How to Enter the Consumer's Mind
Coke or Pepsi, Honda or Toyota, the age old question of how to penetrate through the minds of every day consumers and steer them to purchase your brand while securing their brand loyalty is what marketers have been splitting hairs over for years. Should more time and money be allocated in building brand recognition and loyalty or should impulse shoppers be the main attraction? This article will address those issues from a logical view point.
For ages man has been pondering over how to increase sales while minimizing cost. Scientists and market researchers have come up with numerous methods and equations geared to answer this question; however, there is no ideal solution. Here are a few key factors that affect the mind of the consumer.
Feelings » Everyone has feelings and emotions, those key entities play a starring in role in how a consumer will feel about your brand and how loyal they will be in the future. Everything counts, from the color of your bottle, to what your VP of branding said last night, every moving part plays a factor in a consumer's view of your brand.
Innovation » It is human nature to always want to the newest and latest technology. When Apple launched the I-Phone there was a 5 hour line to get be able to purchase one. At that point in time, most consumers did not even know what the I-Phone could do or how it was different from a BlackBerry. However, it is was new and exciting, so the masses felt a "need" for it.
Product Positioning » Why are kid's sugar cereals on the bottom of the shelf in the cereal aisle? Why is gum and candy always placed in front of the cash register? It is not by accident at all! It is all product positioning. If a product stares you in the face, there is a good chance that you will read what the label or cover says. Once you have read it, the marketer has succeeded, the product has entered the consumers mind and they are on the fence about purchasing it.
Decision Making » With so many products and services available today, a consumer must be able to identify the following in making a decision. Desire, Need, Value, Benefit. For example, a bottle of Coke is more of a desire than a need and with the average cost at $1.00 for a 12 Oz. can, it is a sound value. So what is the benefit you ask? Well that is subjective, however, one could argue that Coke keeps you awake, improves your overall performance and produces a better end result. On the contrary, one could also argue that Coke is terrible for you with all the sugar and caffeine in it, it is a toxin to your body. A marketer could sway this any which way they choose to. However, it is the end consumer who will have to identify with your logic and reasoning behind the message you are sending.
Let's address value for a moment; a consumer needs to feel like they are receiving a good value, whether emotional, monetary or otherwise, no one wants to feel like they were taken advantage of. Smart marketers understand that more is really less. If a consumer look at two similar products, a 20 oz. bottle of Evian water and a 24 Oz. bottle of Poland Spring water, do you think the bottle with the extra half cup of water was more costly to produce?
Most likely not, and do to that one reason, that extra half cup in the bottle a thrifty or smart consumer will be sold.
Design » There are those of us with a practical sense for usage of a product and those of us who want something simply because of its physical appeal. Let's take for example the design of a soda cup from two similar major restaurant chains. Chain A. spend millions of dollars designing new soda cups made out of a unique blend of plastic to ensure the drink stays cold and the cup does not sweat. Chain B. utilizes a generic blend of plastic with the focus being to design a cup that will fit into almost every auto cup holder. These are two very dynamic ideologies with broad appeal. So which one do you think will have the higher success rate? The answer is subjective to location. In suburban or rural areas, Chain B. would be the successor. In high populas metropolitan areas like New York, Chain A. would strike the eye of the consumer. Both these ideologies are justified by need, and practical usage.
Summary
Planting your brands seed into the complicated mind of a consumer is by no means an easy task. It is a very challenging and rigorous process with no perfect solution. When all of the points addressed above are combined they equate to a solid starting point and revenue generation is maximized. Mass brand exposure is also another ingredient that needs to be in the marketing mix. Logically speaking, how many times per day are you indirectly contacted by Coke or McDonalds? Ten? Fifty? One Hundred? They keep coming and are everywhere, and from their income sheet they are doing a pretty great job at it. In a world where everything is moving at such a rapid pace, the increased barrage of ads and the constant "in your face" approach to marketing has proven to be an effective method. Effective methods sync into the consumers mind which results in increased revenue. At the end of the day it is all about revenue produced, isn't it?