Justin Timberlake's In Time Movie... Cool Cars and Awesome Scars

I went to see Justin Timberlake's In Time movie on Sunday. All I can say is... Cool cars and awesome scars, but what's with all the bad haircuts? Don't they have hairstylists in the past, present, future, or whenever that was? So will everyone drive either a Dodge Challenger or vintage Lincoln Continental, or just run from place to place? Justin and Karen from Mean Girls run everywhere stealing time, taking time, or making time. The plot was sort of borrowed from Logan's Run, The Matrix and The Island, but, hey, I liked it.

Jennifer Lopez Appears in Fiat USA's Incomprehensible Advertising

Speaking of incomprehensible advertising... how about that new TV ad where J.Lo drives a Fiat into her old neighborhood...? J.Lo drives? Fiat's are distributed in the U.S.A.? J.Lo drives Fiats? Fiats are a recognizable symbol of inner city empowerment? Those new ideas are something (and perhaps too much) to think about.

What's A Bookstore For? We Have Amazon.com

The other day I went to a large, magical place that had thousands of books, but I didn't specifically need any of the books on display and the books were placed in random order on shelves... And nobody in the store knew anything about books nor could they tell me exactly where to find a book. Yes, I believe historians once called this place a "bookstore"...! My discovery the other day proves that not all bookstores have been replaced with clothing stores. Still, what is a bookstore for? Convenience. We have the selection and pricing of Amazon.com that seems to outweigh the convenience though.

Mourning the Loss of Apple Computer's Steve Jobs

I'm surprising myself this morning by mourning the loss of Steve Jobs... I may even get out my Apple Computer Powerbook 100 to see if the screen still illuminates. My favorite Steve Jobs quote of all time was his recruitment line to John Scully that encouraged him to leave PepsiCo to join Apple Compuer as CEO: “Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?” And Steve Jobs did change the world with development and marketing of lots of wonderful incompatible products... sometimes wonderful is incompatible with status quo.

Brad Pitt's Moneyball Movie and General Petraeus' Counter-insu

We saw Brad Pitt's Moneyball on Saturday. It is a great movie. Brad Pitt and Phillip Peter Hoffman turn in excellent performances. Also, Chris Pratt plays another role besides that goofy shoeshine guy on NBC's Parks and Recreation. The whole movie reminded me of Gen. Petraeus' Counter Insurgency Field Manual for the U.S. Army: the challenger in a conflict must be powerful enough to present an asymmetric threat, but the defender must be nimble enough neutralize the asymmetric threat. (cf. von Clausewitz's "mathematics of a firefight").

Should Employers "Stalk" Employees on Facebook?

Herein lies the problem... Nearly anything that you discuss or post anywhere could be taken out of context by someone and used to "stalk" you. On social networking sites, the term "stalk" means to hunt for information that would harm someone and harass them with it. Isn't that what businesses are doing when the look at social networking sites to perform background checks?

For example, say that you mention in the lunch room that you and your family had a great time at Disneyworld; this information gets around the company and your boss thinks you don't need a raise right now, because you can afford to go to Disneyworld.

Now, add Facebook to the mix. You or one of your family members mention on Facebook that you had fun in Disneyworld. Everyone is able to snoop around and find the pictures, etc. The problem is not that you used Facebook; the problem is that people in your company may not understand how to properly use social networking sites. Hence, just because you took your family to Disneyworld doesn't mean you don't need a raise.

Facebook is not the problem, but it does make it easier for the company to stalk employees and misuse information. That same information could be obtained by eavesdropping in the lunch room or driving by an employee's house and looking through the windows.

The problem is sharing information with people at work in general and not necessarily through Facebook. Social networking may accelerate dysfunctional processes already present within an organization. Of course, who wants to work for a company that operates like that?

Twitter 101 for Business on SlideShare

Check out this Twitter 101 for Business on SlideShare:

http://www.slideshare.net/simplyarun/twitter-101-for-business-2016139

Pay particular attention to the Best Practices slides 11 through 13. Slide 12, the contents of which I have annotated here, is very useful for businesses learning how to take advantage of Twitter's collective audience:

1. Businesses can ask questions, float ideas, and solicit feedback;
2. Search Twitter for comments about a new product launch;
3. Find satisfied and dissatisfied customers, and provide service accordingly

Broadcast News Media Research Indicated Bias for Senator Barack Obama

A broadcast news media study by the Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University found that coverage during the 2008 U.S. Presidential campaign of Senator Barack Obama was 65% positive, but coverage of Senator John McCain was only 36% positive.

According to the study by researchers at George Mason University, there was a documented media bias for Obama and against McCain. Did the bias influence voters? I don't know. Was the study relevant news that was largely ignored. I don't know.

The link below has the details. Judge for yourselves...

Source: http://www.cmpa.com/media_room_press_10_30_08.htm

Additional References: Pew Charitable Trust Study of Print Media: "The media coverage of the race for president has not so much cast Barack Obama in a favorable light as it has portrayed John McCain in a substantially negative one, according to a new study of the media since the two national political conventions ended."

Source: http://journalism.org/node/13307

References

The Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University, http://www.cmpa.com/media_room_press_10_30_08.htm

Pew Charitable Trusts Excellence in Journalism, http://journalism.org/node/13307

Unwelcome Effects of Public Opinion Research

Unwelcome Effects of Public Opinion Research

The importance of the public opinion survey / poll has gained prominence in presidential races, because of the economy and efficiency of mass opinion polling over the telephone and the Internet. For example, with a relatively small sample size of just under 400 randomly selected participants one can gain a reasonable understanding of the opinions of up to 1,000,000 persons, within a margin of error. The miracle of statistical inference.

A sample of approximately 1,500 randomly drawn individuals may be projectable across the entire nation. The implications are clear. An unscrupulous candidate, who strongly desires to be elected, may communicate only those messages that increase his/her favorable ratings in the polls. On the other hand, a candidate with integrity may use the pollster to determine those messages springing from his/her political ideology that need fine tuning to appeal to the largest group of voters.

Appealing to the largest group of voters is similar in concept to the responsiveness that all politicians in a majoritarian form of democracy must face. Public opinion polling should be used only by politicians and news organizations to gain a better understanding of their audience, but polls alone should not be considered news and should not be reported in a way that will shape public opinion. Is that too much to ask? Is that unrealistic? Perhaps.

In sum, honest and disingenuous politicians alike, and news organizations with a specific agenda, may find the pollster an indispensable member of the team, but their is a societal cost.

Reference

Janda, K., Berry, J.M., & Goldman, J. (1995) The challenge of democracy: Government in America, (4th Ed.). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.

The Global Climate Change Presidency

The Global Climate Change Presidency

The next U.S. President could have significant impact on global climate change, yet Senator Obama’s policy is more about energy. Senator McCain’s policy addresses the larger scope of global climate change.

My personal research is relevant to the presidential candidates’ energy and climate change policies, because the two candidates seem to have vastly different understandings of climate change and potential underlying causes of change. (The research is on beliefs about climate change and I am looking for always looking for additional participants: http://www.geocities.com/dawagnersjca/short.html .) Advertising not withstanding, I’ve been thinking a great deal about global warming.

Some voters are not convinced that global warming is occurring. Others believe strongly that global warming is occurring. Those who believe strongly in global warming are not in agreement about the cause. Some attribute the warming to human activity (i.e., anthropogenic). Still others who believe in global warming are split among a variety natural causes, such as solar radiation due to sunspots, etc.

The Obama campaign has no clearly stated policy on global warming; There is no discernable action plan relative to what the Obama / Biden ticket will do to tackle this extremely important issue. Instead, Obama’s energy plan makes vague reference to reducing greenhouse gases.

On the other hand, the McCain campaign has published a clear statement on climate change policy, albeit brief. Like the Obama plan, the McCain plan presupposes that greenhouse gas emissions are causing global warming. Unlike Obama, McCain provides extensive detail about how a market-based cap and trade policy will encourage an overall lowering of greenhouse gases.

Double-fault: Obama. Obama’s energy policy provides easy-to-understand bullet points that are absent necessary detail, implying that the candidate and his advisors have not really done considerable thinking about how to address global climate change. Moreover, the lack of detail combined with the prominence of the term green house gas emissions (as the only cause of global warming) in the energy policy seems to indicate that no further scientific inquiry will drive the Obama plan.

Advantage: McCain. McCain’s climate policy is much more detailed and seeks scientific answers for setting acceptable levels of greenhouse gases. Presumably, a science-based approach would include a development of an extensive understanding of the degree to which greenhouse gases have played and will continue to play a role in global climate change. Both candidates’ websites offer press releases with praises of their respective policies relative to climate change, but only Senator McCain has articulated a point of departure for building a comprehensive solution to the problem of global climate change.

References

http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/newenergy

http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/News/PressReleases/1F8B2869-689E-4E79-BFB4-C20CF1A47297.htm

Professional Marketing Practice: the Professional Certified Marketer (PCM) Designation

Over six years ago, the American Marketing Association (AMA) established a program for certifying marketers entitled the Professional Certified Marketer (PCM) designation. I earned this designation in 2002, but have since gone inactive, due to limitations in how much my company and the University will reimburse for professional association dues. Recently, I was contacted by the leaders of a PCM group that is forming on LinkedIn.com

The rationale behind the PCM is that individuals who have dedicated their careers to marketing and have mastered an appropriate body of knowledge deserve recognition. Moreover, the public at large should benefit from a higher level of professionalism by those who dispense marketing advice. Certification supports the notion that there is a body of knowledge that should be mastered by those who practice marketing as a career. Certification may seem pretentious to some, but it is in line with other professions that have sought to raise the threshold for those who would practice in the profession.

For MBAs who are active in marketing roles, it is particularly interesting because just as AMA members must agree to abide by a code of ethics so must PCM holders (whether they are AMA members or not). A copy of the AMA code of ethics can be found here: http://www.marketingpower.com/content435.php An AMA member who violates this code of ethics can be expelled from the Association and any PCM holder can have their certification revoked. It is important to note that the marketing profession is attempting to police unethical practices within its ranks and raise the general level of professionalism of marketers.

With regard to the PCM exam and the marketing profession, a standard principles of marketing will be helpful for exam preparation. Anyone who has an appropriate Bachelor's degree and four years of documented experience or an appropriate Master's degree and two years of documented experience may sit for the PCM exam. The PCM exam is a 5 hour long, 240 question test that covers the following subject matter, which happens to parallel much of the material that we will be discussing in a standard principles of marketing course:

1. Legal, Ethical and Professional Issues in Marketing
1.1 Comply with appropriate regulations, laws and guidelines affecting marketing
1.2 Adhere to applicable ethical codes
1.3 Engage in ongoing professional development to advance competence and practice
2. Relationship, Information and Resource Management
2.1 Set priorities, allocate organizational resources and establish information channels linking departments, disciplines, and/or branch offices regarding marketplace, consumers, and competitors
2.2 Establish and manage internal and external relationships with appropriate/relevant stakeholders to support/facilitate marketing efforts
3. Assessment and Planning of the Strategic Marketing Process
3.1 Conduct environmental analyses by identifying industry trends, analyzing competitors, assessing own organization and researching the customer in order to evaluate a marketing situation and guide strategy development/selection.
3.2 Conduct market research to collect data related to environmental scans, demand forecasts, market segmentation, new product testing, etc. to guide/support marketing strategy development/selection
3.3 Develop a market-product focus by setting marketing objectives (based on marketing and product), segmenting the market, identifying target segment(s), and positioning the product, good, or service
4. Use of the Marketing Mix
4.1 Develop strategies to introduce a new product to a market based on product characteristics, market information and corporate objectives
4.2 Identify appropriate direct marketing promotional strategies (personal selling, advertising, sales promotion, publicity, etc.) to achieve marketing goals
4.3 Develop appropriate retail/wholesale "place" strategies (channel of distribution, store location, etc.) to achieve marketing objectives.
4.4 Develop appropriate pricing strategies (actual price, sale price, MSRP, etc.) by analyzing demand, cost and profit relationships to realize pricing/profitability goals and marketing objectives.
5. Marketing Evaluation
5.1 Monitor and evaluate effectiveness of marketing process(es), programs and outcomes

I recommend the PCM designation for those who are active in marketing, because it is gaining ground as a credential that filters those who have prepared for general marketing management roles from those who have not. Moreover, the designation is not difficult to attain for those who practice marketing and have done well in a rigorous principles of marketing course. For more information on the Professional Certified Marketer (PCM) exam, visit the link below in the references.

Reference

http://www.marketingpower.com/content591.php

What is Rebranding?

Rebranding is one of those terms that has cropped up in the last decade or so. Branding means to link a name, trademark or service mark with a product or service. However, rebranding can mean both to assign new name, etc. to a product or service and it can mean to reposition an existing brand. That is, rebranding can mean to make the brand mean something else. Consider that brands have multidimensional properties, such as brand attitude (i.e., consumer's perspective) and brand personality (i.e., manufacturer's perspective); in which case, to rebrand we would start by defining the manufacturer's perspective and try to shape the consumer's perspective toward that end. I realize that this is slightly different than what you'll read in Wikipedia, but I apologize for not updating that page yet...

Defining Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

While we barely talked about issues such as customer relationship management (CRM) a decade ago, managing the relationship with our customers and the entire customer experience (i.e., CEM) has moved onto center stage. Managing how our customers consume the organization’s product or service is the central marketing issue in business-to-consumer (B2C) enterprises. Greenberg (2004) quotes Goldman Sachs research that places CRM as the number two strategic issue behind security, but one could argue that all forms of managing the customer relationship are and always have been the number one marketing and strategic issue facing businesses. After having spent over 20 years in marketing and marketing management positions, I thought we were always doing this…!

There is a problem though with this new focus on CRM and CEM. Becoming more nimble and responsive to our customers is often presented to the organization as a software initiative, but it remains an organizational issue that must be envisioned, led, and planned. For example, to build walls we must envision striking the head of the nail with the hammer and approach the problem without confusing the tool (i.e., hammer) with pounding nails in building walls; we want to pound nails not swing hammers. That is so simple it sounds corny. However, CRM-related software initiatives are not usually perceived as implementations of customer-centric processes in the organization; the software is a tool to deal with CRM and not CRM itself.

Most organizations would be best served by learning thoroughly what changes to existing CRM processes could and should occur before implementing CRM software. In fact, I wonder if organizations would be better served if they bought software, implemented the changes that the software implies, and sent the software back to the vendor. A long discovery and planning phase, and the organizational introspection it implies, is the best way to keep CRM initiatives at center stage and the star of the show.

Reference

Greenberg, P. (2004). CRM at the speed of light: Essential strategies for the 21st Century (3rd. Ed.) New York: McGraw Hill.

Harvard Business School: What MBAs Don’t Know about Sales Timing

As managers who are systematically trained in business management, MBAs frequently have little or no experience with working or managing a sales process. One of the most important issues in working a sales process is the notion of timing. Selecting the proper timing can make or break success in the stages of any sales process. Consider these brief but timeless rules of thumb for timing the sales process (McCormack, 1984):

• Present again to a potential customer who once rejected your offer, even if you have to wait five years.
• Use common sense about timing the sales cycle—a buyer who is unfamiliar with your product will require time and attention to initiate the sales process.
• Listen to the buyer to understand timing cues—control the sale by structuring it around natural timing events perceived by the customer.
• Don’t skip steps in a well-understood sales process—take your time and avoid the temptation for instant gratification.
• Be patient and allow people to move through the steps of the sales process.
• Be persistent in presenting your product and offer to high quality prospects instead of a large number of prospects.
• Renew the contract when the buyer is happiest—ask for money when times are the best as possible for the client.
• Consider multiple futures that might be better or worse relative to the deal you offer the client.
• Impending doom or the setting of the sun are motivating factors in any sales process—there is no better time to close the deal than when the client has to make a decision.
• Seasonal and cyclical events external to the sales process can be a motivating factor—tempus fugit (i.e., time flies) and externalities affecting the client are often timed with the calendar.
• Best decision makers are often someone who is coming into or going out of the decision making position.
• Claim credit for considerate timing of sales process—let the client know you are intentionally being considerate of their schedule.
• Use inconsiderate timing judiciously—contact the client at inconvenient times if the matter is very important by letting them know why it is important.
• Avoid giving the buyer deadlines that are later subject to revision—contrived deadlines such as special pricing can backfire if the deadline is extended.
• Explain deadlines that seem threatening—inform the buyer of why the deadline is important to their interests.
• Get to the point quickly in sales presentations and conversations, especially when dealing with busy buyers.
• Convey important points early in your presentation in case you run out of time.
• Always use less time in presentations than you ask for—ask for more than you need because brevity is the better part of valor.

Reference

McCormack, M.H. (1984). What they don’t teach you at Harvard Business School: Notes from a street-smart executive. New York: Bantam Books.

Customer Value Appraisal and Consumer Trends

Consumer Attitudes and Trends

Consumer needs substantially differ from consumer wants during the process of becoming our customers. Marketing managers try to understand consumer needs (and unmet needs) while attempting to influence consumer wants. The hope is that consumer wants will be indistinguishable from needs in the mind of the consumer (or corporate purchasing agent). For example, consumers need toothpaste and businesses need spare parts for machinery, but we try to influence them to demand our taste, color, packaging, pricing, distribution, service, etc., and associate those characteristics with our brand.

Consumer attitudes are very different from consumer behavior and attitudes often are not good predictors of behavior. Marketing managers must understand that consumer attitudes as reported in surveys can vary widely from behavioral data, what they actually buy, and how they use the product. For example, a consumer, who is registered to vote, may tell you that they will vote for Republican candidate or that they did vote for the Republican party candidates in the last election; however, there are whole host of social context issues that influence what they will actually do at the time the decision is made or what they will actually say when asked to report what they did.

Marketing managers must develop intuition about customers’ needs, wants, and behaviors that allow them to recognize trends. Of course, competitors are also trying to do so as well, so there is a need to be timely in gathering and acting upon intelligence. It is the marketing department’s job to be evangelists within the organization. Consider also that such intuition must be grounded in current knowledge about the customer; intuition alone is no substitute for solid research.

Industry and Competitive Trends

Oftentimes, marketing managers must integrate data collected for their current research needs (i.e., primary) with data collected by the company or an outside party (i.e., secondary). Knowing when to collect data directly as opposed to repurposing existing data is a critical decision making skill. It is important for marketing managers to have knowledge of the industry and competitor actions to formulate and test hypotheses about trends. For example, it is pedestrian that security is required today in the provision of customer service and safeguarding of information technology networks, but what is the next trend? Business empires are built on such knowledge.

Customer Feedback

Sources of Customer Feedback – in any organization, the marketing manager must be capable of identifying the voice of the customer and representing that voice to the entire organization. Moreover, marketing managers cannot respond to every customer issues nor direct organizational resources toward every issue, instead there is a balance to be struck between statistical significance and business risk. For example, if we ignore all little issues and never follow up with customers, we run the risk of having customers view our customer feedback process as hogwash. Still, organizations have neither the time nor resources to address every issue. It is up to the marketing function to be arbiter of depth and magnitude of the customer’s voice.

Drivers of Customer Value

Customer value is in the eyes of the beholder. The depth and magnitude of the 4P’s (Product, Price, Place, and Promotion) should be defined by the marketing manager but the customer will interpret the value of the marketing mix on their own. Never forget this reality and in doing so delude your organization into thinking that customers “will eat whatever we set out for them.” The marketing manager is always challenged to take this understanding of what customer’s perceive as valuable and let it be embodied in all marketing strategies and operational tactics. Normally, consistent delivery of real customer value drives meaningful and profitable customer relationships.

Customer Acquisition and Retention Objectives

Marketing activities can be subdivided into those that are focused on acquisition, retaining and nurturing customers. Alternatively, one could think of these activities as getting, keeping, and growing customers. Important: it is often extremely expensive to acquire customers, moderately expensive to keep customers, and extremely profitable to grow existing customer relationships. Always establish clear objectives for getting, keeping, and growing customers relative to the marketing budget. Marketing managers will be evaluated by the accounting and finance function when the marketing budget is renewed. Pardon the analogy, but just like an army, how much food, bullets, and fuel you are given is a function of killing, capturing and taking territory away from the enemy. Moreover, you need long term objectives for each of the three activities but you are often judged on short term results; don’t be discouraged by this myopia.

Segmentation Analysis and Segment Profitability

Segmenting markets can be a difficult process but it is critical; it narrowly defines how you will profitably attack the marketplace in the minds of your customers relative to the competition. You will need access to customer data to make decisions on what variables to define your customers and purchase media to reach them. Demographics (i.e., age, gender, education, and income), Psychographics (i.e., personality, preferences, social group membership, etc.) and behaviors (i.e., hunter, smoker, shopper, student, etc.) are used to segment the market. Business markets are often carved up using industry classification, company size in annual sales volume, geographic region, and markets served, etc. Sometimes customer needs overlap the above segmentation variables and can be segmented based on needs. Marketing managers are ultimately faced with choosing the most actionable segments in terms of what is doable (i.e., operationally possible) and profitable (i.e., financially sound). There will be tradeoffs between segments and the investment in time and resources required to pursue the segments. Establishing informed segmentation priorities is critical.

Reference

Kerin, R.A., Hartley, S.W., Berkowitz, E.N., & Rudelius, W. (2006). Marketing. (8th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

American Mass Media Bias

News reporting is exception reporting. What is different from what happened yesterday or from what is understood to be the status quo is frequently reported as news. MBAs and managers responsible for media and public relations should be cognizant of these natural biases when launching publicity campaigns and handling public relations crises. Consider how business news is reported and synthesized on the broad canvas of political news reporting.

Strong Liberal Bias in American Media

Perhaps you have heard the charge that American mass media exhibit a strong liberal bias. Whether you believe in liberal media prejudice or not, the significant question is whether the editorial view of the media should necessarily parallel the ideology of the American people. The mass media is comprised of working journalists and editorial staff, many of whom serving as gatekeepers determining what news stories get coverage and how they are covered. These groups tend to hold one another in check to some degree but because working journalists often have liberal ideological views, the essential nature of the reporting will be to promote equality over order. Thus, the ideology of the American people, who tend to be more conservative, is often not reflected in the reporting. It is not necessary for the American mass media to reflect precisely the views of the American people, but the mass media has a responsibility to report the news in a balanced fashion. For example, when assailing a conservative ideologue for signing a lucrative book deal, the mass media should also assail a liberal ideologue for the same, etc.

The charge that practicing journalists tend to hold liberal ideological viewpoints is true, but does this alone make the reporting by the mass media reflect a strong liberal bias? Editorial staff members tend to hold conservative ideological viewpoints. Research indicates that mass media outlets are more critical of incumbents and less critical of challengers (Janda, Berry, & Goldman, 1995). Therefore, yes, when covering news stories relating to a relatively conservative national administration the media is liberal. Moreover, when covering a liberal national administration, the media is probably perceived as being more conservative. Hence, Janda, Berry, and Goldman (1995) report that virtually no long-term ideological or partisan bias exists in media coverage. A reasonable conclusion is that the very nature of news reporting encourages the journalist to seek stories that do not conform to the status quo. By its very nature, news is different; it is exception reporting. This phenomenon might explain why during some years blatant liberal treatment of specific news stories to appeal to the audience.

Distortion or Underreporting of Global News

There exists a distinct possibility that American journalists severely distort or underreport global and international news; delivering eyes and ears to advertisers may be an underlying cause. To answer the charge that the American mass media skew or ignore international news, one must look to the private ownership of media outlets. Print and broadcast media are privately owned and therefore must generate a profit to survive in the long-term. Media outlets are dependent upon advertising revenues, not government subsidies, to cover expenses and generate a profit. Advertising rates are tied to the audience size. If one media outlet gears its news coverage for mass audience appeal, then other outlets must also meet this threat or risk losing their audience. Thus, to a large degree, the desire of the audience will dictate the content provided. The problem may not be with distortion or underreporting of international news, but the shear lack of demand for international content.

The balance of coverage of international news and events could be improved as follows:

1. Feature an international news segment;
2. Feature a lead international story in each broadcast at the national and local level;
3. The US FCC could regulate that approximately 20% of news coverage should focus on events outside the country;
4. The gatekeepers in media outlets could voluntarily agree to increase the amount of international news and documentary coverage;
5. Newspapers and Internet/Web sources of news could increase their coverage of international stories without cooperation from the traditional print media, and
6. Refer to terrorists and terrorist organizations as anonymous perpetrators of the events to avoid developing terror brands and feeding the terrorists' psychopathic egos.
   

Reference

Janda, K., Berry, J.M., & Goldman, J. (1995) The challenge of democracy: Government in America, (4th Ed.). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.

Harvard Business School: What MBAs Don’t Know about Problems in Selling

While most people are good at selling themselves in friendships and earning good grades in college, when it comes time to sell products and services, we forget the basics about exercising this important skill (McCormack, 1984). Every day we sell our families’ on our roles as Dad or Mom, our employers on our work skills, or our work in volunteer organizations. However, when it comes to employing these natural powers of negotiation and persuasion in a purposeful way, we start to freeze up. Why? Our perceptions of what it means to sell are out of balance.

Selling Is An Important Skill

Some managers may think of selling as crass or unimportant, but it is an important skill that every senior executive has mastered. Management training that can be found in business schools is helpful but it is not a replacement for quota-carrying sales experience. Leadership and managerial training are important but no replacement for mastering the art of persuasion. Let’s face it; business schools can’t and don’t teach selling skills, but these skills can be essential for climbing the corporate ladder from middle management to the executive suite (McCormack, 1984). Listen up, newly minted MBAs…

Selling Can Be Seen as Intrusive

There is a social stigma attached to professional selling that is undeserved. In general, there is a temptation to go along with others, especially our peers or those we admire. Those who are selling and those who are being sold to can perceive selling as intrusive. An awareness of the intrusiveness of selling can be an asset to the MBA in the right context (McCormack, 1984). Instead of considering your sales efforts to be intrusive and resist practicing them, use your understanding of sales-related intrusiveness to reach buyers without turning them off to your product. Do not use intrusive sales techniques, but be aware that any sales techniques might be perceived as being intrusive in the wrong context. Sensitivity to the buyer’s situation, coupled with patience, can provide effective support to the sales process.

Overcoming Your Fear of Selling

Fear of rejection and fear of failure can stop your sales efforts cold. The MBA must know deep down and on the surface that rejection is not a problem but an opportunity. Learn to love the word NO in all its glory! Salesmanship starts when the customer says NO. It is at that point when we truly discover the scope of the customer’s knowledge about the product and the resistance to buying the product. Moreover, the fear of failure is really cleverly-disguised fear of being a pioneer; if you are not making mistakes and failing, you are not trying hard enough to succeed. Overcoming the twin fears of rejection and failure is the hallmark of sales winners. In all my years of business, I have found only one difference between winners and losers (in all areas) over the long haul: winners thought they were winners and losers thought they were losers, with each becoming what they had allowed their fears to help them envision.

Reference

McCormack, M.H. (1984). What they don’t teach you at Harvard Business School: Notes from a street-smart executive. New York: Bantam Books.

Selling Democracy to Iraq: Cross-Cultural Marketing Strategy

First Principles

As businesses globalize, the degree to which marketing strategies are standardized (i.e., not localized) within a culture is an important issue for marketing teams to consider. Product packaging, publicity campaigns, and advertising creative executions typically need fine-tuning from one culture and country (i.e., geographic area) to another to achieve maximum return on investment (ROI). However, the expense with respect to elapsed time, effort, and resources expended must be less than the incremental revenue attributable to tailoring the campaign for the culture or geographic area. Hawkins, Best, and Coney (2001) suggested seven cross-cultural considerations for framing the decision to localize geographic marketing campaigns:

• Homogenous Culture
• Product Needs Fulfilled
• Consumer Affordability
• Consumer Values and Behavior Patterns
• Distribution Channels, Regulations, and Applicable Laws
• Available Media to Impact Culture
• Ethics of Targeting Geographic Area
  
  

Application

For example, if an organization were to attempt marketing of democracy in a country with a large Islamic population, such as Iraq the following cross-cultural considerations should be addressed:

• Homogeneous Culture – The Iraqi population is far from homogenous and is comprised of three ethnic groups that traditionally have been in conflict over religious, social, and political issues.
• Product Needs Fulfilled – Democracy would help under-represented groups under the Sunni-controlled government, such as Kurds, Shia, and women, gain more voice in political dialogue. Is democracy needed or wanted in Iraq?
• Consumer Affordability – Can Iraqis afford the religious, social, and political capital required to implement and maintain democratic processes? Participating in democracy could have unanticipated costs to individuals as the adopt beliefs that may not be supported by friends, family, or neighbors.
• Consumer Values and Behavior Patterns – is individual choice or political representation important to the Iraqi people? Allowing women to vote in elections could be perceived as undermining traditional Islamic family values.
• Distribution Channels, Regulations, and Applicable Laws – in what ways is it possible to education the population on democracy, encourage democratic social structures, and make it legal for democratic political processes to take root? It may not be legal to sell or possess democracy or any other product.
• Available Media to Impact Culture – are radio, print, outdoor, and other media available to educate, encourage, and affect political processes toward democratic goals? Existing media infrastructure must be exist to promote awareness.
• Ethics of Targeting Geographic Area – is it ethical to encourage democracy in Iraq? Perhaps what is legal, desirable, or expedient is not ethical or in the best interest of the consumer.
  
  

The above application example of cross-cultural marketing strategies is not meant make a political statement but to show how marketing an idea, service, or product is highly dependent on the geographical and cultural context.

Reference

Hawkins, D.I., Best, R.J, & Coney, K.A. (2001). Consumer behavior: Building marketing strategy (8th ed.). New York: Irwin McGraw-Hill.

Auditing Consumer Behavior: A Process for Building Marketing Strategy

A complete understanding of the influences that affect consumer behavior is an essential foundation for building a marketing strategy. Hawkins, Best, and Coney (2001) suggested a process for identifying information associated with the critical decisions that marketing managers must make about major elements of marketing. The outline for auditing consumer behavior has been simplified and generalized below, but the execution of the process can be invaluable for identifying challenges and opportunities for improving marketing strategy.

Marketing Decision Areas

Market segmentation – division of all possible product users (i.e., consumers) into groups with similar needs to satisfy for product development and media selection.

Product positioning – determination of a desirable product or brand position in the mind of the consumer relative to competing brands.

Price – pricing policy consistent with the determined product position. The price is the all inclusive set of consideration that the consumer must tender in exchange for the product or service, such as time, patience, learning, and money.

Place (Distribution Strategy) – channel or distribution strategy, such as retail, wholesale, or Internet, etc. consistent with the determined product position at which title to the product is relinquished or the service is performed.

Promotion – advertising, visual packaging, publicity, promotion, website, telemarketing and direct sales force activities.

Product – physical product characteristics or service to be experienced for each market segment.

Customer satisfaction – post-purchase policies to promoted customer use, loyalty, reference and repeat purchases.

Customer Influences

External influences

• Culture, subculture, and values


• Demographics, income, and social class


• Reference groups and family / households


• Marketing activities by the company (e.g., product attributes, packaging,
  advertisements, sales presentation, and retail outlet)

Internal influences

• Needs, motives, and emotions


• Perceptions, learning and memory


• Personality and lifestyle


• Attitudes

Situation influences

• Physical features


• Time perspective


• Social surroundings


• Task definition


• Antecedent states and situations (e.g., product or offer communications, purchase, use, or definition)

Decision process influences (i.e., stages)

• Problem recognition


• Information search


• Alternative evaluation


• Outlet selection


• Purchase


• Post-purchase processes (e.g., use, disposition, and evaluation)
  

By interweaving the decision areas with the relevant customer influences listed above, it is possible to outline the areas in which data should be gathered in order to construct a complete consumer behavior audit template as follows:

• Step 1: Market segmentation (…) Identify customer influences
  
• Step 2: Product positioning (…) Identify customer influences
  
• Step 3: Price (…) Identify customer influences
  
• Step 4: Place (Distribution strategy) (…) Identify customer influences
  
• Step 5: Promotion (…) Identify customer influences
  
• Step 6: Product (…) Identify customer influences
  
• Step 7: Customer satisfaction (…) Identify customer influences
  

By completing the above steps and answering all the associated questions regarding customer influences at each of the stages, the marketing manager should have a thorough understanding of the influences on consumer behavior and the key decision areas in which the influences are activated.

Reference

Hawkins, D.I., Best, R.J, & Coney, K.A. (2001). Consumer behavior: Building marketing strategy (8th ed.). New York: Irwin McGraw-Hill.

Scholastic Economic Analysis: Foundation of Modern Economics

Scholastic Economic Analysis developed as a school of economic thought in the 13th and 14th century by Roman Catholic clergy. As Ekelund and Hébert (1997) described, the scholastics were first clergy and secondly economic philosophers, so naturally justice and salvation were the areas of their greatest concern, rather than the analysis of economic exchange alone. The five pillars of Scholasticism, Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas, Henry of Friemar, Jean Buridan, and Gerald Odonis, devoted their efforts to extending and applying Aristotle’s theory of value and exchange to the individual. Aristotle’s ideas formed a foundation for economic thought in medieval times, but they lacked much, especially a notion of cost-based value.

Slowly the Scholastics reasoned beyond Aristotle’s profound but limited concepts of value theory. Albertus Magnus developed the idea that the cost of production is a determining element of the value of exchange. Furthermore, he argued that the market price must cover the costs of production or the production will cease. Thomas Aquinas took the analysis beyond costs of production to extend the labor theory by factoring in human wants (indigentia). Henry of Friemar sought to aggregate individual wants into a common value measurement that included features of both supply and demand - that is, the common need of something scarce. Buridan distinguished between individual need and aggregate need, the valuations placed on a good (i.e., product) by the market in general. Odonis examined scarcity and concluded that there were different scarcity levels for labor and hence, different valuations of the contribution of the labor of individuals.

It was in the Doctrine of Usury that we see the largest disconnect from reality in Scholastic Economic Analysis, even in the Scholastics’ own era. A literal interpretation of Deuteronomy 23:20 would support the implementation of the Usury Doctrine and not the self serving reason of the Roman Catholic Church keeping its own cost of funds low, as Ekelund and Hébert suggested. (They were referring to verse 23:20 which allows the charging a foreigner interest, but not a brother Israelite. Consider that Christians believe they are not bound by civil and ceremonial laws of Judaism: only the moral code is in force.) The Scholastics may not have understood that the lending of money for interest could stimulate economic growth and help the very poor about which they were concerned. Hence, there was a time value of money, and this, too, the Scholastics did not reason about with great clarity, perhaps because of their loyalty to Roman Catholic Church doctrine.

Throughout the nearly two thousand years of economic activity and thought from Aristotle to the Scholastics, the basic economic structure of western civilization was dependent upon the extremely low cost of labor provided by either slavery or serfdom. The economic analysis of political economy in the 18th century arose from this background to modern economic history.

Reference

Ekelund, R. B., Jr., & Hébert, R. F. (1997). A history of economic theory and method (4th ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.