“Why most marketing expenditures fail to make any impact” was very eye-catching.  It went on to say that most marketing doesn’t make any impact on sales.  In this article written by brand god, David Aaker, he argues that by and large the only big difference in sales comes when there is a new sub-category.  Among others, he cites the example of automobiles where the big shifts have been the emergence of 4 wheel drive, minivan, SUV, hybrid, and all-electric. Clayton Christiansen gives a similar perspective of the steel and auto industry.

Just this morning I was reading a story on the reversal of fortunes of Nokia.  And most of it was traced back to the emergence of the touch-screen phone (Apple) and the shift from hardware to apps.  So really all the big buck advertising of Nokia came to naught when a new category emerged.

The Indian IT industry grew despite the marketing mega-bucks of IBM, Accenture, EDS etc because it introduced the new category of “offshoring” to the IT outsourcing industry.  Today the emerging big sub-category is Cloud IT and with a few exceptions like Ramco Systems, HCL and TCS, and to a lesser extent Wipro, there is not much happening here.  Are they missing the bus?  

In the past year of consulting we have spoken to many firms, of which we finally ended up working with a very few.  The engagements where we felt we added most value were those where we were called in to help launch a new category or type of product.  Where the company intended to change nothing but its communication & brand strategy, there was actually little scope for results - it was old wine in a new bottle.  It brings home the message that marketing isn’t just marketing communications (marcom) but marketing strategy.  Indian organizations are structured to enable this - our recent “What Marketers Really Want” survey shows that over 60% of marketing departments report to the CEO.  But not many are mandated to do this - perhaps reflective of an overall focus on delivery and distribution as opposed to the next big thing.

So, if you want marketing to make a mark, they need to be equipped to spot trends and identify the next big emerging category.  You need to enable gather insights and innovation from potential customers.  In the past this was the realm of the really big guys and small startups, but here are some new techniques that can help firms of any size win with this:

1. Social CRM

2. Analytics

3. Crowdsourced Innovation

Does your company invest in these spaces? Are you focused on finding the next new category? Tell us, I’d love to hear your views.

I am not saying you should abandon the rest of your marketing plan.  Just bear in mind which service or product is the cash cow and which is the rising star and plan accordingly.