Julie, a jeweler, asked me for some marketing tips. With a limited budget for marketing communication, she had to decide: invest in a better site or a printed brochure to promote her products. He asked me for advice on this dilemma.
In my seminars, I ask the question that Julie asked me. Some seminar participants are in favor of a site, stating that it is more flexible and can be updated more frequently with new products or prices. Others are in favor of a printed brochure because it can more accurately illustrate the jewelry on sale. In other words, a discussion begins and we vote.
The problem is that Julia’s question was wrong.
It focused on the environment, not the message or market segments. Sometimes the marketing consultant has the task of questioning the question or reformulating the problem. That’s what I did. I asked Julie about her work and the types of jewelry she created. I also asked her about existing customers, sales models, prices, distribution methods and other aspects of her business.
Julia’s activity was quite simple. She designed and produced fine silver jewelry, but also brightly colored acrylic jewelry. He also liked both products, these being the fruit of his creativity, skills and work. She told me that her clientele is largely divided into two categories: wealthy middle-aged ladies and young teenagers. Obviously, fine silver jewelry was bought by wealthy middle-aged ladies, and brightly colored acrylic jewelry was sold to teenagers.
First, I approached fine silver jewelry. What was the market? Obviously – wealthy middle-aged ladies. Secondly, we thought about the message we want to convey to the public about this product. By carefully examining the questions in this way, we got good answers – elegant, exclusive, handmade, expensive, classic – as the right keywords to formulate the message. These were the essence of the message we sent. Third, we analyzed the environment. What was the most appropriate medium for our message of elegance to reach a specific clientele?
One reason why the 3M technique works so well is that it forces us to analyze the environment used in marketing communication only after we have established the target audience and the message. Otherwise, it is often the case that the environment is established too early in the process. For example, there is the enthusiasm to use social platforms, or a special offer published at the local printing house tempts us to publish brochures, or we choose radio advertising because we are impressed by how effective this medium has been for another company.
This is how marketing communication fails so often. We publish brochures without knowing exactly where we will distribute them – the problem of distribution arises in the end, because distribution is the last element of the physical design-print-distribution process. In fact, the process should start with the public, and therefore we should know from the very beginning who we are addressing. Then we go back, establishing what the message is for that audience, and finally we establish the means by which we send the message to those targeted. By doing so we will reach more useful conclusions about the environment used.
The technique of the three M forces us to think of marketing communication in the correct order: Market, then Message and then Environment.…