In a recession you have to become a better thinker
Business people are taught that they are in the business of satisfying consumer needs and wants at some form of profit. It makes perfect sense therefore to look at the customer first. But the biggest barrier or limitation on growth is not the market-place but our own mindset. It is our (and our teams) prevailing assumptions, beliefs, conventions and experiences that limit what we see in the market. Take for example the case of a garbage bag brand that I worked with; the management team believed that their product competed in a ‘low interest—low involvement’ category. But if you break free of this mindset (e.g. garbage bags are interesting) then you can suddenly see the marketplace with fresh eyes. This style of thinking led to the development of scented garbage bags which have taken the category by storm. You first have to research your mind rather than the customer’s one to unlock new opportunities.
2. Think competitor imagination then analysis
Classic competitive analysis has become rigid, reactive and static. This has led to a form of incremental copying in most categories. Why? Because at the end of most marketing plans is some form of competitive analysis. This typically consists of a report on what the competitor has done, how much they have spent etc. But this is ancient history. This type of analysis does not anticipate what the competitor might do. It does not tell you how they might react to a move of yours for example. A much better way to handle this situation is to actually become the competitor. Divide a lager group into smaller ones than allocate each group a competitive brand. Then ask the group to imagine what the competitor will do in the next 12 months. Be specific, what new products will they launch and what will their new advertising campaign look like? This form of competitive imagination is far more insightful and dynamic.
3. Think opportunity spaces then markets
One of the key concepts in marketing is the definition of a market. Typically however, a market has been defined in terms of a product rather than a how a customer might define their range of choices. For example, a few years ago I worked with one of the major breakfast brands. Their definition of the market in which they competed was ‘all breakfast cereals.’ Using this market definition meant that their brand could only grow if it took share from another cereal brand—a kind of zero-sum game. But what of baked beans, muffins, toast or people who do not eat breakfast? A better view was to consider the customer’s opportunity space ‘we compete in the space when customers wake up in the morning until lunch time’. This more expansive definition meant that they also competed against McDonalds for example. This new type of thinking led to the early development of breakfast bars and breakfast on the go type formulas.
4. Think a compelling offer for one consumer then a target consumer
The next point follows the proceeding one. I often work with managers and they confidently can tell me everything about their target consumer. They say to me, on average, our target consumers buy this amount of product per year and are aged between 18-35 etc. My problem with this is that it leads to an average offer for an average consumer which leads to average results. I believe a more productive course of action is to design what I call a ‘Godfather Offer’ to a one specified consumer. This thinking tool taken from the academy award winning movie is to make a consumer an offer which is too good to refuse. If you can design such an offer for one consumer you can do it for another, then another and so on.
In a recession more than ever, it is a battle of ideas. It requires new thinking, new concepts and a new language if you are to out-imagine your competitor. It is the size of your imagination rather than the size of your budget that will dictate your future success.
