Marketing Articles & Book Reviews

The full title of this book by Seth Godin is

Meatball Sundae: How new marketing is transforming the business world (and how to thrive in it)

In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave this book Two Stars.

Here is my review.

Combining good things can create something horrible – this was long-winded with little substance

I was very disappointed is this book.

There’s no doubt about it, Seth Godin is a leading thinker on marketing but I found this book long-winded and with little substance. Irritatingly this is a book I’d flicked through in a book store and bought. I think I must have read the few good bits. It rarely kept my attention and I think it’s made up of blog posts which, while connected, don’t seem to run into each other very well. [continue reading…]

The full title of this book by Malcolm Gladwell is

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book Three Stars.

Here is my review.

An extremely padded version of how ideas can build slowly and suddenly take-off

I started this book several times but it seems a conundrum about why a book about viral ideas wasn’t able to hold my attention when everyone else was rushing to read it.

The main idea is that ideas, trends and social behaviours can cross a threshold. Before the threshold, growth is slow but after the threshold – or tipping point – growth becomes exponential. [continue reading…]

The full title of this book by David J. Pannell is

How to Influence Buying Criteria and open doors to More Business, Better Margins in Less Time

In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave it 3 Stars.

Here is my review.

Worth reading if price versus value is a consistent problem

This book looks at the issue where customers focus on price when there are clear differences in value between competing products. The challenge for the sales person (this book is sales rather than marketing focused) is to open up the conversation. [continue reading…]

The full title of this book by Fraser Hay is

Self-Employed? Why Your Marketing Isn’t Working (and What You Can Do About It)

In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave it Three Stars.

Here is my review.

Not as good or as structured as I had hoped

I knew of Fraser from years ago and thought that he talked a lot of sense.

I decided it would be interesting to see how he’d updated his ideas but unfortunately I thought the book was disappointing. Perhaps I expected too much. [continue reading…]

The full title of this book by Tim Coe is

Your Utterly Seductive Proposal: Make your clients and offer they can’t refuse

In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave it Three Stars. This means Worthwhile.

Here is my review.

The emphasis on being different

I like the idea of taking the old USP concept (unique sales proposition in America or unique selling point in the UK) and updating it to the Utterly Seductive Proposal.

I agree that the original concept looked at the differentiation concept from the perspective or the seller more than the buyer and sadly that’s true of a lot of marketing. [continue reading…]

The full title of this book by David Peers is

Selling to the British – How to serve your customer, increase your sales and make more profit

In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave it 1 Star.

Here is my review.

I want to hurl this book across the room it’s so bad

So many sales and marketing books available through Amazon are written by Americans for Americans but the British are much more wary of hype and big promises, even if there is alleged proof.

I was looking forward to reading this book as I was expecting to learn ways to persuade in a way that wouldn’t cause genuine potential buyers to pull back in alarm as their BS detectors went off. I was encouraged by the number of five star reviews. [continue reading…]

Here is a video by marketing academic Philip Kotler talking about the recent developments to marketing.

There are significant differences between the academic view of big company marketing and practical marketing for small businesses but it’s good to get back into theory from time to time.

One of the most popular and most compelling sales promotion offers in retail marketing in particular is BOGOF.

This stands for Buy One, Get One Free.

Sometimes it is shortened to BOGO (buy one, get one) but I like the F. It makes it seem naughty but nice.

It’s also known as the “two-for” or two for the price of one offer.

Why BOGOF Offers Work So Well

As humans’ one of our most basic (and not very attractive) emotions is greed.

We naturally want more of a good thing.

If one bar of chocolate is good, two bars are better.

We also respond very eagerly to the word FREE.

It attracts our attention and, if we have any particular desire, it leads us into action.

For the retailer, it:

• Makes us more likely to buy. We assume we are getting a bargain. Some may see the one that is free, others may see both as the equivalent of half price.
• Makes us more likely to buy more than one pair. Remember the greed emotion where more is better. These BOGOF offers can tempt us to spend much more than we anticipated.
• Will encourage us to try new things which we might decide to buy permanently.

But the basic arithmetic for profit doesn’t look good

If the margin is 40% and the product is £1, then, the cost is 60p

Buy one, the shop makes 40p profit.

Buy two under a BOGOF offer and the shop makes a 20p loss (£1 sales revenue minus £1.20 cost of sales)

That doesn’t look good.

So what if the profit margin is 60%?

The sales price is still £1 and the cost is therefore 40p.

Buy one, the shop makes a profit of 60p.

Buy two, the shop makes a profit of 20p (£1 sales revenue minus cost of sales of 80p).

It’s profitable but the profit has dropped sharply.

How Does The Store Do It?

First the promotion is backed by the manufacturer or distributor.

The retailers costs are cut sharply.

Ideally the retailer doesn’t want the profit on the transaction to reduce.

That’s hard with a BOGOF unless there is some cheating.

Unfortunately it has become sneaky to increase the reference price of the single item for a few weeks before the promotion.

This is reference price manipulation.

If the store increases the price from £1 to £1.30, the arithmetic looks very different.

At a base cost per unit of 60p (without support from the manufacturer), the loss on the transaction of 20p turns into a profit of 10p.

At a base cost of 40p, the profit on the transaction jumps from 20p to 50p. That’s not much shy of the original 60p profit, so if the manufacturer puts 15p into the pot, the retailer is gaining.

How Can You Use BOGOF To Increase Sales?

1. Be honest, open and fair to your customers. Don’t try to trick them with false deals because it can severely damage your reputation, and they may never buy from you again.
2. Select your products carefully. High margin, popular products that people want are obvious but are there products that will encourage customers to buy other things, now or into the future?
3. Get support from your suppliers.
4. Promote it to attract new customers to your business.

The Other Use Of BOGOF Offers

Sometimes this form of sales promotion can be used to get rid of excess stocks and inventory.

If you’ve bought too much and you need to convert it into cash quickly, a BOGOF deal can motivate customers to buy.

It won’t work for all products.

Some things you don’t want two, for example, two new roofs for the price of one anybody?

Others you don’t want at an implied 50% pricing discount.

What Do You Think About BOGOFs?

Do you find these offers hard to resist?

What’s the strangest BOGOF offer you’ve seen?

One of the most famous concepts in marketing is the marketing mix or the 4 P’s of marketing.

What’s Included In This Article On The Marketing Mix

In this long article I look at the traditional marketing mix and how the marketing mix has been extended for service marketing with the 7 P’s of Marketing.

I then consider just how many P’s there are in marketing since there have been many derivations of the marketing mix.

I also look at the different versions of the marketing mix based on a wide variety of Ps of marketing – the 5 Ps, 6 Ps, 8 Ps, 9 Ps etc- you’ll be surprised at just how many different versions of the marketing mix there are.

Which is right for you?

Whatever marketing model gives you new insights into making your marketing more successful and effective.

The Traditional Marketing Mix or The 4 P’s of Marketing

The marketing mix was designed as a simple way to focus attention on the main elements of marketing for a business and to create a marketing strategy either at business, product or campaign level.

Some clever marketer played around with the words and realised that the concepts could be described with words beginning with the letter P – and created the 4Ps of marketing.

• Product – what you are selling
• Price – how much you are charging for your product
• Promotion – how you tell people about your offer i.e. your product and price
• Place – how people can buy your product
  

So for any marketer, the aim is simple.

To sell the right product (that customers want) at the right price (which customers can afford and are willing to pay) at a convenient place using effective promotions.

The essential idea is that each element of the marketing mix should be consistent, fit together and reinforce the other elements.

So you don’t market a premium product at a “pile ’em high” price.

You don’t market a premium product with tatty “done from home by your 9 year old daughter” promotional material – unless of course it is targeted at people with 9 year old daughters who might find it very appealing.

And you don’t sell your premium product at the local flea market.

Remember the marketing mix is about consistent fit.

Criticisms Of The Marketing Mix and the 4 P’s of Marketing

The marketing mix has been a mainstay of teaching marketing to students and professionals for fifty years although, like any well established idea, it is also criticised.

One thought is that it is too product focused and doesn’t translate well into the growing service based economy we live in – see the 7’s of the Service Marketing Mix below).

Others criticise the marketing mix as a tool for setting marketing strategy because it doesn’t have a goal – or I suppose beginning with P that should be Purpose – making a profit, generating quick cash flow, a low priced front end product which opens up the opportunity for future sales.

Without establishing purpose, how do you know if you have a marketing mix which is suitable? The intentions of building brand awareness, gaining more market share and increasing profit can be very different.

An equally relevant criticism is the internal focus of the traditional 4 P’s of marketing.

Where is the customer in the discussion of marketing, which however you dress it up, is concerned with persuading particular customers to buy?

So in this case, we should be adding another P – for purchaser to keep the focus on the target customer, what they want, need and what motivates them.

And if marketing is about wanting customers to buy, the traditional marketing mix is for suppliers pushing products into the marketplace and not customers pulling products out of the potential suppliers based on their needs and wants through market research.

This was fine in the old days when demand exceeded supply but it’s much more difficult when markets have fragmented and there are many niche products targeted at small customer segments.

I can’t think of a word beginning with P for the market research issue so at the moment I’m going with Push/Pull to communicate the idea in a new marketing mix. (Please leave comments with any suggestions).

If customers need to feel confident before they buy – to know, like and trust you – then there is no mention of the development of Personal Relationships which are an essential element of 21st century marketing.

Just to recap I have suggested that the marketing mix is missing:

• Purpose (normally profit)
• Purchaser
• Push/Pull
• Personal Relationships

Service Marketing Mix – The 7 P’s of Service Marketing

In my MBA I was taught the traditional marketing mix based on the 4 P’s and also taught the Service Marketing Mix or the 7 P’s of marketing.

There are special characteristics of a service which make is marketing different from selling products. Perhaps most of all, you can pick up a product and see, feel and touch it. You can’t do that with services because they are intangible.

The 7 P’s of Marketing pick up the traditional marketing mix of Product, Price, Promotion and Place and added:

• People – services are performed by people whose performance influences the quality of the service delivered and perceived to be delivered.
• Process – it’s not just the attitudes of the person that matters but the process they use to provide the service.
• Physical evidence – services are intangible so the customer looks for physical clues about the quality.

How Many P’s Should There Be In The Marketing Mix?

So far we have the original 4 P’s of marketing, the extra 3 P’s added in the Service Marketing Mix and my four P’s based on critiquing the marketing mix.

That takes us up to 11 P’s of marketing.

UK marketing consultant  Fraser Hay published a list of the 5 fundamental principles of marketing:

• Positioning
• Packaging
• Promotion
• Persuasion
• Performance

Since promotion is already covered in the traditional marketing mix, this adds another 4P’s to the marketing list – positioning, packaging, persuasion and performance.

Positioning is particularly important because it brings in vital concepts like differentiation and the unique selling proposition.

Then I Started Brainstorming About Marketing

Do the 15 Ps identified so far summarise what marketing has to offer and the important characteristics of marketing?

I don’t think so.

The first marketing book I ever read – getting on for 25 years ago was Offensive Marketing by Hugh Davison – it got me hooked. That book used an acronym of POISE.

• Profitable – even in loss leading campaigns and image advertising to build brands, there has to be a clear path to profit.
• Offensive – perhaps Proactive would be more suitable in this situation.
• Integrated – your marketing has to Pull together and not consistent of a scatter gun approach of different campaigns which send out conflicting messages.
• Strategic – I mentioned Purposeful earlier
• Effective – it has to work. Marketing that creates results is an investment, marketing that produces nothing is a waste of time, effort and money so the best P I can come up with is Perform – this is different to Fraser Hay’s performance which I believe relates to the product or service you provide.

The Marketing P’s Don’t End There

We are bombarded with marketing messages and spam coming into our email inboxes so Seth Goden’s concept of Permission Marketing is becoming increasingly relevant – and Permission is another P.

And isn’t marketing about helping a customer finding a solution to a Problem?

Aren’t customers motivated by the thoughts of moving away from Pain or towards Pleasure?

One of the key factors I stress in my marketing coaching is the need to be intentional – to decide what you want and to work out how you will achieve it – i.e to Plan your marketing.

Further thinking brings in two extra Ps – you need to have Periodic communications since one marketing message won’t do the job and you need to be Persistent.

In fact because of the difficulty of building up the know, like and trust factors, one of the most successful marketing strategies is to work through Partners who are already trusted.

And what is the most important thing that determines whether a customer buys – what is going on inside their heads – logically and emotionally which brings in the twin forces of Psychology and Perceptions.

The New Marketing Mix

Have I convinced you that seeing marketing in terms of the traditional marketing mix of the 4P’s or the service marketing mix of 7P’s is too simplistic?

So how does the new marketing mix appeal – the 27 P’s of Marketing (and counting)

1. Product
2. Price
3. Promotion
4. Place
5. People
6. Process
7. Physical evidence
8. Purpose
9. Purchaser
10. Push/pull
11. Personal relationships
12. Positioning
13. Packaging
14. Persuasion
15. Performance
16. Profitable
17. Proactive
18. Pull together
19. Perform
20. Permission
21. Pain
22. Pleasure
23. Periodic
24. Persistent
25. Partners
26. Psychology
27. Perceptions  

OK what key marketing concept have I forgotten?

Inevitably there are bound to be things that I have missed so please leave a comment and let me know.

One P That Marketing Isn’t

There is one thing that marketing can never be.

Perfect.

Whatever you do can be improved.

And the 27s Ps of the new Marketing Mix are a good place to start.

Other Variations On The Traditional Marketing Mix

One Friday afternoon when I didn’t have much to do, I thought I’d research the other variations on the marketing mix.

It’s astonishing what I came up with as various marketers have tried to put their personal stamp on such a popular idea. If you know of any that I’ve missed, please leave me a comment.

If I included each new P, then my 27 P’s of Marketing would be much extended. The list is interesting if you want to find the components of a marketing strategy which you feel fits you better. Each new P can also be considered as a criticism of the original marketing mix or any of the other variations.

Just as a reminder, let’s start with the traditional marketing mix.

Using The Marketing Mix In The Real World

If you want tips on how to use the marketing mix and other marketing tips and ideas you can use in your business to attract more customers, make more sales and increase your profits, then please sign up to receive my free report “Marketing Secrets For Small Business”.