Marketing Bones

Ideas & Answers on all things Marketing

Archive for the ‘Marketing’ category

Modern Marketing: New Rules

May 16th, 2010

Philip Kotler is the master of marketing. Many a book that has been written by him has been hungrily gobbled up by eager marketing students. In one of his more recent books on Modern Marketing, Kotler explains how traditional marketing tools are no longer as effective as they were in the past.

Not that a revelation like this was a shock to me. In today’s world with the proliferation of the Internet as a major channel in terms of getting customer attention, brand building, product sales and customer management, the marketing playbook has changed. Drastically. » Read more: Modern Marketing: New Rules

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Posted in Marketing Concepts, Marketing Strategy

Tags: Marketing Strategy

Porter’s Five Competitor Forces Model – Part II

May 15th, 2010

Threat of New Entrants

If there are low barriers to entry in an industry, the easier it is for other firms to enter this industry. In such a situation, new entrants could change major determinants of the market environment (e.g. market share, product pricing, customer loyalty) at any time. There is always a hidden pressure for reaction to any change in the market dynamics and adjustment for existing players in this industry. » Read more: Porter’s Five Competitor Forces Model – Part II

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Posted in Marketing Concepts, Marketing Strategy

Tags: Marketing Strategy

Porter’s Five Competitor Forces Model – Part I

May 14th, 2010

Michael Porter’s 5 competitive forces model is the basis of modern business strategy. His model is based on the insight that a corporate strategy should take into account the opportunities and threats in the external environment that the organization operates in.

The competitive strategy should be based on a strong understanding of the industry structure and how it may possibly change. In the online world, this principle does apply though in slightly different ways. » Read more: Porter’s Five Competitor Forces Model – Part I

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Posted in Marketing Concepts, Marketing Strategy

Tags: Marketing Strategy

Consumer Behavior 2010 – Some insights

April 18th, 2010

As humans we seek happiness or things that give and/or extend the feeling of happiness. As consumers, unfortunately, we think the same way. A major reason for why we think this way is because of the successful manipulation that Madison Ave has carried out on the population to make us desire things we don’t need.

But, what happens during times of hardship? Like today, for instance where we’re in the middle of a recession. As always, we try to escape from the stark realities that surround us and in a recession, we try to do more of the same. » Read more: Consumer Behavior 2010 – Some insights

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Posted in Marketing Concepts

Tags: Consumer Behavior

B2B Buyer Behavior – What drives it

April 6th, 2010

The SES San Jose forum last year had many lessons but one of the sessions that stood out was the “The Buyer Sphere Project: Understanding B2B Buyer Patterns“. The learning from these sessions were key in understanding the influences that affect B2B buyer decisions. » Read more: B2B Buyer Behavior – What drives it

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Posted in B2B Marketing

Tags: B2B Marketing

Segmentation – A Quick Flyover

April 4th, 2010

Segmentation, targeting, and positioning are a three stage process.

First, you determine which kinds of customers exist, then you select which ones you’d like to sell to and, finally you optimize your products/services for that segment and communicate to that segment that you differentiate yourself from competitors because of the characteristics you possess.

Segmentation’s about finding out what kinds of customers or consumers with different needs exist. In the breakfast cereal market, for example, some consumers demand nutrition and health, while others might just want Cheerios. » Read more: Segmentation – A Quick Flyover

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Posted in Market Segmentation

Tags: Market Segmentation

What Marketing & Innovation really mean

April 1st, 2010

Marketing is a term that’s described very loosely. Very few truly understand the essence of the word. Ditto with the term Innovation.

What do they mean essentially? A simple definition would be that the two of them produce results. Period.

A business needs to do two things well to succeed: Marketing and Innovation. All the rest of the business support these two functions. » Read more: What Marketing & Innovation really mean