The Other Part of Marketing

There are hundreds of reasons why Nintendo's new game console, the Wii, outsells X-Box 2-1 and PS-3 4-1.  Which, by the way, are extraordinary numbers. 

But the main reason their product is so fundamentally different, which can be argued is the main reason they are so successful, is strategy: the other part of marketing.  Satoru Iwata on Nintendo's Wii strategy:

"We are not competing against Sony or Microsoft.  We are battling the indifference of people who have no interest in video games."

That shift, I believe, gave them the freedom to imagine a whole new relationship between player and game.  And that gave birth to their new controller, the one that reacts to movement.  So players don't sit there and play, they swing, point and punch their way to glory or defeat. 

And glory or defeat bring me back to strategy, the other part of marketing so important to your glory or defeat.

When most owners think about improving their marketing they think about their ads, brochures, mailers, website, price, special offers, etc.  And that's fine, as long as you don't stop there.  There's this whole (huge) underlying layer called strategy: what you are, how you define your basic value proposition. 

Mr. Iwata's strategy for the Wii translates to you as follows: What about your strategy is keeping you from imagining a whole new relationship between you and your customer?

Forget for a moment about your ads, brochures, mailers, website, price, special offers, etc., (they'll be there in a minute) and think about creating a whole new relationship with your customers.  Now, what the hell does that mean?!

Think about these examples of fundamental changes in "how it's done": when Domino's Pizza introduced 30-minute home delivery; when Charles Schwaub introduced discount stock trades; banking in grocery stores; pay-per-click advertising; and just about anything Steve Jobs touches.

The next time you think "Ah crap, we need to tweak our marketing," go ahead and look at your ads, brochures, etc., but also look at the fundamentals of what you offer.

Comments

[Yariv Sivan]

Doesn't that link with the basic question: "what business are we in?" Yariv