Okay, so we have all learned about the 4P’s of marketing in undergrad: Product, Place, Price and Promotion. If not, you can open up one of your old marketing text books, blow off the dust and read about it there. The 6 C’s, however, is a not a concept that replaces the 4’Ps; rather, it just expands on the promotion element and provides a more granular approach to consumer marketing.
CUSTOMER
In this day and age, a company’s marketing strategy needs to be customer focused. It’s about understanding the target consumer; their wants, needs and motivations. Not as demographics, psychographics or any other graphics, but as real people. It is understanding why customers do what they do (or don’t do), when they do it and why they do it. Such knowledge is critical in marketing since having a strong understanding of buyer behavior will help shed light on what is important to the customer. It’s about focusing on the target customer first and then working back to the brand. It’s imperative that companies have mind share before focusing on market share.
CONSISTENCY
Companies need to maintain consistency in their message; a practice called integrated marketing communications – from packaging and advertising to sales promotion and publicity. This will maintain and reinforce a brand’s personality and image in a real life context and avoid doing something brainless like “New Coke” ….More to come….
Tags: Branding, customer, forward facing, keys to marketing