Marketing is about creating and executing strategies.
If you are not doing that chances are you are doing something else than marketing.
To create strategies marketers should begin from the company Statement of Purpose.
The relevant strategies in marketing can be found in our post 10 key elements of brand strategy.
How to set the marketing goal?
Marketing goals are SMAC: Simple, Measurable, Achievable, and Challenging [1].
This is the marketing objective a worldwide iconic brand set some time ago:
The basic objective of [BRAND X] marketing is
to achieve market leadership in the [MARKET]
through an extension of the brand’s user base.
This goal is written in plain, simple language and it is measurable without mentioning executive elements, like percentages, numbers, dates, etc.
The marketing objective must set a real challenge, for companies of any size. The company of the example above had for sure the resources to achieve the marketing objective, but it wasn’t easy.
The reliance of the objective for the brand must be supported with 2-4 statements backed up with solid facts and data.
What are Differentiation and Segmentation?
Differentiation and segmentation are the two pivotal elements of professional marketing.
To differentiate brands work on the Product Strategy and/or the Communication Strategy.
Distribution and Price are seldom differentiating elements.
And remember, differentiation works only if the attribute(s) you build your differentiation upon is:
-
- Really important to customers and
- Really unique
Where unique means only you can offer that important attribute.
Marketing research is the best ally of segmentation and differentiation.
What is the product positioning statement?
The product Positioning Statement is part of the Marketing Strategy, which includes three more elements: goal, brand purpose, and target definition.
Positioning statements should be built upon 4 pivotal brand elements:
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- Brand promise
- Product performance
- Usage conditions
- Brand image (or Tone).
An example of Positioning Statement:
[BRAND X] will be positioned as an Heavy Duty Detergents (HDD) which
[Promise] keeps today’s clothes looking their best longer because of its
[Support] superior cleaning performance
[Usage condition] at all wash temperatures.
[BRAND] will be presented as a
[Tone] modern and progressive brand that delivers what it promises.
It is worth noticing the benefit in the statement above is not what the product does, like removing spots or getting a whiter white, but rather what customers get: clothes looking their best.
How can you get there? Go back to the product composition, then engage customers with surveys.
Notice also, there are no executive elements in this statement, like Housewives 18-65 years old or in 36 months.
Executive elements do not belong to strategies. They would limit the freedom of execution.
What is the Statement of Purpose?
The Statement of Purpose, SoP (aka Mission, Vision), defines the company purpose and principles applied to reach the marketing objective.
When really lived inside the company, the company purpose is the main inspiration for the Marketing Strategy of each company brand.
According to Collins and Porras [2], an effective SoP is made of two parts: Core ideology and Envisioned future.
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[1] We do not use the SMART acronym because it is redundant. The T, standing for Timely, is just another possibility to make objectives measurable, so it is useless to mention in a strategic document. In general, the SMART formula applies better to project management than to strategic statements.
[2] Jim Collins, Jerry I. Porras, Built to Last. HarperCollins Publishers Inc. 1994.