The New Age Marketing Warfare !
When Al Ries and Jack Trout wrote Marketing Warfare, the famous marketing book, little did they think about the level this war would reach? The new age marketing warfare is not just among different competitors fighting for the same market segment but is much more than that.
Let us take a simple scenario; Mohan went to Pizza People to have his lunch. He didn’t like the Pizza and the restaurant didn’t acknowledge the fact that Pizza was not good. He left Pizza People with a bad taste. As soon as Mohan came out, he took out his iPhone (read any phone with apps) and updated a status on the Facebook app that Pizza People sucks and don’t go to xxxx area branch.
Unfortunately for Pizza People, Our Mr. Mohan is quite a popular guy and has 630 friends on Facebook. As soon as he puts this status update, atleast 200 people read it instantly and rest read it through the day. And to add to it 15 people commented similar experience on various branches of Pizza People!
What happens to the brand Pizza People? It drops instantly in the brand ladder of all the people who read that facebook update.
Is this a war situation for Pizza People? Not now it’s just a small battle.
Ok, Lets build up on our story a bit more. One of the guys became extra emotional after reading the update and in anger makes a new Facebook Page called ‘I hate Pizza People, it sucks’ and shares it on the internet and the page has 2000 fans at the end of the week and is still counting. Now What?
It’s a WAR like situation for Pizza People.
The war is not fought with its competitors but with its potential customers. How to tackle it? Frankly speaking, there is not much what can be done now?
Only one solution, improve the service and don’t let such incidents happen again. Make sure that the Customer walks out of your place with a good experience unlike Mr. Mohan.
This case is applicable to every industry, every product and every service. A customer today is equipped with arsenal good enough to take a company down.
So is this a War? if we take a cue from Al Ries and Jack Trout, it is.
How to tackle this?
What should a company do to make a brand?
1) Advertise? No
2) Brand ambassador? No
3) Shout on top of its voice? No
4) Serve the customer well and deliver what he/she expects? Yes
The basic concept remains the same. Serve the Customer well and assume that Customer is King. And equipped with so much these days, he is an emperor!
Whatever be the case, the bottom line is that do not disappoint the Customer. Whether it was 1970 or present day, power of customer can’t be underestimated.
But take care and don’t overdo it to win the customer. Else you need to be ready for another Facebook update, “These Pizza People guys are so irritating. They are behaving as if I am a fool and can’t take any decision on my own”
War Siren?
