SELL NOT A PRODUCT BUT A DREAM AND WISHES!

Why do some companies that have just appeared on the market acquire popularity immediately and attract sincere interest of the buyers? Why do other companies that struggle for their existence industriously and for a long time have to quit the market nonetheless? It is stupid to believe that everything that happens in life is just a matter of chance and luck. It would be absolutely wrong to state, “This is fate. Some people get everything and others get nothing.” It is quite obvious now that success of a company is an accurately considered plan of actions, a huge quantity of applied knowledge and effort.

In contemporary conditions any company willing to remain afloat and to be quite competitive on the market needs to adopt a huge quantity of knowledge, first of all, the economic ones.

Anders Liljenberg (Rector of the Stockholm School of Economics in Russia, the only business school in Russia represented in international rating of Executive MBA of Financial Times, head of the first ЕМВА programs in the US and world-class marketing specialist) spoke about what a business should be like to ensure success, as well as about latest marketing research and directions of development.

His speech took place on June 18 of 2008 in the top club of the association of graduates of the presidential program of executive personnel training of Sverdlovsk Region.

It is impossible to do without marketing in conditions of growing competition now. Whereas not all Russian companies understand this now, in the next few years they will have to encounter this in practice.

Markets are also changing and developing dynamically. Despite that many markets remain monopolistic (for example, the market of electric energy in Russia), the monopoly is gradually disappearing. As a result, competition is growing on the market. In turn, this leads to a situation when it is getting increasingly difficult to become a successful company.

The supply exceeds the demand now and this leads to dependence of the seller on wishes and needs of the buyer.

The need to deserve confidence of the consumer remains an important aspect in activities on any company. Along with this, we should not forget about the simple truth: the closer you are to the buyer the more this buyer expects from you.

One of the trends of modern development is globalization. If a company grows many people will see this in case of its collapse. It is difficult to “hide” making the failure of the company unnoticeable for the surrounding people. However, if a company is successful a huge quantity of people, your buyers and business partners will notice this.

According to the globalization theory, competition is a very global phenomenon.

Competition is not local, it not simply touches a national local market but is manifested on many territories. A typical example is Kalina corporation that competes not only against Russian companies but also against German ones.

Competition is growing and, of course, development of information and telecommunication technologies contributes to this.

For example, this is the Internet that acts as a good source of information about goods and services.

How is it possible to remain on the market in conditions of growing competition? It is important to mention another trend of the modern development too. The matter is directly about what and how should be sold. Feel the difference. To buy a thing (a product) or to satisfy your needs and wishes through the purchase.

It is important to understand that when the buyer comes to a store he, by and large, thinks not about a product as about something material. He is motivated by a wish to receive something from a product and to satisfy his needs.

In his speech Anders Liljenberg mentioned many eloquent examples of this. For instance, Kalina sells a dream, Nokia (producer of cellular telephones) sells a lifestyle.

Correspondingly, in advertising of products it would be correct to speak not about technical peculiarities of a product but about advantages and benefits that the buyer will get after purchase of the product.

Another important trend is the market segmentation. Just imagine that market in the form of a pie. Definitely, it is difficult for a company to come to the entire market at once. However, if this “pie” is divided into slices and segments it is easier to come to one of the segments. Correspondingly, it is possible to conquer the entire market conquering a segment after a segment.

Finally, on the path towards creation of a successful company we should not forget about branding.

It is getting increasingly difficult to differ from competitors. It is important to pay much attention to branding.

Everything stated above is a guarantee of success and leadership of a company on the market.

BOOKSHELF OF AN EXECUTIVE:

During his speech Anders Liljenberg pointed attention of the audience to some scientific works that might become a perfect source of knowledge for executives and aid during making of many decisions.

Roger Best. “MARKETING FROM CONSUMER”

The work of Roger Best is a perfect alternative to numerous conceptual publications and theoretical research in the field of marketing because it pays serious attention to results of the company’s work. The book provides understandable tools for implementation of marketing strategies in conditions of contemporary business. The work covers such issues as product positioning on the market, branding and product mix strategy, market pricing and pricing strategies, creation of a marketing plan, management in marketing conditions and financial results.

Martin Lindstrom. “FEELING OF BRAND”

Smell of a new car is a skillful fake of automakers in reality. The unique glass bottle of Coca-Cola contributed to success of the beverage not less than the “secret” recipe and advertising. It was the proprietary sound that made Intel one of the most expensive brands of the world. I bet you know these facts from the field of “branding through five organs of feelings.” Martin Lindstrom knows much better. For example, he knows that DaimlerChrysler has organized a department consisting of ten engineers tasked to develop a unique sound of closing door. He knows that greeting of a pilot of Singapore Airlines has been developed by advertisers and IBM has failed having released a noiseless typewriter on the market. The book will help the readers to change the traditional look at the brand and will provide numerous practical recommendations for creation of a really successful brand.

Thomas Gad. “4D BRANDING”

The book offers a revolutionary 4D model for understanding of strong and weak points of a brand. It is possible to use it for creation of a new brand and for analysis of the already existing ones. The model will enable companies to develop their own unique Brand Code or Cognitive Field of a brand. Companies invest entire fortunes in creation and support of their brands. The major part of this money is spent without any clear goal and possibility of result assessment. 4D BRANDING offers an efficient algorithm for analysis and assessment of branding results supporting this with numerous facts.

Naomi Klein. “NO TO LOGO!”

This interestingly written book is focused on protest against the forms of corporate monopolism into which capitalist of the end of the 20th century has turned. By a number of eloquent examples Naomi Klein also shows how a logo or a symbol of this or that product, company or trademark becomes a universal language understandable for all for ruthless manipulation of consciousness of millions of consumers. One of the examples mentioned in the book is the following. In 1992, Nike corporation producing sportswear paid $20 million to American sportsman Michael Jordan for participation in advertising of its sports shoes. According to Klein, in the same year 30,000 hired workers of the corporation in Indonesia where these shoes were made received approximately the same amount for all. The book does not simply contain a lot of interesting information but also enables the reader to have a new look at many existing economic theories.