March 2010
Marketing, Layer by Layer
How is marketing like an onion? Sometimes it makes you cry! No, seriously, there is a relevant analogy. Onions have a center with layers that get larger as you go out. Similarly, if you imagine your product at the center, the layers of marketing get broader the further you get from the product. At the center, you're close to the product, reaching fewer people but in a very impactful way. At the edges, you're farther from the product, reaching a much larger audience but competing for attention. How is this usefully applied to your marketing plan?
This model can bring clarity and priority to your tactics. It's always a challenge to determine which tactics will best help you reach your objectives. And no matter how big or small your budget is, by definition it's limited because you can never do all the things you'd like. Beginning with a product-as-center-of-the-onion model, the decision-making process can be a little simpler.
Assuming a holistic model, where all aspects of marketing are on the table, and all come from the same bucket of dollars, here's an example of how you might prioritize certain tactics.
Product (the center of the onion)
- improvements or enhancements to the product itself (aids in good word-of-mouth)
- improvements or enhancements to packaging
- any direct-to-consumer channels, if applicable
- point-of-sale materials (from on-shelf to in-store to immediately outside the store)
- in-market or in-store events (including, say, radio remotes)
- retail circulars or whatever online/offline shopper media channels apply in your category
- search engine marketing
- improvements or enhancements to your Web site
- geo-targeted direct mail and email (i.e. targeting those close to where the product is bought)
- publicity, online and offline (because it appears in media channels when and where customers are most receptive and attentive)
The World (the outside layer of the onion)
Of course, all of this is subject to your specific product, how and where it's sold and your overall objectives (like if broad awareness is paramount) but you can see how to apply the idea. Focus first on those tactics close to the product. This ensures that precious dollars are being allocated in ways that make your budget more effective because it concentrates effort closer to the point of sale. It prioritizes communications towards those ready to buy or in the market.
This is why Walmart and manufacturers are so gung-ho on in-store advertising right down to seeing a product advertisement on a TV monitor in the very aisle where the product is displayed. It's POS on steroids.
If you have an unlimited budget (ha!), do everything. If not (pretty much everybody), perhaps this model will help your budget feel less inadequate by giving you confidence it's being spent in the most effective, efficient way. And maybe you can cry a little bit less.
