Know-How Exchange : Student Questions

Dear Nic,

You're probably not going to like this.

First: Listen to (and answer) Randall's questions. He's one of the top contributors to this forum, and in the short period of time I've been active on this exchange, I've gain the impression that when Randall
asks a clarifying question, you'd better be damned sure you've done your homework.

Second: Before you get all fired up about "viral" this or "traditional" that, it's vitally important that you wrap your mind firmly around one, simple, non changing, non negotiable foundation. And note this well because without this foundation, you're floundering.

Regardless of the latest buzzwords and theories in marketing, until you have identified a need, presented a beneficial and value laden solution, created a relationship, made a sale, and generated customer loyalty, you've got a big fat zero.

You can theorize until the cows come home and buzzword your way from here to Timbuktu, but until you've got the things I've just pointed out in place ... and producing results, meaning you're seeing the sales curve go up ... your other theories don't really hold water.

DAGMAR: Defining Advertising Goals for Measured Advertising Results.

All right. Let's boil this down to its basic goo: The goal of the advertising is to sell the product. The measure of the advertising's result is, did the ad campaign or the marketing bring in more in terms of gross revenue than it cost to produce the stuff?

If it did, bravo. If it didn't, there's a flaw in the message, there's a flaw in the delivery method, or there's something the audience the message is aimed at are not getting, something they're not understanding.

But whichever it is, something's wrong. Which means the marketing isn't communicating and that someone is wasting the client's money.

AIDA(S) has always bugged me because as neatly defined as it is, it leaves out the critical points of relationship and loyalty. Sure, there's often the neat little "S" for "satisfaction" tagged on to the end.

But satisfaction is NOT loyalty. And AIDA falls a little short when it
comes to creating any kind of customer relationship and life time customer value. This thought is probably going to upset a lot of
people but it's what I think, and it's what I've seen to be the case.

I don't know if there's any one theory that pulls this all together.
But for my money, WIIFM comes pretty darn close.

What's in it for me?

That's the core question the consumer needs you to answer. And your answer had better be world changing and mind boggling. Why should they do business with you? What do they get more of that you're not afraid of over delivering again, and again, and again?

This is where your loyalty comes in. Give me lots of value, great products at astonishing prices and SOLVE MY PROBLEM in a way that makes me all warm and fuzzy all over to such an extent that
I tell ALL MY FRIENDS, and you'll have created and gained my brand allegiance.

Beware of buzzwords and fads. They'll come, go, and date faster than Duran Duran and cargo pants.

But great service that solves the problem and inspires loyalty? It never goes out of style and it's the life jacket that buoys the brand ... in even the stormiest of seas.

I hope this helps.

Gary Bloomer
Wilmington, DE, USA

Hello!

I have to say a big thank you to Nic for posting this question and an even bigger thank you to Gary for sharing his view. Its a great contribution!

I've been through both worlds, done a quantitative thesis and also been working in direct sales.

What Randall is suggesting is for you to clarify you battlefield. Does the gap that you are hypothesizing existent? I think more importantly- what will your thesis contribute for the future? I had to do a lot of reading and somewhat become a subject matter expert with regards to my area of interest before I can pen down my research question.

From a sales person point of view, Gary holds the most honest and practical view. That's really what happens at the front line. What is it in for me, does affect how well you can sell, especially in difficult times where everyone is holding tightly to their wallets.

Good luck Nic!

Read: Emanuel Rosen's (The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited) for a well-studied analysis of social media/viral marketing. Also, get familiar with Word of Mouth Marketing Association (https://www.womma.org/). Both footnote lots of sources to aid your research.