Generally speaking, I trust the editorial, anyway I believe it should be important also keeping a more prudent position. Timing is a key, but no splits or distinctions have been made with regard to tech product we are speaking about. Are we telling about consumers products? Business products? Solutions for Vendors? Based on final users, timing could feel in different way and give bad or good perceptions. I will appreciate your thoughts, just to keep alive the discussion. - Thx
prabhakar_deosthalipoints out another key aspect of timing. A company cannot jump the gun on announcing a product until they are certain when it will be fully ready, tested, and ready to hit the market. Many are overly optimistic and don't allow sufficient time to work through everything they should to assure the product will be ready for prime time.
"No one wins any marketing wars by saving money." Investing the right amounts at the right times is the key to marketing success."
@Ford,
Thanks for the article. I totally agree with your point that No one wins any marketing wars by saving money. But the big question is what is the right amount and what is the right time ? Is there a thumb rule which says for a company x% of its revenue should be spent on marketing ?
You are completely correct. It seems like companies want to get so much hype out of their product that they market it at full speed when the product isn't fully developed. What always seems to happen is the company is forced to release the product too soon, problems ensue and people get turned off from the product. All the marketing efforts were wasted because a product with giant expectations was released too early and consumers got scared off from problems that should have been found before release.
One of the frequent mistakes that the tech companies commit when marketing their leading edge products is to anounce that the product is ready when it may be actually not even a beta version. The marketing campaign creates a lot of interest among the potential buyers of such products but when they see the product demo or the product sample they realise that the product is half cooked though the concept is wonderful. These customers then shy away from the product and the whole campaign fails. When you actually have the product ready for selling the customers are no more interested.
Thanks Ford! You know, I do have to say that I nearly completely agree with you; I do agree that a successful viral campaign takes either a good deal of luck or a very, very unique understanding of your audience.
And I do also agree that success is a bit of a gamble... and even if it is a success, it probably won't be very sustainable especially given the fickle tastes of social media: your 15 minutes of fame gets compressed down to maybe 3 minutes.
I think you're right in that if you do pursue viral, you should have a backup plan and not depend on its success in any way.
I believe that while viral can be a cool thing to do and occasionally lead to success on the cheap, it's really not a replacement for more traditional marketing techniques and strategies. In the end, you're still going to have to spend money... replacing your marketing budget with a Twitter account would be very foolish.
Hi TIOLUWA - Not exactly clear on the question since the word "developing" was used twice in it. If the technology is new, perhaps radically new, then a marketer may be in danger of being too early and have to either do some pioneering or wait until competitors appear with similar products to establish a market. Read Geoffrey Moore' "Crossing The Chasm" (1999) for plenty on this. Being first in a new category is powerful and should be used to establish the brand's preeminence. Does anyone remember Apple welcoming IBM to the personal computer market?
Back to your question again about competing with imports. if a brand is facing foreign competitors, there may be some value within its home country, in claiming "made in..." as a differentiator if nationalism plays a role in purchasing decision-making. However, the company's products better be at least at parity with competitors'. Not sure that "where its made" is always a sustainable advantage in the tech marketplace. Porsches from Germany or Jack Daniel's from Lynchburg, TN are a different story.
Whether a differntiation claim is perceived as valuable to customers and prospects is one of the first things a marketer should understand. As mentioned in my March blog, claiming what everyone else claims (using buzzwords), or what isn't valued by the market, is a waste of time and money. Sounding and actng like everone else gains you no attention.
Hi Dennis - Sure viral is viable. There are an increasing number of successful campaigns that went beyond marketers' expectations within an interest group or segment. Attempting to create a viral campaign takes luck and/or fairly deep understanding of your community's tastes, likes and what's hot. As with many social media-based efforts, your brand can be hot one minute and not the next. I'd offer that a viral marketing push doesn't particularly sustain a strategy. Timing such a campaign should certainly be a factor and deserves just as much consideration regarding when it occurs as any other. However, counting on the promotional effort to go viral at a given time is where it gets somewhat vague. Counting on human behavior to find something overwhelmingly attractive, interesting, humorous or desireable is really rolling the dice.
You're certainly right about companies with little budget putting their (very few) eggs in the viral marketing basket. I'd ask whoever is running the marketing, "What's your backup plan?" Here it seems appropriate citing my favorite marketing gurus, Al Reis and Jack Trout. Rule #22 of "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing," states: Without adequate funding, an ideas won't get off the ground. There are a great many (some might say most) tech business formation ideas that are vastly underfunded and whose inventors believe the world will rush to them with money.
Interesting article Ford, but I was just curious: what are your thoughts and feelings regarding viral marketing? Do you think it's a viable means of promotion or do you think it's just an overused nonsense buzzword?
I ask because many companies with limited budgets often turn -- or attempt to turn -- to viral marketing in order to create awareness for products for little (or no) cost.
Again, was just curious regarding your perspective on the subject! Thanks!
I thought this was just a supply chain professionals forum, but this article is way beyond that and incredibly awesome.
The analysis are great.
I'm a budding design engineer looking towards manufacturing and researching seriously into it. This gives valuable tips. Thanks alot.
I would like to ask a question:
How do you relate this to a developing economy, where technology is just developing, and a campany is looking to penetrate the market and compete with imported products.
Even if the price is good, and the product is good, how do you break through trying to create a presence as a local manufacturer where it doesn't exist?
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Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
While no one really can accurately predict the future, we can take guidance from another Drucker saying which is the best way to predict the future is to create it.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
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