How to make customers switch to your product in a cluttered market ?
In today’s business space, nothing is new and genuine. Every product, offering and service is the modification of something already available. This era is not just about the product, this era is about marketing. The kind of marketing done by I phone,Tata Nano (in India) and recently by Google wave. Jack trout ‘Differentiate and die’ theory needs some modification, the new mantra is ‘create wow perception or die’
So now dying is not the only option with a new product in a matured market. By analyzing the marketing dynamics and customers decision pattern- You can survive. In todays era, products survive and excel not just on features but by using marketing as a strategy. Thus new formula is to create a differentiation perception. This marketing is about creating buzz, creating raving fans and transcending horizons. Lets see how a blend of traditional and the new marketing concepts is required to generate business in this web 2 business era.
Among all the differentiation techniques Jack Trout has very clearly explained the advantages of being first in a category. Being first gets the maximum traffic and generate genuine hype. He also tried to explain the strategy for second entrant in the market. But being realistic now we know that our product is not first, second and not even in the first 10. Most of the product categories are now old and cluttered, where every tom and jerry is requesting customers to try their product from all the mediums. As an entrepreneur and a marketer what should i do to make the customer use my brand ? Are you looking for answer to this question…….Lets solve this riddle.
In order to get attention and subscription first step is to find out where does the product category belongs in the customers mind. This has been wonderfully captured in the FCB grid here:
So now we know that the higher a product is in involvement axis, the difficult is to make the customer move towards you. This model is quite simple, for example you may follow a person whom you dont know on twitter ( less involvement) but you will rarely take a stranger to your home, you will not even go out with him/her ( high involvement). In order to do that you would like to know and approve his/her story. You need to be assured that he/ she will act as per expected norms and will not create any problems for you. Similarly customers switch between brands depending on the product involvement and importance for them.
A marketer often ignore th FCB theory, a product may get quick customers response in low involvement low thinking category as in packed water bottle. But making a customer shift to your product from his current trusted high involvement brand requires evaluating various factors and detailed planning.
To make the customer use your high involvement product a customer needs to know your story, your attributes, strengths and even weaknesses. for example McDonald excel because its customers know their story, their upbringing, , offerings, combo packs price list etc. So is true for other reputed brands.
Customers do switch between brands, but they don’t switch from a product to a brand. I dont think i need to explain the difference between a brand and a product. The most essential difference is that the customer knows the story of his brand and he doesn’t know your product. The first task then for you is to travel the journey from a product to a brand. Which involves starting conversations ( not just by following randomly people on twitter), creating raving fans ,gradually creating awareness and finally winning the confidence.
The customer selects a brand because he trusts it. The task in your hand is to gain his confidence.
The least resource that a customer has is time and he is ready to pay a premium to a brand for it. He does it with all his purchases. A customer does not have the time to know the user interface of a new product ( which may be simpler). He is happy with his basecamp for his online project collaboration tool, the user interface may not be best as per today’s standards, the features may be less. But he knows them in and out and now he cant take time to understand the features of a new tool ( which in reality may be better). He would not shift from his Dell to your new brand, even if it has more features. He loves his Nokia and avoids Samsung until forced.
So when you need a launch product first find out the decision making process of the customer, find out where it lies in the FCB matrix, depending on that do all the communications. Try out a technique to create a different perception, create conversations, gain confidence and get customers.
Whats your thought process while switching brands ?
