Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

Concerning our marketing research, we must make it a priority to caution ourselves against those that make endless assertions.

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When you make decisions in your business, you must know that they are based upon solid observations and research. To develop strategies based upon perceptions not related to reality could destroy your business.

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Jason Dowdell makes an excellent case concerning this very thing. Here’s what he says:

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“We all know that most netizens have an iPod, Google has more impact on a wider audience than AOL, and Rolling Stone is the most read magazine for online music lovers.”

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This sounds right, but accoring to Jason, completely wrong. He continues, “according to Nielsen/NetRatings. (The truth -- just one out of seven online folks visited iTunes, AOL has a bigger audience of users who spends almost five times as long on their site as Google users, and Wired is the favorite magazine of iTunes enthusiasts).” 

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John Repici mentions this concerning various type of hype marketing: 

Pick a context: 

     A diva pin-up attempting a comeback with mediocre songs.

      A boy-band... any boy band.   

New software paradigms that solve no existing problem, but are hyped as the "next big thing" in every industry journal you read.

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An entire issue of one of those journals devoted to the most powerful entities in the networking industry, where the only mention of Linux is in a two-page, inside-front-cover ad from Microsoft.

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The list is never ending.

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Why do people think that marketing, in and of itself, despite the quality of product, will be successful? Because, short-term, it will work. But if you want to build a company that has long-term success, forget all about marketing for marketing’s sake, and develop quality products and services, then build your marketing program around them.  

We’ll finish with one last quote from Karkaria:

"Obviously, strategizing, analysis and planning will be the key, but at the end of the day, you win by going out there and taking strong, decisive action," exerts Zubin.

Just make sure that the information you gather is based upon market realities and customer wants and needs and not hype that is gathered from those with an agenda.