8 Lessons in Strategic Marketing A La Daddy Daycare
I bet you thought the movie "Daddy Daycare" was a kiddie comedy, right? Wrong...It's a marketing strategy film! When Charlie and his friend Phil are fired as Product Development/Brand Managers for a cereal company, they decide to fill a need in their community. Along the way to success they demonstrate several solid marketing strategies -- equally applicable to online, offline, and integrated companies. Take these lessons to heart when developing plans for your business. Lesson 1: Research the competitionThe future entrepreneurs visited each daycare in the area. While doing so, they got a feel for their daycare competitors. By knowing your own competitors you will be better able to effectively find a way to compete. Competitor research does not have to be thought of as "guerrilla warfare." In many industries, competitors work together by partnering, cross promoting, sending business to each other, or even manufacturing each other's products. Lesson 2: Know your customers' valuesCharlie and Phil understood that price is not the only important factor for their target market. Based on their own experience and customer research (talking to other parents), they recognized that other concerns besides price played a part when parents choose a daycare provider. While price is almost certainly a consideration for your customers, don't get caught in the mentality that customers will buy from you only if you have the lowest cost. If you think of your own service/product as a bundle of attributes having a unique value for your customers, you will be more successful. Lesson 3: Identify opportunitiesCharlie and Phil uncovered an unmet need in the market by combining their competitor research and knowledge of customer values. You can do the same when looking to develop new products/services or improve existing ones. Lesson 4: Develop a positioning based on opportunityUsing knowledge from the first three lessons, they positioned themselves as the quality alternative and focused on providing different benefits than their nearest competitor. In the movie, Daddy Daycare stole all the competitor's customers and drove her out of business. In real life, customers choose a product/service that best fits their needs. Consequently, competitors can co-exist when each are valuable in different ways to industry customers. Lesson 5: Create a catchy tag lineThe tag line "Who's your Daddy?" helped advertise the new business. Often, a concise, catchy tag line can go a long way in building brand equity, communicating benefits and features, and/or conveying a feeling/mentality your target customers can relate to. Some examples:"Just do it." (Nike) "Life Unscripted" (TLC) "Naturally sweetened whole grain oat cereal with real berries." (Berry Burst Cheerios) "Makes anything possible." (Craftsman) Lesson 6: Spread the WordPhil and Charlie put their tag line on t-shirts along with their business name. They also printed and distributed flyers that explained their new company's positioning. A few more ideas you can use to spread the word about your business: Word of mouth -- give customers an incentive to tell people about your business.
Advertising -- use both online and offline methods. Online options include pay-per-click search engines and ezine advertisements. Offline methods include radio spots and newspaper advertisements.
Philanthropy -- donate money, services, and/or time to non-profit organizations or conduct your own event. Lesson 7: Be ethical and above-boardThe new business owners cooperated fully with the daycare inspector. They treated him as a source of information rather than "Big Brother". This resulted in not only a better business, but also a valuable ally. In the long run, your own company will be more likely to thrive if you concentrate on improving the business rather than dodging regulations. Lesson 7A: Subterfuge is a poor long-term strategyBesides being unethical, subterfuge soils your reputation. In the movie, the competing daycare crashed and ruined a fundraiser event...spilling bugs, freeing animals, and drenching visitors. Short-term, it worked. Phil and Charlie were broke, seemingly with no way to continue with their venture. In the long run, Ms. Subterfuge had such a poor reputation (from this and other business tactics), her business failed. Lesson 8: Implement until you're blue in the faceIn the beginning, the new Daddy Daycare was a complete disaster. Charlie and Phil did their "homework" and knew they had a good idea. When reality hit theory, however, a few not-so-minor details got in the way. Like all successful marketers, they worked out the kinks (okay...disasters) and kept trying (and trying, and trying) until they got it right. Keep the Daddy Daycare lessons in mind when developing and implementing your own marketing plan. Don't give up, strive to continually improve, and you're business is sure to be a success. About the AuthorBobette Kyle draws upon 12+ years of Marketing/Executive experience, Marketing MBA, and online marketing research in her writing. Bobette is proprietor of the Web Site Marketing Plan Network, http://www.WebSiteMarketingPlan.com, and author of the marketing plan and Web promotion book "How Much For Just the Spider? Strategic Website Marketing For Small Budget Business." ( HowMuchForSpider.com/TOC.htm ) Copyright 2004, Bobette Kyle. All rights reserved.
Related News
|
 |
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
How to Develop an Effective Company Profile -- and Why
What is a company profile?
A company profile is essentially a resume for your company that you use to establish your credibility with the market you serve. Your company profile helps potential customers to understand your business as well as to understand your company's approach, unique strengths, and relevant experience. Your company profile demonstrates your company's ability to effectively meet customer needs. Your company profile also helps others who are in contact with you such as lenders, the media, and job candidates to better understand your business.
Who would benefit from having a company profile?
A company profile would benefit any company wanting to establish its credibility including:
* A consulting firm where it's critical for the company to establish the basis for its expertise
* A service provider with a service that can't be evaluated before the sale where the prospect assesses the company's ability to provide the service based on its assessment of the company itself
* A company that lacks a recognized name in the market it serves
How can a company profile be used?
There are many ways to use a company profile such as:
* Including it on your web site as a means of establishing your company's credibility
* Using a print version as a sales tool at trade shows or in mailings to prospects
* Providing it to lenders to help you secure financing
* Adding it to your media kit and including it with press releases to give the media background information about your company
* Using it as a recruiting tool to promote your company to job candidates
What should be included in your company profile?
As a guideline, shoot for a company profile of approximately 250-400 words in length covering each of the following key areas:
Summarize your company's background information
Use the first paragraph of your company profile to summarize your company's background information. Include in this first paragraph the year the business was founded, where the business is located, a top-level description of the products or services your company provides, a top-level description of the clients and industries you serve, and the geography you serve. Also include details about your company's philosophy and approach to serving customers. Finally, be sure to mention achievements that quickly help to establish your company's credibility such as awards, the number of clients you have served, or the size of your business.
Provide more detail on your company's products or services
Use the second paragraph of your company profile to list the products or services your company provides. Use this paragraph to touch on the expertise and experience your company has that enables your to meet customer needs in these areas. You can also use this second paragraph to further define your target customer for the products or services you provide.
Highlight your company's strengths and successes
Use the third paragraph of your company profile to highlight your company's unique strengths as well key successes your company has had. To develop this paragraph, take the time to list the top 3 competitive advantages you feel your company has over businesses in your market space. Weave these competitive advantages into this paragraph of your profile. Next, list the top 3 successes your company has had and incorporate these successes into your company profile.
Include qualifications of your company and your staff
Use the next paragraph of your company profile to demonstrate your company's qualifications by emphasizing areas such as patents, publications, business partnerships and alliances, tools or technologies used to meet customer needs, accreditations, certifications or the educational background of staff members.
Summarize your selling statement
Use the final paragraph of your company profile to provide a 1 or 2 sentence closing selling statement that explains why a client should work with your company.
Close with company contact information
After the final paragraph of your company profile, provide your company's contact information including the mailing address, phone number, fax number, e-mail address, and web site URL.
Whether you use internal resources to create your company profile or work with an outside resource, your business will benefit from having a company profile to establish your company's credibility with prospects, lenders, the media, and job candidates.
Trigger Button Marketing
Sometimes, experiencing bleak sales is a matter of failing to find your prospective customers' trigger buttons.
The 3 Unknown Steps of Marketing Success
To be your own marketing expert you first need to know where to begin. It's no good learning how to be a good copywriter, if you don't know what medium is best to promote your work through.
Marketing Strategies to Put Yourself Out of Business
Want to learn how to lose a billion dollars?
How To Be A First Class Marketer?
Did you now how to follow up a new customer with less phone calls?
Increase Repeat Business and Referrals with Direct Mail
So you have been writing mortgages like crazy now for the last few years. You have a pretty big database of customers and hopefully you have been getting and keeping full contact information for them. An organized database is the first key to customer retention.
Keeping Pace with Business Marketing
Today's business marketing rules are different than they were in years past. Those rules that once focused predominantly on local and regional business marketing have now gone global, thanks in large part to the creation of the Internet. Internet technology has brought the business world closer together and nowadays, it's just as easy to conduct business across the globe as it is to conduct business across town.
Simple Marketing Idea - Big Marketing Results!
Have you ever noticed how many times it's the simplest concepts that end up working the best?
Why Do They Buy?
A recent issue of Entrepreneur magazine included a marketing story with five important questions all business owners should be able to answer about themselves and their competition.
How to Get the Right Clients and Avoid the Wrong Ones
If you are like most service professionals and small business owners one of your primary concerns is generating as many leads as possible. And that may be your biggest mistake, resulting in wasting time on unqualified prospects and working with too many clients you wish you didn't have to.
Assumption Based Marketing Vs. Fact Based Marketing
One of the most common mistakes in marketing is making decisions based on assumptions rather than fact. You think of an idea for a marketing piece and believe that it is a great idea.
Loan Officer Marketing ? Why Realtors® Don?t Read Your Brochures
When you place brochures from every mortgage company side by side, you can't help but notice the similarities. Each piece mentions that they have every possible loan program available, proven & experienced professionals, fast & friendly service, a list of documents needed to process the loan, a promise of individualized attention and a commitment to professionally serve the client.
Increase Your Sales By Following-Up
The difference between a successful business and one that just gets by is that the business that is just getting by thinks that the marketing is over when the sale has been made.
Business Cards That do the Business
A business card makes a statement about who you are and what
your business is about. It needs to convey the quality of
your business and an insight into your personality.
I have been handed business cards and the first thought to
go through my mind was - "Cheap" A tacky design - low
quality paper - doesn't feel good in the hand and looks
cheap to the eye. That then becomes my overall impression of
the business.
Chill Out With A Summer Time Marketing Plan
Is your business experiencing a summer time slump? Traditionally only industries related to travel enjoy a boost in business during the warmer months. The rest of us tend to take vacations, clean up our desk and while away the time playing computer games while we wait for business to pick up.
If You Do No Other Preparation
Far too often we see small businesses rush into doing things without planning and preparing. Unfortunately, marketing is a great case in point. Many small businesses set up shop and then hurry to get a brochure made up, develop a web site, and get out and start networking without much planning or preparation. And then they wonder why their results are so poor.
How To Start A Mail Order Business
The Mail Order business is not a business of itself, but is another way of doing business. Mail Order is nothing more nor less than selling a product or service via advertising and the offers you send out by mail.
Twelve Places to Buy a Mailing List
©2004 Jeffrey Dobkin
Encouraging Contact
The small time promoter has to work hard and on a shoestring to get an audience of a few hundred people to fill a venue. Flyers, word-of-mouth and media name checks are some of the tools promoters use to fill small venues or club nights. Building a loyal following from grassroots is no easy task. Considering the amount of effort that can be required to fill even the smallest of venues it is surprising that very few promoters capitalise on their efforts and use the actual event to maximise the opportunity to encourage further audience contact.
How Well Do You Know Your Prospects? Find Out With This 10-Point Quiz
It's crucial to know your prospects if you want to market effectively to them. Take this quick 10-point quiz to see how well you know and understand your prospects.
|
