Laws of Marketing – The 10 Immutable Written by Gordon Goh
Most marketers believe that anything is achievable if you are energetic, creative or determined enough. But laws of marketing follow laws of business, and if you violate them, you risk your marketing dollars. The conventional answer to all marketing questions is money, which is not true. 1. Law of Leadership – it’s better to be first than it is to be better. People tend to stick with what they’ve got – e.g. girlfriend and spouse.2. Law of Category – if you can’t be first in a category, set up a new category you can be first in. Prospects are defensive when it comes to brands – but they have open minds when it comes to categories because everyone is interested in what’s new and not what’s better. 3. Law of Mind – it’s better to be first in mind than to be first in marketplace. Being first in marketplace is important only to extend that it allows you to get in mind first. Once a mind is made up, it rarely changes. If you want to make a big impression on another person, you have to blast your way into mind. 4. Law of Perception – marketing is not a battle of products but a battle of perceptions. All truth is relative. The only reality you can sure about is in your own perceptions. If universe exists, it exists inside your own mind and minds of others. Marketing is a manipulation of perceptions. What makes marketing battle more difficult is that buying decisions are based on second-hand perceptions – ‘everybody knows’ principle. 5. Law of Focus – most powerful concept in marketing is owning a word in prospect’s mind. You ‘burn’ your way into mind by narrowing focus to a single word or concept – ultimate marketing sacrifice. Eg IBM is computers. 6. Law of Opposite – if you’re shooting for second place, your strategy is determined by leader. If you want to establish a firm foothold on second rung of ladder, study firm above you – how do you turn their strength into a weakness? Eg Pepsi turned Coke’s century old product into ‘choice of a new generation’. Always present yourself as alternative and don’t be timid – attack number 1.
| | Who Takes Your MoneyWritten by Gordon Goh
Your business is making profits, but where is cash? It seems that someone has taken away your money. Your bank account is still same, and your personal wealth is still same. There must be someone that took your money. Based on my over 18 years of professional experience and study, there are 8 persons that take away your money without your knowing... The First Person is YOUYes, if you do not have accountability, you have taken away your own money! According to NLP experts, 95% of people in this world live their live below line. They blame others for their own problems, come up with excuses and worst of all, deny what they are doing is their fault. Sounds too common? Many people blame government, blame economy, and blame VAT or GST (tax) increase etc for their business woes. The remaining 5% of people (successful people) live their live above line. They take ownership of their situation, take responsibility for their actions, and be accountable to themselves. The Second Person is Your Lack of Planning Yes, if you have no planning, or you are simply reacting to everyday challenges, you're simply taking away your own money! To take back your money, respond, don't react. You can choose to over-respond if you like. Like faced with a new competitor, you can simply react by cutting your price, or you can over-respond by always maintaining a USP so that there is no real competitor. The Third Person is Your Customers We all know that customers that don't pay are simply taking money from your pocket and putting it into their own bank account. The best is to have no credit policy, and even collect cash in advance.
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