The 3Fs of Marketing
It’s not a cuss word.
Ps have existed in the lexicon of marketers of our generation. Even though through the years the numerical have increased, the last number I remember proposed by a venerable writer was 7! What’s the fixation with the alphabet P!
Today’s environment is questioning all known tenets of marketing principles. Whether it’s the ever-changing consumer or ever-changing environment. The internet has been a significant inflection point as it enables the rapid dissemination of ideas and development of products around the globe. In effect, it acts to shorten the life cycle in many categories. Products emerge, surge, diffuse and are purged. With changing consumer tastes and preferences, some products become popular relatively quickly but are also loosing popularity dramatically and are replaced by the next best promise.
All this has led to the product lifecycle curve becoming steeper today than ever before, indicating that an increasingly large proportion of sale occurs soon after the launch of the product. A narrow window of opportunity occurs to earn profits on a new product before competition catches up and margins begin to shrink.
But with technological advances, the quality of products is improving greatly, resulting in an interesting paradox for marketers- while the products are lasting longer, the time in which they are outmoded is growing shorter.
And this brings us to the topic
In these times of fast change, it is important that we accept the relevance of the new paradigms of Marketing. The first step towards understanding the change is to rethink the rules of marketing. And it all begins with symbolism which in this case is nomenclature. Hence the Fs in Marketing.
The 3Fs of Marketing : Form, Function and Flexibility.
Form
The fact is that quantum change in technology and innovation is not as frequent a success as marketers would want it to be. However, the manner in which we invite consumers to consume categories is very important. The ipod is not just another mp3 player, notice the simple difference the colour of the earphone wires makes to the perception of the category! The car industry is perhaps one of the most prominent examples of the criticality of form. One base gives birth to many models. And in case you thought its just limited to physical products, it is true even for services and “formless” products such as life insurance. Ergo: the child plan category; at the base of this is an endowment or ULIP based product but the form in which it is served is what makes the difference. Form drives desire. A focused investigation into the form that we serve our product in or service is a critical initiative.
Function
Consumer expectations of a product category and use of a category is fast changing. The application and use of a product can serve, changes. Just about a decade ago those bulky mobile instruments could only be used for phone calls and SMSs. Today’s sleek mobile phone is an enabler of life on move – phone, sms, e-mails, music, photographs, videos, address book and even networking. This change in ‘Function’ has not only changed the way mobile instruments brands are being positioned but will also change the ways digital cameras, computers and brands in many other categories need to look at their life cycle.
The consumer is normally pretty clever in discovering the true function a product or service has in his or her life.
Flexibility
Expectations, objectives and goals have a contrarian occurrence. Long term vs. Quarter term. Immediate benefit vs. long term goodness. Efficacy vs. harshness. Environments can change extremely fast. Add to this a consumer who today has a point of view. And he expects his view to be taken seriously and impact the fortunes of the brand. There is a me within we waiting to be discovered. The digital explosion has transformed the great digital highway! A single view has the ability to multiply super –fast in a matter of hours if not minutes. Any plans that do not have the flexibility to promptly build on consumer feedback face the risk of being consigned to the past era.
High level of adaptability, in fact a proactive desire for constant change, is driving today’s consumers. Brands can be no different and they need to have flexibility in form and function to constantly meet changing consumer needs. To build a brand, marketers have to constantly peep into the minds of consumers and change the form that could bring the functionality consumers are looking for.
Gone are the days of sticking to the line! Today is the day of having a small consistent core and values which invite engagement, and consumer co-creation. And this is a monster that marketeers need to tame. Given this if not Plan Z at-least Plan F is a reality.