Despite changing times, marketing should stick to core principles

In the ever-evolving business era, marketing strategies may change in a myriad of ways, but the core principles remain the same. Only by focusing on product value, deeply understanding consumer needs, and building efficient channels and promotion strategies can companies gain market advantages.

In today's rapidly changing business environment, companies are facing unprecedented challenges and opportunities. To this end, they are trying every possible means to innovate in marketing, hoping to stand out from the fierce competition and gain unique market competitive advantages.

Many companies are eager to become famous quickly and are willing to invest huge amounts of resources. Even more companies take short-term actions but expect long-term results. Some companies even disregard the safety of consumers and take heartbreaking actions.

The existence of these phenomena shows that many companies do not truly understand the essence of marketing.

All efforts will actually fail to solve the fundamental problem if they are not combined with the basic level of marketing.

No matter how the environment changes, what stage the times develop to, and how innovative marketing methods emerge, the core principles remain unchanged: creating product value, meeting consumer needs, and effective channels and promotions are always the key to marketing success.

01 Focus on product value rather than pure price competition

In the past few decades, price wars have been the main means for many companies to compete for market share. However, with the diversification and personalization of consumer demand, it is difficult to maintain a competitive advantage in the long run by relying solely on price competition.

Enterprises in the new era should focus on enhancing product value and win the market by providing high-quality, high-value-added products.

Products are the most direct link between enterprises and consumers. The key to whether an enterprise can gain a foothold in the market lies in whether its products can meet the needs of consumers.

Product value includes not only functional value, but also emotional value, social value, etc. Therefore, companies need to continuously optimize product functions, design, and user experience to meet the needs of different market segments.

Apple is a typical example. Although Apple's products such as iPhone and iPad are relatively expensive, they have won the favor of consumers with their excellent performance, unique design and excellent user experience.

Apple's success lies in its focus not only on the functionality of its products, but also on the overall value of its products, including its brand image, user community and ecosystem. This all-round value creation enables Apple to always maintain its leading position in the fiercely competitive market.

02 Deeply understand and meet consumers’ real needs

The core of marketing is to understand and meet the needs of consumers. Companies should avoid self-righteously "representing" consumers, but should stand in the position of consumers and deeply understand their actual needs and preferences. This requires companies to conduct continuous market research and collect user feedback in order to adjust products and services in a timely manner.

Consumer demand is changeable, and companies need to have keen market insight and capture market dynamics in a timely manner. Consumers not only pay attention to the function of the product, but also pay attention to the experience, emotion and social value of the product.

Therefore, companies should interact with consumers through multiple channels, understand their actual needs, and provide more personalized and customized solutions.

Xiaomi has done a great job in this regard. Xiaomi has established a large user community, actively listened to users' opinions and suggestions, and continuously improved its products. For example, Xiaomi's MIUI operating system is the result of continuous optimization based on user feedback.

Xiaomi has also launched a variety of smart hardware products, such as smart bracelets, air purifiers, etc. These products are developed based on the actual needs of consumers. In this way, Xiaomi not only improves user satisfaction, but also enhances user loyalty.

03 Build convenient and efficient channels

Channels are an important part of corporate marketing, directly affecting the market coverage and sales efficiency of products. In the modern market environment, the ability of enterprises to cooperate with channel partners has become particularly critical.

Enterprises should actively establish stable strategic partnerships with channel partners, jointly optimize supply chain management, and improve market response speed. By strengthening communication and collaboration with channel partners, enterprises can better utilize channel resources, expand markets, and improve sales performance.

Building a convenient and efficient channel not only means expanding sales channels, but also means improving channel efficiency and service quality. Enterprises should choose the right channel partners to ensure that products can reach consumers smoothly.

At the same time, companies should also use technical means to improve the intelligence level of channel management, for example, using big data and cloud computing technologies to optimize inventory management and improve logistics efficiency.

P&G has established a strong channel network around the world and has established close cooperative relationships with major retailers. P&G not only provides high-quality products, but also conducts marketing and after-sales services through channel partners.

For example, the cooperation between P&G and Wal-Mart not only improved the market coverage of its products, but also increased brand awareness through joint marketing activities. This strategic cooperation model has enabled P&G to achieve great success in the global market.

04 Promote with resonance in mind

Promotion is an important part of marketing work, and its core value lies in arousing consumers' recognition and stimulating their willingness to buy. Many companies' promotion activities are not based on the perspective of consumers, but on the interests of the company itself, which greatly reduces the promotion effect.

A truly effective promotion strategy should stand with consumers, understand their living environment and needs, and establish emotional resonance with consumers through appropriate content and channels.

First of all, content is king. Promotional content should be attractive and relevant, and be able to arouse the interest and resonance of consumers. For example, by telling stories, showing how the product solves consumers' real problems and conveying the brand's values. Such content is more likely to impress consumers and make them identify with the brand.

Secondly, multi-channel integration. With the rise of new media, companies should make full use of social media, content marketing, search engine optimization and other channels to achieve all-round promotion coverage.

At the same time, the synergy between different channels can further enhance the promotion effect. For example, interesting content can be posted on social media to guide users to click on the link to the official website for more information, thus forming a complete promotion chain.

Data-driven. Using big data and artificial intelligence technology, companies can more accurately target their audiences, optimize promotional content and channel selection, and improve promotion conversion rates.

Through data analysis, companies can adjust their promotion strategies in a timely manner and achieve continuous optimization. For example, through user behavior analysis, companies can understand which channels have higher user conversion rates and increase investment in these channels.

Conclusion

No matter how the times change, brand marketing should adhere to the four core principles of creating product value, meeting consumer needs, building effective channels and carrying out effective promotions.

Only by continuously innovating marketing strategies and methods on this basis can enterprises remain invincible in the fierce market competition and achieve sustainable development.