101 ways to import drugs in almost anything that is coming into the country.

Then Customs can get ahead of the game.  Sure the public will reveal new ways that haven’t been utilised yet but (in theory) those methods would have been exploited at some point in time.

So stop chasing your tails and take control of the game.

Fundamental Assumptions are what I question almost everyday.  

So what if it’s always been done that way, doesn’t mean we should continue.

Things change.

What I find is that going to the complete opposite yields not only greater understanding but the opportunity to tackle a problem in a way that hasn’t been attempted before.

Also no one else is doing it… which means you should at least give it a shot.

Building a Marketing Strategy is not straight forward, well not at least till you have done it over and over again.

Of recent I have had a lot of focus on very early stage strategy, taking a brand from nothing, starting from scratch.

The benefit of getting in at this stage is it’s very exciting, the possibilities seem to be endless, also very open to risk.

Often my job is like that of a rider, to rein the horse in, refocus on business objectives and how can we achieve that.

The strategy is always highly constrained; on time, funds & absolute need for leverage.

Oh and usually the only funds available are for my time (sometimes not even that!)

Where I am going with this is that building a marketing strategy is all about taking the steps from beginning to end and to keep taking them.  

Simplicity works over complexity.

Please stop freaking out that things aren’t happening as fast as you want.

Just be patient.  Keep plugging away.  Even though it takes twice as long as you thought it is just as (if not more) rewarding.

Often things don’t happen as quickly, rather than stress, keep walking and maintain your momentum.  For patience is a virtue.