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Archive for the ‘Needs’ Category« Previous Entries Next Entries »Chicken Biryani and B2B MarketingFriday, March 5th, 2010
Paul Hague this week reflects on how an understanding of the decision making process in everyday life helps us to better understand and influence the decision making process of our prospective customers. I was out for dinner the other evening with a colleague and we were eating in an Indian restaurant. The restaurant had the usual extensive menu we have come to expect in such places. Now I’ve got to thinking that restaurants would be an excellent place to segment people. Who takes the lead and calls the waiter? What do people look for when choosing a meal? How influenced are they by price, the specialties and variety? How much information do they need to make their choice? How decisive are they? Do they stick to their choice or does it get changed at the last minute? My colleague sat happily chatting and would never have looked at the menu if I hadn’t suggested that we take a couple of minutes to look it over and place our order. After a good five minutes of puzzling she quizzed the waiter about every type of rice on the menu, enquired how the sauces were served, and queried the provenance of just about every meat and fish dish. Then, just as I thought we had game, set and match, she called the waiter back and chose something completely different. A man from Mars would, without hesitation, have put her into the bucket of ditherers. And the man from Mars would have been completely wrong. I know this person well and she is a high-flying consultant in human resources. She commands a daily rate that makes my eyes water and is courted by some of the largest corporates in the country for her decisive advice. With her considerable riches she has recently moved into a palatial new home, bought a sizeable Mercedes as her main car and a little Citroën as a runabout. How is it that a powerful woman who can instruct a board of directors on what they should do to avoid mass disruption in a workforce and who can readily invest thousands of pounds in bricks, mortar and metal, cannot order a chicken biryani? This paradox got me thinking about decision making. How do we choose things? How do we decide what actions to take from something as simple as a meal in a restaurant to an investment in a company? Every decision is driven by a need – an objective, if you like. Somehow our brains synthesise the available information and guide the best course of action; the decision. It may appear strange that the decision to buy a house, the biggest investment most of us ever will make, is often based on a couple of visits to the house, an hour or two walking round it and some dodgy advice from an estate agent. If we analyse the cost per minute of the house investment decision versus the cost per minute of the chicken tikka masala decision, we see a difference of at least 1,000 to 1. It is clearly out of proportion. So what is going on? When we buy a house or a car, we very quickly narrow the options down to just five or six choices with our final selection based on a critical issue. In the case of the Indian meal, there is an overload of information. There may be little to choose between the different meals and, let’s face it, any of the options would be reasonably acceptable. There is too much choice and too much information to synthesise for a very modest return. I am reminded of a story that I heard years ago about Tootal, who used to be one of the largest manufacturers of ties in the UK. Tootal had a range of ties that was so large it would have embarrassed Sainsbury’s toothpaste display. They reduced it to the 35 best sellers and lo and behold, sales increased and profits rocketed. They made decision making easier; they simplified choice. The insight I share with you is one of the most crucial in b2b marketing. We need to help customers make their choice – and we need to make sure it is in our direction. To do this we need to understand how our customers are different, we need to recognise their different needs and, now the difficult bit – we must be strong in simplifying our offer so that it resonates better than any others with what they are looking for. If we do this, our products will stand out, they will be snapped up by those who like them and, of equal importance, they will be rejected by those who are looking for something else. And we will all get home earlier. Read more about the subjects touched in today’s Thursday Night Insight in our following white papers: Why Is Business-To-Business Marketing Special? Buying Into LoveThursday, February 18th, 2010 
With many of us celebrating Valentine’s Day over the weekend, Simi Dhawan explains how, like all successful marketing, this event tries to tap into people’s fundamental needs and desires. Across the globe, February 14th marks a special unity between individuals on numerous levels. For some, cards, flowers, chocolates and various other adornments are offered to partners and spouses as a gesture signifying their unwavering love for one another. For others, this national ‘holiday’ (which isn’t actually a holiday, let’s be honest) unites a sub-culture of individuals who would gladly take up watching paint dry as sport over entertaining this commercial frippery. So where on Earth (let’s remain within familiar parameters) was this tradition born? Legend has it that St. Valentine (our customarily crowned patron saint of love) reacted to Roman Emperor Claudius II ruling that soldiers were to remain unmarried in a bid to keep them better focused. Our now hailed St. Valentine nobly (and romantically) defied Claudius’ demands by marrying some of the aforementioned young soldiers in secret, only to be later discovered by the emperor and imprisoned as a consequence. Whilst in prison (and clearly without much else to think about in the way of daily activity), St. Valentine fell deeply in love with his jailor’s blind daughter who often visited him there and in doing so, helped soften the ill-fate which was soon to meet him – his tragic death sentence. Shortly before this ominous moment, history was forever-changed when he sent a letter to his secret love signed ‘from your Valentine’ – the letter which would thereon be remembered as the first ‘Valentine’ in history all the way back in….wait for it….. A.D. 270….! Today, centuries later, greetings cards have now replaced the traditional love letter, with an estimated 1 billion cards being sent each year (ranking in at second place after Christmas). Valentine’s Day is a universal event which is certainly not exclusive to one part of the world. It transcends ages and cultures. It is global consumer populations who buy into this profit-making love affair year in and year out. Country masses of devoted followers (possibly deluded under Cupid’s spell) loosen their purse-strings/wallet-chains much to the delectation of multiple industry beneficiaries. We’re not simply talking about florists, card and confectionary shops, but also restaurants, bars, cinemas, jewellers, producers and sellers of romantic goods, love songs and movies, beauty salons who pamper and preen many hopefuls (both in love and looking for love), various hotel chains and airlines who benefit from increased bookings of romantic trips away and………….well ok, you get the idea. The point is, there’s money in this and as much as the cynics (erm..us singletons) try to bury our heads in the sand and talk about ANYTHING BUT our ‘Valentine’s Plans’ (thank you colleagues, friends and family – oh and my hairdresser), it is nothing short of remarkable that love helps keep the economy going (at least momentarily)….or put another way, we ‘buy into love’. Love it or hate it (and the theory is that there is a thin line between the two for those claiming the latter), Valentine’s Day is every marketer’s playpen. Its success is founded upon the very fact that it sells to the ultimate in people’s needs and vulnerabilities….the need for love and all the security it brings. Aptly described as a ‘Humanistic Psychologist’, Abraham Maslow knew only too well the multi-faceted emotional and physical desires that collectively make up the human condition. He clearly defined these within his ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ as shown below: 
For Maslow, our basic (or intrinsic) needs at the bottom of the pyramid are the physical needs we require for survival from birth, whilst rising up his model, our needs become more emotional and sophisticated where we must successfully meet all of those listed at each level to ultimately progress to the top and reach an eventual state of happiness and fulfillment known as ‘self-actualization’. In the same way, businesses everywhere (in fundamentally appreciating the fact that they are selling to humans not robots) do vigorously attempt to tap into the needs of both their market and the individuals which make up that market. In fact, just thinking about the nature of any business or personal relationship, there is always a rudimentary transaction which takes place – financial or emotional, and each is reliant on understanding your recipients’ needs. Taken further, we could even argue that in introducing and thus ‘selling’ us his theory, Maslow himself was a chief marketer! Following this lesson, there is rarely a week that passes in our UK office when a colleague does not openly share a new marketing item or ‘gimmick’ that they have received from a company which seeks to promote its products or services – be it the white chocolate plaques with elegantly printed company images marked on the front (they did make for a divine mid-morning snack!) or a kick-off-2010 diary book planner (that was wasted on me – I’m personally a bigger fan of my ‘Office Outlook’, thanks very much), companies will try every which angle – the quirkier the better, to grab people’s attention. If there was a surefire way to increase profits through such ploys, then we would all be doing it. However, quite like Maslow’s slightly ambiguous pyramid journey, people’s needs and consequently market needs are always changing, and so this is a game where precise rules do not exist and cannot be learned, but one where you throw the dice and then make calculated, strategic moves based on the options available to you at any given time, in any given place (of work). Pleasingly, this year was no exception, and whilst February 14th is usually solely ‘owned’ by the madness that is ‘Valentine’s Day’, for the first time since 1900, as many of you may have already experienced, it also shared its place with Chinese New Year (‘Kung Hei Fat Choi’ and ‘Xin Nian Kuai Le’ to all by the way!). This I learned of, much to my delight, as I strolled through Manchester city centre last Sunday morning trying frantically to avoid the endless parade of loved-up couples drifting smugly along the sun-filled streets. The sound of Chinese drums and oddly placed fairground rides – including the ‘teacups’ (how quaint) – offered some welcome respite from heart-shaped foil balloons and red rose street sellers (who smiled sympathetically), and whilst this year, Valentine’s Day – as always – ‘sold’ to the masses successfully, I was one very happy customer drawn in by an alternative market route, found ogling instead over the beautiful handcrafted Chinese lanterns which stood stationary whilst I floated away happily into my own world……………………….waiting for the postman to deliver my lost Valentine’s Day card…! (Fish) Food For Thought: Segmentation Fun at Your Local Pet StoreFriday, October 2nd, 2009
Eve Lenkowsky’s first Thursday Night Insight shows us why careful segmentation of our target markets is vital to survival. At the risk of coming off as the dorkiest member of B2B International, I’m going to tell you about my latest hobby: fish. That’s right, I’m a ichthyophile. Say that one 3 times fast. When I bought my fish tank a couple of months ago and began planning out the aquatic wonderland that would house my flippery little friends, the possibilities seemed endless. The tank can hold 30 gallons of water, and that means a whollllllle lotta fish. My childhood days of little fish bowls and dime goldfish were a thing of the past. With the tune of "Under The Sea" playing in my ears and images of delicate angelfish, friendly flounder, and funky-looking bottom feeders dancing through my head, I waltzed into PETCO and told the pet store people about my "vision." The fish lady smiled as I pointed out which fish I liked, and she told me a few facts about each kind—it was all very educational. Everything was going great…until I told her I wanted all of them. Apparently, that idea was dead in the water. You see, every species of fish has its own narrow range of water pH levels that it prefers to live in. If you put a fish in water that goes outside of this range, it will suffer or die. But when a fish is in the right kind of water, it can flourish and prosper. I wouldn’t be able to take home that whole assortment of fish because they wouldn’t all be able to live in the same tank together, no matter how large it was. So realistically, to make my tank the best it could be, I had to acknowledge the fact that I would have to make choices. I couldn’t have all of the varied types of fish I wanted since they all had different needs and behaviors, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t still have a really cool tank. I asked the fish lady to help me categorize the species that I liked by their approximate pH level needs. To make things easy, we created three basic segments: the acidic-dwelling fish, the neutral pH fish, and the fish that need a more alkaline environment. With that settled, I would just need to choose one of the three segments I’d identified, then design my tank around the types of fish I’d chosen within that segment. This would let me make it an optimal environment for them to live in and also for me to enjoy visually—win/win. 
The same thing can go with segmentation studies in market research. Segmentation is crucial to marketing because once you identify the segments of customers or prospective customers that you want to do business with, you must set different marketing objectives for each segment. Identifying segments through market research allows you to compare and contrast how portions of your customer base might react to various marketing concepts, pricing, advertising copy or visuals. Essentially, you can test various tactics in terms of product, price, promotion and place (route to market) and see how they stack up among your segments. You can also figure out if their needs or desires differ or have any overlap. Every business, no matter how much money it throws into its products or marketing, has a finite amount of resources and must make choices about how to use them. Just as I created a beautiful environment and found a rich assortment of pH neutral fish to fill it, so too must businesses identify the best segments to target and fine-tune their offerings according to the segments of choice. Market research helps you to figure out how your offerings and positioning concepts will be viewed by various groups based on their firmographic characteristics, behaviors, or needs. Make your choice, choose your best bait, and go get those customers! UK Research Industry Holds UpTuesday, September 22nd, 2009
Hot on the heels of the ESOMAR Global Market Research report, the Market Research Society’s most recent survey of the profession reveals that the UK industry fared comparatively well in 2008. However, 2009 has brought its own challenges that may compromise industry growth this year. In the face of a grim global economic outlook, total UK market research agency revenue grew by 6.2% in 2008 according to the MRS, as compared with global growth of just 4.5% (reported here). This was driven, in large part, by international growth with international revenues jumping by 12.5% compared to 2007. In Marketing Magazine’s latest market research league table, B2B International’s performance has outstripped this industry average, with a 24% rise in year-on-year turnover seen in 2008. In their analysis of the results, Marketing magazine point to 2009 being the year when the recession truly begins to bite for the market research industry. Curtailed client budgets, increased consolidation within the sector, rising research demands and downward cost pressure are all cited as key challenges that agencies must address if they are to truly weather the ongoing storm. Client-side, anecdotal evidence appears to suggest that the most pressing need from research partners is data that can truly influence, rather than merely support, business decisions. At B2B International, we’d like to think that this overarching aim is central to our ethos – To deliver “market research with intelligence”. To learn more about B2B International’s range of market research and consultancy services, please click here. Centre Stage For Customer LoyaltyThursday, May 7th, 2009
Focusing on customer satisfaction and loyalty is important at the best of times. Right now, when times are tough in many industry sectors, developing a loyal customer base is even more vital to business survival. We at B2B International always extol the virtues of customer loyalty. And, on the face of it at least, it would seem that customer loyalty is on the rise – that is if membership figures for loyalty rewards programs are a good indication of a wider trend. According to new figures released by Colloquy, membership in U.S. loyalty rewards programs has now reached 1.8 billion, which amounts to a 24% increase on their last loyalty marketing industry census published two years ago. The average U.S. household has signed up for 14.1 loyalty programs – from financial services, airlines and hotels to department stores, restaurants and much more – although it should be noted that the average household only actively participates in 6.2 schemes. However, don’t fall into the trap of just reading the headline figures. The emphasis for any company should not be to concentrate solely on increasing membership numbers. It must be to focus on creating and developing a program that offers value, which can revive lapsed members and can turn its engaged members into profitable, loyal customers. While loyalty schemes are obviously not appropriate for all organizations – especially those in industrial and b-to-b sectors – the underlying principles remain the same. It’s a well known fact that it’s more cost-effective to retain existing customers than to find new ones. Listen to your customers; find out if they are satisfied and if you could be meeting their needs better. Whilst customer satisfaction may not necessarily lead to customer loyalty, it’s a valuable first step in the process. The white paper Loyalty – How To Win Devotion From Your Customers makes an interesting read for anyone wishing to find out more about customer loyalty. « Previous Entries Next Entries » |
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