| |
| |
|
Marketing Resource Center |
|
|
|
The Apprentice: 5 Lessons in Marketing
Donald Trump's hit reality show, The Apprentice is a godsend for marketers around the world. Why? Because all of the tasks that the prospective apprentice's go through each week and each season involves some sort of marketing skills. So, the Apprentice is a great media channel to show how important marketing is in everyday business and especially if you want to be successful in business. So, here are some fundamental lessons that we can all learn from the Apprentice: Lesson 1: Give the client what they want. In the first season of the show, the Girls team came up with a risque and provocative ad campaign compared to the Men's team which came up with something safe and conservative. The Girls team's advertising campaign won because they followed a fundamental rule of marketing: ask the client what they want and deliver it to them. The best way to get your client(s) to buy what you have to offer is to give them what they want. The men's team lost simply because they "guessed" what the client was looking for instead of spending the time to meet and ask questions of the client and deliver what the client wanted. Lesson 2: Sell and market what you know; and sell a product and service that you can truly stand behind In another task, the two teams had to choose an artist and help sell that artist's artwork. The winning team kept it simple and chose an artist who's work they liked. The losing team chose an artist who's work was rather controversial and which they didn't understand themselves. Ultimately, because the losing team didn't have any clue what the artwork was about and because they didn't even like the work themselves, they couldn't effectively sell it. If you have no confidence in your product or if you don't understand your product, you will have a tough time selling it to other people if you can't even sell yourself on the product. Customers can sense that you don't have any confidence in your product, once they sense that you may as well pack it in. Lesson 3: Find different ways to create new revenue streams from your existing business In the "Rickshaw task", the winning team knew that they could not solely rely on revenue streams simply from offering rides in a rickshaw. They diversified and made optimum use of their assets to create multiple revenue streams by also selling advertising space on the rickshaw. The revenue generated from selling the advertising space was what sealed the win. This way you mitigate your risks if one revenue stream is suddenly negatively affected you don't go broke. Lesson 4: Price it right In the 2nd season, the guys team won the QVC task because of price. The women lost simply because they overpriced. In another example, the men lost in the fashion design task again, because their pricing was simply out of whack with what the buyers were looking for. Price too low and you lose. Price too high and you lose. No one can give you a simple formula for getting the right price for your product or service so it's up to you test and choose the optimal price for your product or service. Lesson 5: 80/20 Pareto Principle Going back to the rickshaw task, how did the winning team manage to sell advertising in such a short period of time? They went straight to the businesses they already had relationships with. You have a higher chance of generating sales if you concentrate on selling and marketing and generating more revenue out of the clients and prospects you already have existing relationships with. The 80/20 Pareto principle. So, no matter what you think of Donald Trump and reality shows, there are lots of lessons to be learned from reality tv. Copyright © 2004. Ethan Hathaway. Wayne Po, is the Founder and Marketing Consultant of Ethan Hathaway (http://www.ethanhathaway.com): A virtual consultancy that helps small to medium sized B2B businesses increase their revenues through effective marketing communications.
MORE RESOURCES:
Marketing - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Advertising Your Private Practice: Beware of the Problems-Part 1 One of the biggest mistakes coaches, counselors and other healing professionals make is to assume that they must advertise their private practice in order to get clients. These professionals often tell me they have spent a lot of money on advertising with minimal, if any, results. The Most Powerful Marketing Weapon Ever Invented It was probably first discovered out there in the caves or wherever else the history of mankind begun. And yet this weapon has been used so sparingly over the centuries. The 5 Musts of Marketing For most of the small business owners I work with, marketing has become the equivalent of a four-letter word. Inevitably, when I ask the question, "Do you have a marketing plan?" or "What marketing activities do you engage in?" I get the full gamut of responses from the proverbial deer in the headlights stare, to a vociferous, "I hate marketing, it's the least favorite part of my business!"After years of witnessing this reaction, and learning a bit about modern marketing, I'm starting to understand why traditional marketing is perceived and experienced as a necessary evil and avoided like a root canal. Open Doors by Building Relationships "You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get others interested in you." - Dale Carnegie -"The same could be said for increasing your professional network. The M-Word (Marketing) Phase 2 Last month we looked at what you need to do before you spend money on marketing brochures, a website, advertising or even go out to network. During Phase 1, it's all about crafting your message. The 7 Commandments of Marketing Marketing is the key to success with any business, online or traditional. You can have a website or business location. Marketing - Like a Game of Chess Have you started thinking about your Valentines Day Promotion yet?It may sound like a strange question on the day before Thanksgiving but it really isn't. When scheduling your promotions it is like a game of chess. The Top 10 Marketing Tools to Grow Your Business in 2004 Looking to grow your business? Make sure you have these marketing tools in place:#10 A powerful taglineIn 10 words or less, a good tagline reinforces a company's reason for being. And smaller companies will find it to be one of the hardest working tools. Developing a Contact List- Part Two In a previous installment, we spoke about how to come up with a list of persons you currently know. Although everyone on that list will not necessarily become your client, everyone can lead you to clients. Want to Increase Your Business? First You Need to Understand where You are at! Are you having trouble understanding basic situational marekting concepts? Then this article is for you.Alex Margarit shows you a simple step by step way on how to put together a basic situational analysis. Where to Find Cheap Brochure Printing Whether it is for is a real estate listing, a trade show handout, a data sheet, or another application, brochures can be a great promotional tool. They can be very expensive or surprisingly affordable, depending on your needs and where you look. Is Your Marketing Working... That is the question, you should be asking yourself. Many feel that it is I'm sure. Top 3 Reasons Why Your Headlines Fail Many professional copywriters estimate that the headline contributes to 80% or more of the success of any ad, article, or sales letter. One direct marketing expert goes so far as to credit the headline with 100% of the success or failure of any ad or sales letter, because if the headline fails to pull the reader into the main body of the ad or sales copy, then there is no chance of success! And they are both right! If your headline fails to perform its' function of getting the reader to read further into your copy, then the headline is fully responsible for the failure of the ad or sales letter. Collecting Customer Data The Easy Way Market research is a critical component of any marketing strategy. There are many expensive sources of customer information available today. Provacative Research Works If you want to double your business, then you need to get inside your client's head through proprietary research and provocative results.By conducting proprietary research, you obtain special information that prospective clients can't find elsewhere. Dear Friend: Dont Start Your Non-For-Profit Fundraising Letters As A Stranger Dear Friend:Don't do it.Don't start your fundraising letters with "Dear Friend. Questioning the Data of Demographic Off The Shelf Marketing Products I have been working on a direct mail campaign for our team in many areas and we are finding that the yellow page listings and business list CDROMS contain so many closed companies that we are spending too much on the mailings which are opened a little less because of the anthrax scare. Even customized lists are of little value. Get Personal: Letters vs. Direct Mail One of the reasons direct mail works is the personal aspect. It's ostensibly a letter from you to your prospect. Creating Customer Value The purpose of business is to create and retain a customer.Much has been written about customer orientation, customer relationship management (CRM), Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) metrics, Customer Centric organization models, customer retention, customer care?add any high sounding word with 'customer' preceding or succeeding that word and you have a new model, a new theory. Build Your Business Through Networking Here's one of the most important success principles you'll ever learn. It is this: The more people you know and who know you in a favorable way, the more successful you will be in your business or profession.
|
| home | site map | Advertising Articles |
| © 2006 |
