Marketing Strategy Insights

Barbara Kahn explains some of the differences between product-focused markets and customer focused markets. Barbara Kahn explains why she purchased her first-generation Nike Fuelband. There wasn't much else in the market at the time, and she really only wanted something to monitor her calories, steps, and energy levels. She focused on the benefits of the product when she wasn’t given much choice. Companies has to focus more on customer-focused marketing when other competitors emerge in the market which give the consumers more choice. When marketers want to win sales, they must focus on what benefits the consumers want and the second generation FuelBand did just that. They came out with a variety of new colors and allowed the device to tell time because consumers wanted less devices on their wrists. They substitute the fuelband for a watch and get a variety of added features as well. This was a good example of a successful brand extension of a product line. 

Cinnabon is an iconic brand that has had trouble maintaining its customers over the years. The gooey cinnamon rolls that were “the size of your face” come out at around 800 calories. Consumers started becoming more health conscious, and leadership at Cinnabon thought people might start to think twice when it came to giving in to the temptation of a Cinnabon. When Kat Cole took over as president of the company, they were immersed in an initiative, Project 599, where they were looking for ways to cut the calorie count under 600. Cole killed the project and questioned “Is this going to achieve what we’re looking for?” Then there was the problem of having to take out real ingredients and substitute them for synthetic ones to reduce the calorie count from 880 to 600. The brand had to really figure out what people valued about their brand and how to highlight those aspects to appeal to the millennial generation. Leaving aside the push under 600 calories, Cole and her team asked themselves “What do we actually own?” Is it Cinnamon? Cinnamon rolls? The frosting? When they asked consumers, they didn't mention an ingredient until word 10. They were coming up with words like aroma, soft, moist and indulgent, which led the team to conclude that it was “irresistible indulgence” that Cinnabon owned. The company then started making critical moves, one of them is that franchisees are mandated to carry Minibons, which only have 80-90 calories each. Some in the company feared that short term profits would prevent long term progress by pushing the smaller, cheaper option. The company thinks that 5-10% of customers might trade down, but the lower price point might encourage customers to buy a drink, or feel free to share to get people involved who wouldn’t have previously considered them. This would categorize as a product differentiation with the introduction of the brand new product”:Minibons. 

Google in the past found that insights, technology, and creativity were all siloed and disconnected, but Google has learned that it’s critical to connect these three essential functions. Insights influence every piece of creative, revealing who the audience is, how they behave, and the best time to reach them. Technology fuels more than media executions. It's integral in the building of creative and gleaning of insights. This approach has led to a new and more effective model for digital marketing. It will be exciting to see what else Google has planned in order to integrate technology into their digital marketing strategies. 

Amazon is working towards altering their selection of products as well, moving from the extensive selection that a superstore would offer, to a reduced selection that has been tailored to local demographics. There are many things that Amazon Bookstores do that Whole Foods could begin to implement, including: removing price tags, using prime as the rewards program, and the reduction of product offerings. Also, 62% of Amazon’s 30 million customers are prime members.   There is so much information that Amazon can utilize to improve it’s marketing strategy and it will be exciting to see the changes being implemented before us.