The ABC’s of consumer product marketing

Ambassadors, Bargain hunters & Champions?

The path a company takes to inspire consumers to pull out their wallets and spend megabucks depends on innumerous variables- so many that if I even tried to graze the surface this blog would span several pages (which I won’t torture you with.) En lieu of that torture, I’ll just give you the A-C and leave the D-Z for another occasion--


Ambassadors

Often make great Halloween costumes but otherwise nonessential to completing ‘the sale.’

Let’s face it, the St. Pauli girl, Carmen Miranda and the Orbit gum girl are iconic testaments to the products they’re selling (and have all been on my Halloween costume list in my never-ending quest to be as many brand icons as I can before dressing for the holiday becomes passé – or creepy.)

Bargain Hunters

Disloyal and fleeting, this frugal bunch is driven by promotions and savings.
Keeping this shopper’s attention is a losing battle. Let’s face it- you’ll always be undercut by someone with a cheaper system or better deal, no matter how hard you try. Who really wants to be the bargain basement brand anyway? There’s no equity in being cheap.

In line with most of my references-- If you’re reputed to be a cheap date- you’re probably not going to attract the crème de la crème of the opposite sex.

Champions

Well…duh. I don’t mean to state the obvious here, but you want champions. You want the Michael Phelps of consumers. Probably not the best reference, but it being Olympics season, I felt the need for it to be included.

You can’t always control who champions your brand i.e. Kendra Wilkinson of the Girls Next Door and The Olive Garden (see story here: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/showbiz/2008/08/19/am.wynter.playboy.bunny.cnn ),
but these are the people you want out there on the streets providing you with invaluable word-of-mouth marketing…free! Love them! Embrace them! Olive Garden should be happy for all the free publicity they’re receiving from Kendra- surely other restaurants would kill for it.

Sadly, my endorsements of Pompillio’s, Skyline, LaRosa’s or Montgomery Inn won’t carry nearly as much weight, but I champion them none-the-less.

And there you have it.