For most start-ups, budgets are slim and smarts are plentiful. This presentation covers how to approach marketing start-ups by using smart and sound strategy to OUT-THINK (rather than out-spend) competitors. This presentation was originally developed and delivered by Ben Grossman for the Microsoft BizSpark Incubation Week for Windows 7 at the Microsoft Technology Center in Boston, MA.
13. 26 year
unemployment rate high this month.
BBC | “US services see September growth” | 10/5/2009
14. “even if the recession miraculously ended tomorrow,
economists estimate that at least three years would
pass before full employment returned and output rose
enough for the economy to operate at full throttle.”
Louis Uchitelle
New York Times
April 6, 2009
BBC | “Economy Falling Years Behind Full Speed” | 4/6/2009
15. “We and others are funding start-ups
as slowly as possible, or not at all.”
Howard Anderson
Founding Partner
Battery Ventures
•New York Times | “Economy Falling Years Behind Full Speed” | 4/6/2009
16. the frustration with the economy:
“We played by the rules,
but the rules changed.”
Mary Tuttle, Pittsburg
NYT Letter to the Editor
April 10, 2009
17. the frustration with the marketing:
You can play by the rules,
but the rules changed.
19. consumers have more choices
and less time.
and less time.
Startup Marketing: Getting Off The Ground Floor | Sean Omalley and http://www.flickr.com/photos/cunaldo/
20. start-ups don’t have
robust marketing budgets.
robust marketing budgets.
Startup Marketing: Getting Off The Ground Floor | Sean Omalley and http://www.flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/sgw/
21. and, when you can’t out-spend,
you only have one option:
out-think
Startup Marketing: Getting Off The Ground Floor | Sean Omalley and http://www.flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/sgw/
22. and, when you can’t out-spend,
you only have one option:
{ OUT-THINK}
out-think
Startup Marketing: Getting Off The Ground Floor | Sean Omalley and http://www.flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/sgw/
23. { OUT-THINK}
OUT-THINK
my philosophy that smart
and sound strategy is the best
policy to battle those who can
out-spend you and your company
24. { OUT-THINK}
OUT-THINK
the philosophy to live by,
because there will always come a day
when someone else (competitor, ex-lover, etc.)
can out-spend you.
25. let’s start with the basics.
Startup Marketing: Getting Off The Ground Floor | Sean Omalley and http://www.flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/sgw/
27. “Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and
processes for creating, communicating, delivering,
and exchanging offerings that have value for
customers, clients, partners, and society at large.”
-American Marketing Association
http://www.marketingpower.com/AboutAMA/Pages/DefinitionofMarketing.aspx
43. so, what’s the point?
1. make conversations about your product,
service, or organization easy and organic to
have -- enable storytelling
44. so, what’s the point?
1. make conversations about your product,
service, or organization easy and organic to
have -- enable storytelling
2. let those conversations drive sales for
protracted periods of time
45. so, what’s the point?
1. make conversations about your product,
service, or organization easy and organic to
have -- enable storytelling
2. let those conversations drive sales for
protracted periods of time
3. create RAVING FANS
47. the value of
RAVING FANS
1. they evangelize your brand for you
48. the value of
RAVING FANS
1. they evangelize your brand for you
2. they are loyalists--long time customers
49. the value of
RAVING FANS
1. they evangelize your brand for you
2. they are loyalists--long time customers
3. they are willing to engage with, take
ownership of, and support the brand
50. the value of
RAVING FANS
10% influence the
purchasing behavior of
the other 90%
The Tipping Point | Malcolm Gladwell
56. STEP 1: differentiate & innovate
• Start-ups are in a unique position to build
brand value into the offering, due to its
nascent stage
Based on The Brand Gap | Marty Neumeier
57. STEP 1: differentiate & innovate
• Start-ups are in a unique position to build
brand value into the offering, due to its
nascent stage
• The key is to build a remarkable feedback
and to include consumer suggestions during
development--these advisors are your future
RAVING FANS
Based on The Brand Gap | Marty Neumeier
58. STEP 1: differentiate & innovate
• Start-ups are in a unique position to build
brand value into the offering, due to its
nascent stage
• The key is to build a remarkable feedback
and to include consumer suggestions during
development--these advisors are your future
RAVING FANS
• Building in differentiation and innovation
makes the branding process much easier!
Based on The Brand Gap | Marty Neumeier
59. STEP 1: differentiate & innovate
• Give your brand focus:
Based on The Brand Gap | Marty Neumeier
60. STEP 1: differentiate & innovate
• Give your brand focus:
– Who are you?
Based on The Brand Gap | Marty Neumeier
61. STEP 1: differentiate & innovate
• Give your brand focus:
– Who are you?
– What do you do?
62. STEP 1: differentiate & innovate
• Give your brand focus:
– Who are you?
– What do you do?
– Why does it matter?
63. STEP 1: differentiate & innovate
• Give your brand focus:
– Who are you?
– What do you do?
– Why does it matter?
• If you don’t have answers for all of these,
step back to re-focus brand and business
goals.
64. STEP 1: differentiate & innovate
• Give your brand focus:
– Who are you?
– What do you do?
– Why does it matter?
• If you don’t have answers for all of these,
step back to re-focus brand and business
goals.
• Create an “onliness statement”
Based on The Brand Gap and Zag | Marty Neumeier
65. STEP 1: differentiate & innovate
our offering is the only category
that benefit.
Based on The Brand Gap and Zag | Marty Neumeier
66. STEP 1: differentiate & innovate
1. Best SellingBASIC MARKET POSITIONS
NINE
2. Only
3. Best Known
4. Easiest
5. Most Competitive
6. Fastest
7. Most Powerful
8. Newest
9. Most Affordable Based on The Brand Gap and Zag | Marty Neumeier
67. STEP 2: market to influencers
• Build the
brand for them:
B2B B2C Service Product customers trust the company branding tends to be visible | customers trust the company branding tends to be invisible customers trust the people branding tends to be
visible | customers trust the people branding tends to be invisible
Based on The Brand Gap and Zag | Marty Neumeier
68. STEP 2: market to influencers
• Build the brand for them:
VISIBLE BRANDING INVISIBLE BRANDING
Collateral CEO vision
Advertising Employee training
Partner communication Pricing strategy
Photography Customer relationships
Web presence Customer wins
Positioning advertising Sales force communication
Action advertising Sponsorships
Point of sale Public relations
User experience Vendor selection
Based on The Brand Gap and Zag | Marty Neumeier
69. STEP 2: market to influencers
• Build the brand for them
• Make it easy to tell stories about the
brand and to spread those stories
70. STEP 2: market to influencers
• Build the brand for them
• Make it easy to tell stories about the
brand and to spread those stories
• The value of stories: they’re ‘Made to
Stick’
71. STEP 2: market to influencers
• Build the brand for them
• Make it easy to tell stories about the
brand and to spread those stories
• The value of stories: they’re ‘Made to
Stick’
• Include influencers in offering
development and improvement
73. STEP 3: loyalty and recommendations
• Embrace and support engaged
influencers to becoming raving fans
74. STEP 3: loyalty and recommendations
• Embrace and support engaged
influencers to becoming raving fans
• Optimize content so that it is easily
shareable and desirable
75. STEP 3: loyalty and recommendations
• Embrace and support engaged
influencers to becoming raving fans
• Optimize content so that it is easily
shareable and desirable
• Create outlets for loyalists to tell their
stories
76. STEP 3: loyalty and recommendations
• Embrace and support engaged
influencers to becoming raving fans
• Optimize content so that it is easily
shareable and desirable
• Create outlets for loyalists to tell their
stories
• Tap into the power of social media to
personalize brand
77. STEP 3: loyalty and recommendations
• Embrace and support engaged
influencers to becoming raving fans
• Optimize content so that it is easily
shareable and desirable
• Create outlets for loyalists to tell their
stories
• Tap into the power of social media to
personalize brand
• Engender trust in the staff, who serve as
brand touch-points
78. after bolstering the
brand and supporting it
through these steps,
you’ll be armed with an
army of RAVING FANS
ZAG | Marty Neumeier
79. their strength as brand
evangelists and supporters
just goes to prove that
when you can’t outspend,
you can always…
ZAG | Marty Neumeier