The Brew
Issue No. 44 - December/January 2008
Immortal marketing rules prevail
by Dr David Corkindale and Dr David Corkindale
Have you bought a tin of tuna lately? Nana’s basic tuna in brine is looking a bit feeble amid a school of celebrity flavours: “Tender chunks in spring water with a dash of lemon pepper and tomato” or “a sprinkle of sweet basil with just a touch of chilli”.
The same is happening with media: from 440 magazine mastheads in 1990 to over 1100 in Australia today. Remember the old days when Channel Nine was number one in a three-horse race? We now have access to more than 100 subscription TV channels.
Younger readers may not remember the days when billboards stood still. Now some of them get towed around on the back of trucks. And if that’s too big, let’s shrink them, put them on the back of a moped and dress the rider to match.
It isn’t just the marketplace that is spoilt for choice: so are the marketers.
Do you blog or micro-blog? Do you tweet? Google: AdWords or Maps? SMS or RSS? Do you have a lens on Squidoo or a page on MySpace? How is FaceBook working for you? Or do you share your wisdom with the world via YouTube or Slideshare or podcasts on ITunes? Do you know what any of this stuff means for marketing your business?
SME owners have long been perplexed about the best communication channel to use. Do you run 30 commercials on radio to promote your sale, or sponsor the local footy club for the season? Maybe the local
phone directory is enough?
A more options develop the choice becomes even more confusing. The risk of blowing limited budgets or throwing away precious resources is even greater. But nothing has really changed.
There may be a stack more tools at our disposal, but the old rules still apply. If you apply these rules you can come at your marketing from a strategic direction and all the questions about what to say, how to say it, where to say it, will be answered for you.
Rule Number One: It’s not about you
Your marketing is all about your customers: their demographics (a...
