Understanding Marketing 101

Marketing is a psychological device we use to make targetted people act in the way we desire. It is also about announcing the world that we exist. From a child crying for milk to a boy/girl trying to garner the attention of his love, marketing is omnipresent. 


I may not be sophisticated and comprehensive in describing my experience. But that is because of the vastness of the field. Even worse, I may be reducing the whole universe of marketing into a few anecdotes and metaphors. Be that as it may, let me pour out my experiences from my understanding. 


Marketing is super-efficient when we anchor it on trust. Humans are interesting social connections. If we think of how we recommend movies, books, songs, restaurants, etc., it is evident that we trust the judgement of the person recommending it to us.


But what compels a person to recommend a product?  


It is the experience that makes one recommend something to someone. Think of this as an uncontrolled nuclear chain reaction. Once the product enters the market, it should start marketing itself by creating impressions on the user. All other forms of marketing are mere enhancements. 


By labelling other forms of marketing as mere enhancements, I am not treating them with contempt. They also magnify the product's presence. But most of them do not speak for the product. 


An experience could be anything. Consider, for instance, this scene from Velaikaran movie(2017): (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjELbf0pZMg)


Fahadh (in the above video) says Supermarket is super marketing. I am aware that the reader would probably get what I am hinting at. But, allow me to add some additional elements of understanding. If Supermarket is merely a physical entity where people purchase things, it is nothing more than a godown. Functionally, a godown may solve the problem of the exchange of goods and services. But aesthetically, it might not enrich the experience of the customer. 


A good product should not simply stop at helping a user with a particular problem. It should strive to create positive experiences like joy, immersion, intuitiveness, ease of use, etc. 


We hear proud parents boasting about their three-year-old kids using smartphones. A part of it could be perhaps due to the innate intelligence of the kid. What is unseen is the thousands of engineers and marketers' effort at the R&D lab, trying to figure out various use cases and experiences for the customers - who could also be kids!


A big part of the marketer's job is about being hyper-aware of the customer. It is easier said than done. A pioneer in this field is none other than the legendary Steve Jobs. In my view, he spearheaded the concept of User Experience (UX) more than anyone else. iPhone and iPod are all interesting products that arose from the fountainhead of user-centric thinking. (https://youtu.be/MnrJzXM7a6o)


Even while writing this post, I am trying to be aware of my audience. Each of them would feel very different about this work. Some might react very positively, while others may think that I am stating the obvious again and again. Few people might not agree with my opinions. 


Also, Who are my target audience? Will a developer appreciate this post like a marketer? When is the correct time to publish this post? Should I publish this at night when they are about to sleep? Won't they be tired then? Should I post this during a weekday afternoon? At what time will their attention span be high? Is this post too long? Should I insert video links for enhanced understanding, or should I make this whole post into a video? Will people post memes in the comments?


Sorry for spamming you with indiscriminate questions. From this, we realize how a user-centric design philosophy sprouts automatically by asking more user-centric questions.  


Filmmakers are perhaps the epitome of user-centric thinking. If we are laughing at Vadivelu's comedy even now, it is because of the cohesive humour experience package that the moviemakers have created for us. 


However, does that mean we should pander to all audiences? Empathy is a laudable and necessary qualification for a marketer. But saying no to the whims and fancies of our customers is even more powerful. Consider Instagram. Do we realize why it is relatively difficult to text on Instagram messenger than Whatsapp Messenger? And why Whatsapp does not have the "react" feature?


Instagram is primarily a photo and video sharing platform. The messenger is for maximizing the reach of the content. The "react" feature is predominantly for photos and videos, not text messages. Hence the product passively disincentivizes us to text there. Whatsapp, on the other hand, is a messaging platform. Introducing react feature would prompt the users to share more photos and videos there.


Hence as a marketer, one must exercise enormous judgement while dictating what should pass as a feature and what should not. 


One of my colleagues advised me, "Fall in love with the product (in which I am working), and play with it." His choice of words was interesting. "Play" with the product? Did anyone at my company envisage that one would evoke this reaction? 


And dear reader, this was the reason for me to write passionately about this.


Comments

  1. 👍👍 we started this conversation last week... Clearly translated your thoughts to words 👌👌 could imagine you speaking these while reading. Good one bro

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How Asia Works - Review

Are we doing Elections right?

Frugality and audacity!