FunMarketer Lesson of the Week

Craig, why do marketers need to understand Value Chain analysis? Why can’t we just write a super ad?

It’s simple: the more you understand how your product (or service) interacts with your customer the more effectively you can match company strength with customer need.

First, I recommend at some point in your career you go to the source for Value Chain Analylsis – Michael Porter. In his book Competitive Advantage Porter outlines the importance of the Value Chain. In a perfect world a company views Value Chain analysis as an integral part of its strategy. Senior management directs managers to map out contact points between Company Value Chain and Customer Value Chain and discover profitable intersections that provide maximum value to both.

But let’s face it – in most companies this simply doesn’t happen. You’re the marketer; you’re tasked with driving up sales. Senior management might pave the way by alerting other departments to the importance of marketing. But you’ll need to shoulder the heavy lifting of a value-chain analysis. Here is how to begin.

1. Read Porter. The Value Chain and his other concepts (such as the Five Forces affecting an Industry’s competitiveness) are valuable, life-long tools you can draw on. This isn’t a one-flight business book; it’s a serious text that requires some serious study. However, time invested in Porter provides solid returns later in a marketer’s career.

2. Start with your customers. Create a few customer survey tools and email feedback paths. Find out as much as you can about how your customer uses your product, and what they like about it.

Customer feedback alone is insufficient to create a solid Value Chain analysis. Yes, it’s important to discover how the customer uses and interacts with your product, but you must discover how the customer value chain connects to your company’s value chain. To accomplish that, you’ll need to…

3. Ask other people in your company. Find one or two key allies in the following departments: Shipping, Customer Service, and Sales. Glean information from each of them to help you understand the connections they have with your customers. You can then use this to your advantage, to match up Company Strength with Customer Needs.

And you can use that knowledge to start outsmarting your competition.

Call me for more ideas at 402-423-2444 or email me at funmarketer@marketinghawks.com

FunMarketer Free Campaign Idea of the Week

I like photos with two people in them because you can write a headline that leads your audience to visualize the story in an instant.

Imagine this as a headline/photo for a paint store that is targeting women:

Photo: iStock #5282481

Headline: Julie, Will That Color Match?
Subhead: Acme Paints – We Know How You Feel.

FunMarketer Tip of The Week

If you are going to use kids, like in the above photo, then you must make sure it’s an appropriate subject. Yes, the ad pokes a bit of fun at males, but the product – paint – is non-controversial. It’s easy to establish a bit of emotion with the photo of the kids, since they’re cute, and you can bond quickly with the audience.

Unless you really are ready to deal with negative publicity, I recommend you keep kids out of your ads if your product or service is edgy at all.

Happy Marketing!

Craig Lutz-Priefert