At the heart of any marketing strategy lies a core idea. This idea comes from the core values of the brand being marketed. When the marketing strategy comes from this central, core idea, the marketing effort pays rich dividends. It builds the brand’s reputation, its identity and grows the business. But when this idea is either weak, or is completely missing, then the entire marketing strategy fizzles out.
Let us share our experiences with you to illustrate this all-important point.
Our client is a company that makes ready-to-eat south Indian food. They make a range of chutneys and variants of the popular dish, idli. Our client is a startup. They have limited budgets and are growing organically. Their main competitor is a brand that is owned by a large business house in Chennai. The competitor has access to their parent company’s reputation, funds, people and other related resources.
When we began work with our client, we understood their core values. The promoter had spent over three decades in the corporate sector. His personal integrity and work ethic was always celebrated. He was committed to innovation, to maintaining high quality standards and to customer delight. We took this promoter’s core values and wove them into his food brand’s identity. The brand’s promise was thus derived: “Great-tasting, fresh food that will wow every customer, every time.” And the central idea of the marketing strategy was this: Upsell the freshness and the great taste of the food, the affordable pricing and the ease of ordering/receiving each order.
We took this central idea and used it in all promotions in the retail outlets where the brand was stocked. We carried customer feedback and reviews on the brand’s social media handles. We also had the promoter play the brand’s ambassador in several forums related to startups and food. Every time he spoke, he wore the brand identity, literally, on him, with the brand’s logo emblazoned on his shirt. He consistently spoke only of the three points that made up the core idea of his brand’s identity. Our marketing strategy produced remarkable results for this client in less than six months.
Importantly, there was no print or online advertising that was undertaken.
Contrast this strategy with the competitor’s approach. They advertised majorly in print media, on radio and on social media. Yet their market share was not very significant. Our client owned the major share of the market – brand-wise, sales-wise and customer’s mindshare-wise.
Marketing is a lot about being authentic. It is all about telling the truth in a very efficient and creative way. When you are authentic, people like you. When a brand is authentic, people buy it. And, importantly, they buy it again and again. This is what makes a marketing strategy powerful.
Making powerful marketing strategies is what firebrand labs (FBL) excels in.