In marketing, the ability to pivot is power.
I’ve worked with Audi, Pfizer and Mastercard and been told many times what the ‘right’ way to do marketing is.
But in a series of essays to be published on this blog over the coming months, I outline how you can – and should – harness multiple approaches to market effectively.
My model is called Zonal Marketing.
Informed by my client-work through COVID-19, it’s a collection of tactical approaches that outline how to maximise sales in good times AND build loyalty for bad ones.
As Mastercard CMO Raja Rajamannar says: “There is a time to sell and a time to serve.”
SIMPLE EXAMPLE
A wetsuit company that sells loads of product in the Summer but barely any in the Winter.
Should they stop marketing themselves in the Winter?
No, they just need to adapt their marketing to add value to the company and to their brand in different ways.
MY AIM:
To give business owners, entrepreneurs and marketers a playbook by which they can consciously and quickly change their approach to suit different circumstances.
I hope it will help you organise your content and channels in a coherent, consistent and compelling way.
MODEL OVERVIEW
I discuss the four fundamental jobs of marketing: driving sales, gaining salience, building brand equity and inspiring loyalty and advocacy.
Of course, all good companies use some combination of the above.
But in what measures? And to what ends?
By the end of the series, I’ll have introduced four new tactical approaches to marketing, which I’ve called:
- Gegenpressing
- Tiki-Taka
- Counter-Attacking
- Catenaccio
And while football fans will recognise these terms, you don’t need to know your Wenger from your winger to follow along (I promise!)
CONTENT
Central to everything is content. What you say and show of your company and how you say/show it.
There are four approaches: Push, Nudge, Pull and Nurture.
Each relates to one of the sales / salience / equity / advocacy jobs outlined above.
CHANNELS
Along the way, I’ll show how these different approaches can be applied to four different channel groupings.
These groups are the ABCD of marketing: Audience, Broadcast, Conversion and Data.
(Any good marketing campaign needs to have at least one platform at each level.)
STRATEGY
Finally, I’ll outline how to build a marketing strategy to understand the core marketing purpose.
I’ll look at the AEIOU fundamentals: Adversaries, Evangelists, Identity, Opportunities / Threats and Undertakings.
This strategy will inform tactical and activation decisions.
REFERENCE MATERIALS
As part of the process, I’ll discuss marketing theories such as the Scarcity Principle, Rule of Seven, Permission Marketing, Personalisation and Virality.
I’ll quote and take examples from the masters of marketing:
- Seth Godin
- Gary Vaynerchuk
- Jay Baer
- Byron Sharp
… and more.
REAL-WORLD EXAMPLES
I’ll draw examples from household brands with some of the most exciting and innovative marketing techniques in the world, such as:
- Supreme
- Airbnb
- Starbucks
- Spotify
I’ll outline some of their most famous work and show you how you can apply it to your business.
At each stage, I’ll be breaking everything down into bite-sized chunks and mnemonic so that you can take them away and apply them any time you need.
In my next few essays, I’ll be talking about the four different types of content: Push, Pull, Nudge and Nurture.
- What they are
- How they can all be used
- When companies should use each of them
Check back in the coming days to see them when they drop.
If you have any comments, questions, challenges or compliments, please do add your feedback. I’d love to hear from you.
P.S. I also run workshops, do public speaking and work with retained clients. Contact me to find out more.
