Needed: Smart Retailing

RETAILING will be the next big employment sector in the marketing industry of Pakistan, or the world over. There are lost efficiencies and profits in this sector, and in industries which could use retailing as an option. It's a loss both ways.

1. For instance, the retailers need to optimize stores for space and display; i.e. have better merchandising. "Experiential marketing" and merchandising are untapped areas. Without any significant investment the retailers can enhance the shopping experience, and ultimately the sales volume, with merchandising and display that attracts maximum shopper dollars. The methods for this are known, but not applied. Meanwhile, utilizing new theories such as experiential marketing that plays on the senses of touch, sound, smell, taste, and vision will help transform dull and ordinary stores in to ones that customers love! (And this is why I harp on "3 for a great marketer/ brand manager.")
2. Second, there need to be economies in purchasing (and distribution, but that merits a separate discussion). I once heard about an IT based solution to the same, can anyone point us there again? To be exact, re-ordering, bulk purchasing, and bundling can use some economic sense. AND AN E-SOLUTION. One "industry" which can definitely need this is the meat & groceries industry. Perhaps there is no better application of retailing than in sabzi mandis (vegetable & fruit markets) and meat markets and shops.
3. We need more NICHE stores. And hyper marts. But niche stores more than anything else.
4. AND we need solutions for shop (front) display. And catalog marketing. And store management. And store context plan!
5. And we need extensive research - available on an industry level, not just to certain companies - about consumer shopping behavior, sales patterns, display preferences, color and ambience preferences, etc. I come back to human behavior: how many stores are particular about the music they’re playing? Or NOT playing? And how well does it go with their merchandise?
6. The typical Pakistani store still has slow- or no-moving stock staling right in front of shoppers' eyes. What that says about the attitude of the sellers and a lack of any retailing suavity is obvious. To get rid of this trash should be the first thing-to-do for most retailers.

Even Wharton is paying attention. The Jay H. Baker Retailing Initiative at Wharton School of Business brings together "world class researchers, educators, students, and the global leaders of today’s retail industry."

Do you agree that retailing is neglected and has a major potential for growth? Do you disagree? Comment below, or drop a note at nextbyramla@gmail.com.

Marketing Begins Now - Part 2

Let me preempt the criticism about "stating the obvious" in Marketing Begins Now.

"Product"
Of course!

"Find a gap and fill it"
Of God's-sake course, Ramla!

"Right Context."... Are you saying of course?
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (Your answer goes here.)

"Google."... Are you saying of course?
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (Your answer goes here.)

The greatest of products today were not obvious to those who took the need for them for granted. This is exactly what is meant by knowing what people really, really need or want (their information to get sorted). And giving them the best offer (Google and its related products), at the right price, on the right time, and within the right context.

And what is context? Keep watching this blog b/c a book's worth of volume can be filled on the critical importance of context. Watch out, especially, for "Consumer Context Planning."

Send your comments to: nextbyramla@gmail.com

3 for a Great Marketer/ Brand Manager - Part 2.2

Know that this is a changed world. These are some facts you must know to understand consumers and avoid ugly surprises:

• This is the infamous Age of Anxiety. People don't have time. People don't know who they are, what got them here, and where will they be tomorrow.
• The world is fragmented and divided in as many ways as there are hair on all cats on Earth.
• People have too many choices. Technology is making choices cheap. And attractive. You are one of the many choices. Be the only one. And the top one.
• Today's Average Person is standing near the End of History as s/he knows it. That makes life priorities very different. S/He doesn't give your brand a damn. Unless you really, really are doing something for her/him. Everyday.
• Media is distorting your consumer's psychological profile. Consider the average young woman who is getting beauty and sex tips from Cosmo, fashion inspiration from India, and clothes from China. She has a melting pot of values and choices, and very little dependability on her own civilisation (home civilisation - what is that animal anyway?). How do you market to her? What are the taglines for your latest campaign?

Consider the very funny case of Pakistanis too. They watch Indian movies and use
that lingo in their daily conversation (stuff like, Bolay toh?!) but repel when KFC used a tagline from Munna Bhai MBBS, the wildly popular tragi-comedy from India.

So, the question is:

Where will you be if you didn't have a superior knowledge of consumer psyche?

3 for a Great Marketer/ Brand Manager - Part 2

Superior knowledge of human behavior has always been critical, but it's a matter of life or a quick death in a world where consumers have:

• individualistic beliefs
• fragmented lifestyles
• highly defined and variable choice
• little to lose if they switch
• short memories
• no regrets for botching relationships with brands

If the brand managers of today want to succeed in chaotic times, they have to depend on the principles of order and stability. "Good Old Stuff" is reliable. It's secure. And it shows a method to madness.

It's a backward chain: when you are opening a door of uncertainty, use a certain key.

Knowledge of human behavior (HB) gives a method to the madness of consumer behavior. It opens the door to knowing the consumer. That opens the door to their attitudes and beliefs. That opens the door to knowing their lifestyle, values, habits. That opens the door to them: who are they, what are they doing, and how the hell can you get them to buy your proposition rather than anyone else's?

Marketers who don't get HB right are dead. They can't get in to the minds of the consumers. They don't know what drives them. Why are the holding their job anyway?

To-do list

This will be my list of to-dos for everyday management and marketing.

1. Use common sense.
2. Do the obviously right thing, because a simple look at the world reveals no one is going the obvious right thing.
3. Be empathetic. Really think hard about what empathy means... and now understand
that you have to empathize everyday, and keep up to pace with the drastically changing life of the consumers.
4. Embrace change.. by initiating it. Humbug book stuff, but hardly ever done!
5. Focus on the basics... cut out the s***. If people want good price, they won't eat or drink your image.
6. Ask THESE questions: what, where, why, when, how, by whom, for whom?

Easy stuff na? Easy to overlook any day....