Friday, March 30, 2007
Thot bubbled #49
This thought bubbled from Roop's nice post on creating equity. My question is this: Is Sony a great marketer or not much more than a great creator of products? Related question: Can a great creator of products not be a great marketer? I tend to believe Sony is better at creating products than marketing them. Yes, Sony is one of the best brands in its marketspace but I think this has less to do with their marketing than with their ability to create superior products. Does that make sense? In fact, I think most Japanese companies aren't that good at marketing. What they're really, bloody good at is creating good-to-great products for less. Hmm...is the ability to create great products not part of the ability to market?
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6 comments:
Not really. Apple is a great example of a company that does both well.
The problem, in my opinion, is that in some cultures it is frowned upon to be slick and marketable - the immediate assumption is that what you are selling isn't too good then.
I have no idea if that's the case in Japan but I do think that some Japanese companies (including Sony) might suffer from such an assumption.
Toyota and Nissan are good examples. Both make excellent product and markets them equally well. Toyota is all set to overtake GM in US, now what do you say for that?
I am not quite sure I'd classify Toyota and Nissan as companies that are marketing-savvy.
Toyota has amazing products and word of mouth reputation. Plus their process driven efficiences have done much to take them where they are.
Nissan was getting eveything wrong until they entered into a marriage with Renault and benefitted from Carlos Ghosn's leadership.
One of the things I notice is that the US arms of these giants seem more clued into the marketing side of things.
What do you say, UberM?
I don't know much about Nissan or Toyota or, for that matter, any Japanese companies. What I do know is that I tend to think a company is a good marketer if it i a partner in creating good advertising. If I were to go by that logic, I'd say Honda is the best marketer among Japanese Automakers.
Now forget what I have just said and think about what I am about to say.
What makes the Japanese great marketers is that they don't get bogged down by issues like originality and ego. They just go out there, use what has already been done and improve it.
To me, a great marketer is someone who understands what a customer wants and not someone who is all tied up with coming up with never-done-before products because they want to. Most customers are looking for cheaper, better products. Period.
The Americans tend to be good at creating products that are less functional and more ego-massaging. (Example: Luxury products.) Most car-buyers, and most mass market product consumers, don't care for such things. It is in this space that the Japanese have redefined marketing thinking by copying what's good and improving it. (The Chinese are doing the same and will be the next Japaese.)
So what am I saying? I'm saying a good marketer is someone who focusses on what the customer wants and delivers.
I think if you focus on the product and come up with a better product, not necessarily a new one, you won't need to worry about how good a marketer you are. Great products will market themselves. And the Japaese are great marketers not because they are great marketers, in the conventional sense of the word, but because they forget about conventional marketing techniques and focus on coming up with better products, even if copied.
I wish I could elaborate on this and write a proper essay about it. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to crack open the thought that bubbled over and I'm trying so hard to get at, and out of my mind. Sorry for not being clearer.
In one line: Forget about marketing. Focus on the product. In another line: The product is marketing.
I agree as far as Honda being a great manufacturer goes, but I disagree when it comes to marketing, especially communication. In fact, Honda does the least bit on this front and worse still in terms of communication. The fact is Honda is quality and Honda is innovation, be it product technology or design. The other bit that goes with the company is that while other manufacturers like Ford, GM & Toyota came to India with 12, 16, etc year old models from their foreign markets, Honda was the only one to stick up its hand and provide us Indians with the latest - The Honda City and we all know how we swear by the old 1.5 EXI. Its a classic.
3 things set Honda apart from the rest - Honesty, Product & Service... Honesty in aiming to provide the consumer with the best, product in terms of delivery & service entailing in great after-sales, cheaper spares as compared to its brethren...And you have HONDA - Power of dreams & the City which sells itself crazy just by being the car it is...
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