Ever wondered why your sales promotion or brand activation strategies have never yield any returns. The marketing manager argues out for its urgency, finance support them with proposed sky high sales forecasted. In a span of a meeting you are given the go ahead, your budget and target are clearly defined. You are excited! As a manger you even go ahead and challenge yourself, as part of your brand management that you will pull off ensuring mass communication at a rather cost effective (read low price)! You know the right (read cheap) suppliers and since your job description entails increasing sales margin, you jump right into the task 100% sure to over-deliver your targets and expectations with the help of your street wisdom! In the end, you successfully increased your sales performance by a shocking 0.099% and de-valuing your brand by a staggering 100%! To make even matters worse, studies show that loyal consumers are not exactly fans of sales promotions because they feel they are being pushed and sold to.
WHY you ask? Glad you asked…Well you see there are 3 factors that determine the failure of a brand activation or sales promotion:-
1. WHAT? Cheap implementation! According to the thesaurus synonyms for cheap is inexpensive, low-priced, easy on the pocket and waiiiiit for it….SHAMEFUL! Yes shameful is a synonym for the word cheap, and when I say cheap implementation, I’m actually referring to your embarrassingly low-cost budget! These budgets often lead to shaming a brand because it is the use of inefficient and ineffective mechanics. An example…you opt to use materials you have been using for the last 10 years which are the least presentable to your target market! Another example is by hiring cheap agencies that implement the same cheap concepts that were used during the launch of our national flag in 1963! That is considered shameful because audiences value, are attracted and appreciate creativity! Fresh scenario settings and ideas are not cheap, they come at a cost.
2. WHERE? Location! Location! Location! You are so engrossed in the implementation of the promotion that you do not take time to rethink on the appropriate area where it should be done! I’m talking about where the target market resides. Take this scenario, you are launching a kiddie’s treat and your target market is between 6-12 years of age. You decide to spread your wings, go all out and take advantage of every spot that generates high traffic i.e. public transport vehicles, bus-stops and every corner of the city as your preferred location. And why is this? Because you have a predisposition thinking that your target audience is the parents of the children because they are the people who pay for the goods. Well you have an idea but honestly you are like 180 degrees off you target course! Your target market is the people who have an urgency to experience what your product offers, does a father or mother aged 40 years of age have this urgency? How many children do you see walking around the streets during classroom hours?
3. WHO? Inappropriate sales team! Yes I Said It…INAPPROPRIATE! A sales team is a group of people who are willing and ready to present a company as brand ambassadors with strong belief in the product, value proposition and what you stand for in general. This however is not the case as most times these promotions are done under the impression that you are “working on a budget”. So as a company with a brand that stands for energetic, young and vibrant lifestyle you are quick to hire non-energetic, old and inverted individuals just because you are “on a budget”!
All these are the reasons why whenever your target market sees an activation going on they are quick to remove their cell phones pretend to be taking a call, quickly change their route so that they don’t have to encounter you or worse still blankly tell your sales representatives no without even blinking or even looking at their faces.
So HOW do you revert this ongoing cycle? It is simple:-
1. Do Not Implement Promotions Desperately! Your customers can smell desperation and your thirst for their money from as far as their ATMs are! Take time to assess agencies and their ideas. Select that which will leave a tasteful memory to your target market. It might be costly in the short term but in the long term it will definitely pay off…you only gain when you learn to invest!
2. Stop using conventional promotional methods! We have seen it all the only difference to your target market is that last time the area or sales representatives were wearing black and now they are wearing yellow…in other words they do not differentiate between brands! Think out of the box, it is about attracting ANY RIGHT people and not ANY NUMBER of people.
3. Your sales teams are your brand ambassadors! They are the first contact of your target audience, why take a risk? You only have one chance to sell, convince purchase and loyalty, you simply have NO room for risk!
DO NOT UNDERVALUE YOUR BRAND ; GIVE IT THE CREDIT THAT IT IS WORTH TO THE PUBLIC!
