The World's Most Important Marketing Concept
A blog post about the world's most important marketing concept!
What is the world's most important marketing concept? That answer varies depending on who you ask. Some people may say that it is branding. Others might argue that it is customer acquisition. Some might say that it is customer retention. All of these answers may be correct in their own way. What they all have in common is that they are all the result of a good idea. But what is the good idea? The answer to this question varies depending on who you ask. Some people may say that it is to find a niche and fill it with your product/service. Others might argue that it is to find a pain, and then provide your product/service as the solution to that pain. Still another person might say that it's about building organic awareness through word of mouth, often via social media channels like Facebook and Twitter. But what is the good idea? The answer to this question varies depending on who you ask.
It's not just marketing professionals who have trouble answering this question. I think even most business people have a hard time articulating their own good ideas and how they became successful. Even top companies (Apple, Google) don't always know what exactly they are doing when they get started; it's usually just an idea in their heads--and usually a pretty simple one at that--that attracts others to partner with them.
So I thought it might be helpful to share some of my own experience with other entrepreneurs who might be looking for answers right now.
I started this company with a simple idea. I knew that marketing was broken, and I believed that it could be fixed with an integrated approach to developing marketing messages. And the result of this idea is our flagship product, the Services Marketing Wheel®.
So how do you come up with a good idea? Well, those who can answer this question may still not be able to articulate their own "good idea" in a way that makes sense to others. But here are some ideas on how to come up with one of your own:
Growing up as an entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, I spent a lot of time watching others and asking them questions about what they did differently--and better--than everyone else. I learned early on that things were not always as they seemed. Many companies would claim to be leaders in the industry, but when you dug deeper, it turns out their product was usually just a light-weight knockoff of another company's product. It wasn't always easy to find the "good idea" at first. Sometimes you had to look behind the scenes and pay close attention to all of the finer details before you could figure out what made them different and better than everyone else.
Another place where I have found good ideas is in books and articles by entrepreneurs who have already had success (not necessarily financial). One of my favorite resources is Phil Rosenzweig's book, "The Halo Effect...and the Eight Other Business Delusions That Deceive Managers." It lists a host of well-known companies who were leadership in their fields and then fell from grace because they got caught up in one of the "8 business delusions."
My point is that sometimes you have to look hard to find a good idea. But when you find one, it will be worth the effort to figure it out. And you'll have something powerful in your arsenal for future use.
The world's most important marketing concept is a good idea, whether that good idea is easy or hard to identify. If you are ready to start your own company, it's never too late to come up with that good idea. If you are an entrepreneur with a good idea, it's never too late to do something valuable with that good idea.
As long as you have a good idea, the world will continue to love you.
Finally, if you have a good idea and would like help identifying and developing it into something bigger, please get in touch with me. I'm available to help. Or if you're just looking for some marketing inspiration or guidance, why not register for one of our workshops? We've got great ones coming up in Atlanta (June), San Francisco (July), Washington D.C. (August) and London (September).
In the mean time, good luck with your business.
Steve Gordon
Chief Wizard, Marketing Wizardry
Author of The Services Marketing Wheel®
The world's most important marketing concept is a good idea. And thanks to Steve G, I now know that all I need to do is write my thoughts on paper and then I will be able to make money and be successful!
If you are having second thoughts about this, don't worry. You're not alone. A lot of us would like to be respected among our community and seen as somebody that knows the answer to what is the world's most important marketing concept. The truth of the matter is, it doesn't matter if you know what is the world's most important marketing concept. What matters more than that is our ability to constantly learn and evolve with changes around us.
What really matters is our ability to change, adapt and grow with the times so we can make a difference in this world.
So why don't we take a look at some other stuff besides just knowing what is the world's most important marketing concept?
I started reading Steve Gordon's 'The World's Most Important Marketing Concept' article few minutes ago. It got me wondering. How do I know that the world's most important marketing concept is a good idea?
I'm not asking this question to annoy you, but more out of genuine interest.
The answer to this question varies depending on who you ask. Some people may say that it is to find a niche and fill it with your product/service. Others might argue that it is to find a pain, and then provide your product/service as the solution to that pain. Still another person might say that it's about building organic awareness through word of mouth, often via social media channels like Facebook and Twitter. But what is the good idea?
The answer to this question varies depending on who you ask.
An important step in attaining success is to have the right mind-set. But that is not the only step. There are other things we must achieve to achieve success, and that is how I came across this article by Steve Gordon called 'The World's Most Important Marketing Concept' published on The Huffington Post and posted a link on LinkedIn last week. While reading it, I kept wondering how I know that the world's most important marketing concept is a good idea.
Conclusion
Good ideas are the foundation for any organization that wants to succeed. If you ask me, it is a good idea to know what is the world's most important marketing concept because it will help you gain success in your business venture.
Gaining success in business and entrepreneurship means seeking out solutions, identifying problems and understanding how they can be best addressed through different marketing channels. You must find the right balance between cost and quality which often involves using different genres or types of marketing messages. Building your brand requires using all types of media such as print, radio, cinema, television and so on.
Brands that fail often do so because they fail to deliver on their promises or because they do not communicate with their target audience effectively.