As stated in the History Channel documentary, War Planes of World War II, however, the idea of dubbing the planes “Flying Fortresses” didn’t come from its designers. Upon touring the Boeing plant and witnessing the first B-17s roll off the assembly line, “An awestruck reporter called the aircraft a ‘Flying Fortress,’ and the name stuck.” The B-17 stood out from the B-24, B-25, B29, B-Whichever from then on thanks to this nickname. Its identity, and its value proposition, had been developed in a simple but powerful observation.

The marketplace, or rather the CUSTOMER has all the marketing answers we need! The customer can help us design the product, its delivery, its evolution, and can tell us how to market it to other customers like them. The challenge we have is to open the channels whereby the customer can share whatever thoughts, ideas, concerns, and then be sure we listen, we act on what we hear, and we keep listening! 

What they do is buy an old PC and then switch the operating system to their beloved Apple platform, a move that has apparently become a good deal easier since Apple now allows Windows to be run on its platform. I don’t fully understand how all that works, but the net result is the customer ends up with an operational Mac for less than 1/2 the price.  

When investors asked some time ago why Apple won’t offer a lower-cost option, Apple president Steve Jobs replied “We don’t know how to make a $500 computer that’s not a piece of junk, and our DNA will not let us ship that.”

Bravo, Mr. Jobs!

Steve Jobs understands that rather than worry about how to offer something for every market segment, their overall brand value lies in being able to deliver a quality product at a premium price for the right customer segment.  That way the customer can depend on the quality of the brand and of the value of the investment.

Before you try to offer product choices for too many market segments, put a pencil to it. Determine what the cost to your brand for serving new market segments less efficiently than the ones you currently serve could be. You may find that the benefits of supporting a sure thing greatly outweigh gambling on trying to serve everyone. You might be better off putting that investment toward improving your higher-margin products.  When customers ask why you won’t provide a “cheaper” offering, tell them how you and Steve Jobs believe it’s for their own good!

“Diversification is for the ignorant.” - Warren Buffett

When Woolworth’s moved into a market, the entrenched department store across the street launched a campaign to remind the market that they were there first, that the customers should entrust only an established retailer, and implied that Woolworth’s was an unproven start-up not worth gambling on. The older, established store put up a sign in their window that simply read, DOING BUSINESS IN THIS SAME SPOT FOR OVER 50 YEARS.

Woolworth’s countered with a sign of its own. It read, ESTABLISHED A WEEK AGO. NO OLD STOCK.

In The Art of War, Sun Tzu said, “In weakness, find strength, and in strength find weakness.” What may, at first, look like a serious strength of a competitor may actually be the exact thing we can exploit to our advantage. The thing THEY think is a weakness may be EXACTLY why we’re the better choice for the customer.

In an article in Stocks, Futures, and Options Magazine, author Michael Covel recalled a quote he’d found beneficial since first hearing it at the 1989 University of Georgia’s commencement address. The speaker, Charles S. Sanford, Jr., said,

“In the conventional wisdom, risk is asymmetrical: It has only one side, the bad side. This conventional view of risk is shortsighted and often simply mistaken. Successful people understand that risk, properly conceived, is often highly productive rather than something to avoid. They appreciate that risk is an advantage to be used rather than a pitfall to be skirted. Such people understand that taking calculated risks is quite different from being rash. This view of risk is not only paradoxical - the first of several paradoxes I’m going to present to you today. This one might be encapsulated as follows: Playing it safe is dangerous. Far more often than you would realize. the real risk in life turns out to be the refusal to take a risk.”

Consider what happens when the economy slows. Everyone quits spending in a downturn because of the enhanced “risk” that accompanies challenging economic times. “Now is no time to be spending…” and “We sure don’t want to gamble in this environment…” seem to be the widespread reactions. In fact, this may be the exact time to spend.

It’s simple supply and demand. When the market pulls back, supply builds up. With more supply than demand, a buyer’s market develops. As the buyer, you should at least be able to pick up some bargains and, at best, you may be able to name your own terms! It’s almost like the marketplace is helping finance your future growth. 

Not starting a business, not expanding a business, not making a sales call, not changing jobs, not getting additional education, not starting a new career, not trying a new hobby, or not asking that person you’re interested in for a date may indeed help you avoid “risk,” but it also guarantees that you won’t get to experience an exciting new set of circumstances. Is that really the “guarantee” you’re looking for?

Take a look at what “risks” you’ve been avoiding, then take another look at the potential payoffs. You may find that what you stand to gain from a calculated risk or two will be well worth it!

“Buying good companies on sale isn’t risky” - Warren Buffett 

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I was even happier with my purchase after learning I hadn’t just purchased  a book, I’ve helped a cause! I’m helping make sure some young person gets the resources he or she needs to obtain an education. That’s a triple win! The transaction between me and Books Beyond Borders is win-win, and the cause we are BOTH helping to support wins, too! Win-Win-Win! That’s cause marketing and the free market at its best!

When the customer can get value for themselves and do some good for a cause they believe in, all the better. So much better, in fact, that it could be something that helps you differentiate your brand from your competition. Consider what cause(s) you could support or are already supporting and let the world know about it! Your bottom line won’t be the only beneficiary!

Actually, there may be some genuine advantages to being deliberate rather than first. One is that by letting somebody else be first, they have to shoulder all the R&D expense. They have to work all the bugs out of the system, educate the marketplace, and earn the trust of the customers. And that takes a ton of money and a whole bunch of trial and error.

Consider what happened in the Internet service provider category, and how few of the “first movers” are even around any more. Originally companies like Prodigy and Flashnet were the service providers who made the miraculous Internet available to the masses. They took a considerable amount of share of mind and market share, and should have been able to keep the high ground. What ended up happening, though, was that companies like AT&T watched to see if this “Internet thing” was really going to take off or not, then they said, “Hey, all you need is a bunch of phone lines and a big server to get into this business, and we’ve already got that” so they jumped in and an all out war was on, but AT&T and its peers had a slight advantage because they could forgo many of the “start-up costs” and allocate that savings right to their bottom lines.

Perhaps Larry The Cable Guy said it best: “The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese in the trap!”

The answer is less about who’s “first” than it is about who better serves the customer. So remember that the customer IS the answer and whether you show up first or second or fifth to the game, you know there will be someone in the stands cheering for you as long as you’re giving them something of value. Simply watch for opportunities to be better, then build a relationship with your customers based on that.

Consider how such products as Weed Eater, Palm Pilot, Jello, and TiVo are now generically branded with the category they represent. This suggests in the mind of the customer that anyone else is just an imitator. Experience, time in the market, and even slight innovations can be used as differentiators if the marketer simply reminds the customers, “We were the first to …”  

It’s a good idea to take an inventory of any “firsts” you’ve had, then see how they could represent value to the customer. You may find a first-mover advantage of your own!

With this simple principle, they help get everyone on board and keep them on board day to day with the idea of serving the client, who is the whole purpose for the organization’s existence, anyway. The principle also helps ensure that so-called “support functions,” or those departments that may never have direct customer contact, understand that they play a very important role in the organization and that they, too, are stewards of the organization’s greatest asset, its customers! The “If you’re not, what the heck are you doing” part also serves as a compass to help keep each employee on task and to help avoid inefficiencies. If what we’re doing doesn’t ultimately benefit the customer, after all, why do it? In fact, this principle could help guide every decision the organization makes, like we discussed in the WTGBRFDT post a while back.

If guiding principles are taken seriously and are backed up by action, they can be some of the most powerful strategic tools an organization has. Drucker said the purpose of the organization is to create and serve the customer. We’re all serving the customer or serving someone who’s serving the customer, and if not, what the heck are we doing?

The

This is noteworthy not just because it’s an innovative idea, but because it reminds us how easily innovation can be achieved if we’ll just take the time to interact with and listen to our customers! As you’ll hear from Sears Tower Skydeck General Manager Randy Stancik at about the video’s 90-second mark, “The idea came from our visitors. Our visitors have asked us to get outside. They want to get closer to the windows,” So they looked into it and, sure enough, an elite team of engineers and builders made it so. They were willing to literally go out on a ledge for their customers!

Innovation can be as simple as responding when our customers give us a suggestion! We have to be willing to “go out on a ledge” by having the courage to listen, then to take what they suggest seriously, and be willing to deliver on what they’re asking for. A risk, yes, but far less risky than just hoping our customers are happy only to find out we lost them to competitors who were listening and were willing to step out into the unknown for them!

But the real “a-ha’s” came as a result of unsolicited feedback. Soldiers shared several powerful, emotional stories about how relieved they would be on the battlefield to see the easily-recognized Mack trucks dependably trudging through the mud to bring supplies, medical aid, etc. British soldiers remarked that the very shape of the trucks reminded them of a tough bulldog, which coincidentally happens to be Great Britain’s national mascot. The rest, as they say, is history. Mack instantly adopted the bulldog as their brand symbol, placing likenesses of the rugged canine on the hoods of their trucks.

The Customer IS the answer to every marketing question! We need to be sure we have as much open dialog with them as possible, both formal and informal, and that we LISTEN when they have something to tell us. What they have to say could be worth a fortune!