It Is About People, People!
It Is About People, People!
It Is About People, People!
If I had to add any P to the 4Ps in the marketing mix, it would be people. I am assuming though that when the 4Ps was introduced, the role of people in the marketing mix was taken for granted. If people needs and wants were not taken into consideration then who are we marketing our products to?
In the 7Ps, an extension of the 4Ps, People were added as the fifth P. In my understanding, if People were another P to add, it would be the first and not the fifth. When you are assuming that People are part of your understanding, you do not usually need to state them in your theory. You are targeting and gearing all your theory towards them. They are a reality and not an assumption; they are the fact and not a theory.
Regardless of the understanding, assumption, or opinion, People play the major role in any marketing activity. It is our desires and wants, our thoughts and innovations, which make a product, succeed or fail.
Innovators made product after product because of their desires. Leaders succeeded in promoting their ideals because of their desires. Years ago, people used to farm their own fruits and vegetables without even using fire. Our ancestors lived and reproduced, hence guaranteed our existence now. When they started using fire they saw its benefits, and cooking became a part of satisfying our desires. Our ancestors may have lived in caves, or some sort of primary housing. It is our desires that made it from wood, or bricks, or follow one design or another. If they were not able to live with their primary housing, we wouldn't be here. I am not discussing the human psychology over here, although having a general understanding is useful when it comes to deal with people.
In marketing, some always refer to the product as being a need or a want. Desire is a synonym of want. People have their own definitions when it comes to desires. They may classify it as a need. I lived in countries where most of the population does not have electrical power. Cold water lacked in very hot seasons. Yet they did not define electricity as a need. It was a luxury they didn't need, let alone afford. For me, living mainly in more developed countries, electricity is a necessity. I cannot sleep if the Air Conditioning is not working when it's hot. I cannot watch TV, browse the internet, or play my gaming console if I did not have electricity.
On another hand, when it comes to desires, people do not have the same wants. This article is an example. Someone who is interested in marketing may read it, while it may not attract someone interested in medicine. Before venturing into a product you will have to know about people, you being one of them.
What you want is essential. Many leaders believed in their ideas. They wanted people to buy into their thoughts. Although in many cases it proved not to be what people wanted, they were successful in gathering followers. Look at Communism, Nazism, Fascism, Socialism, Capitalism, among others, to each their successes and failures, to each their followers, although some caused disasters to humanity. Yet some people bought into the product, the idea and the concept itself.
Yes, your product is about what people need or want, but is also about your own desire. Many on line blogging gurus agree that your success in blogging is based on your passion about the subject you blog about. It is your desire to write about one subject or another that makes your blogging experience successful.
Sometimes your product is old, repetitive, and redundant. That does not mean you will not be able to sell it. Thousands of articles were written about Marketing, yet mine still have a place. Take the Yo-Yo for example, an old toy consisting of a length of string tied at one end to a flat spool. It still attracts my children's video gaming minds, it is still manufactured, and I still replace it for them every time they break their old ones. Why would someone still produce it? There is still a desire for it somewhere in the world.
Your whole marketing strategy depends on people. If you know what they desire and are able to provide it then you are on the right path to success. If you are offering what you believe in there is hundreds like you out there. You don't have to cater for the masses to succeed; sometimes it is the focus on the few, like you, that makes you a successful marketer.
In an organization, this cannot be applied without serious challenges, especially if you are in the bottom of the decision making hierarchy. Although I read in many Marketing articles that your product definition should not focus on the masses I work in a field where the masses are exactly what I need to focus on. I can introduce segmentation and focus on it, but I cannot deny my need for the masses in order to guarantee the profitability of my company.
I cannot suggest a product and expect my higher management to approve it just because I believe that a few customers will buy it. I usually provide enough arguments to convince my management, before the public, of my new product. In many cases, my proposals were rejected. Looking back into past experience I know for a fact that some of my ideas (not all) would have succeeded if they were implemented.
I work for mobile operators. Our product is mainly voice services in voice oriented markets. Although some may argue that this product targets the few (those who can afford to pay for such services) but our policies used to target the masses. Everyone was a potential subscriber. Even a newborn child may prompt a parent to purchase a cell phone and our service to communicate with their spouse and check on their child when they are away from their house. On another hand, to guarantee profitability, we could not rely on such seasonal occurrences; we had to focus on certain market segments. Knowing what they would consider as a need and their wants is my main task.
Many large corporations focus on producing a need. In the pre internet era, no one considered a search engine to be a need. I do not think that I can go one day into the internet without consulting one of those search engines for one subject or the other. I am not working in a company that has the size or the budget to manipulate the public wants and redefine them as needs. I do however understand that people are different. Sometimes you have to focus on the consumer's ego, while bare basics could satisfy another.
In one of my old operations, we were faced with congestion. Some people were not able to place calls, because others were checking their credit up to 10 times after each call (at that time to check your prepaid credit you had to listen to a message as short messaging was not introduced yet). While debating the options, we reached a suggestion to offer one free credit check after each call. This was the best we could do to ensure a feasible call flow. There was a roar among our consumers for that action. Although we expected that only "abusers" would object, we came to find out that many considered checking their balance was their right, no matter how many times they do it. The technical team found out later that we can prioritize the calls. Although the idea was to implement it to everyone, I pushed towards offering it to those who believe they need it, as a paid service. I was not expecting it to become a show-off service. Some business men used to harass their colleagues about not being able to pay for this service. I ended up with triple the number of subscribers I expected for that service. Soon after we upgraded our network and we had no need to prioritize the calls.
Understanding your target consumers desires and needs will save you a lot of the hassle that you may face from skeptical people within your organization or outside of it. You cannot satisfy everyone, just try to understand and learn about your target market. Start with yourself, why do you think your product has a chance to succeed? Do you think others (at least some) will think the same way you do? Is it about you, or are you employed to execute a company's policy? Humans are social beings and not secluded cases, the more you know about them, the higher your chances are to succeed. After all, it's all about people, people.
Your comments are always welcome.
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