Thursday, March 22, 2007

One water: drink up!

Global Ethics, a U.K. nonprofit, markets One water (yes, bottled water) to raise money for pumps that provide clean drinking water to a growing number of villages in South Africa and neighboring nations.

Simple logo, simple label, simple premise--good marketing for a good cause. And distribution through Tesco, Waitrose, Total gas stations, and other convenient places puts One water in the right place for grab-and-go purchases as well as regular family shopping trips. Who needs glitz and glam when you can make people feel good by doing good?

Thursday, March 8, 2007

Tapping that big market of non-users

So many marketers want to convert non-users to users, but India's Air Deccan has actually done it. Take a look at how the no-frills airline describes itself. It started with a single airplane and now, according to one published report, will take delivery of a new plane every month for roughly the next 8 years. That's a lot of seats to fill.

No-frills airlines are gobbling up market share across India, which is where non-users come in: On many Air Deccan flights, more than half of the passengers have never flown before. Of course, it helps that Air Deccan is flying to some destinations served by no other airline. Low costs, low fares, new routes, even new channels for ticketing--that's how Air Deccan taps the huge market of non-users.

Saturday, March 3, 2007

Smart marketing, international style

Dinero Express and Electrolux

As I researched new examples for the new edition of my U.S. text (due out in April) and my European text (due out in June), I came across a number of interesting international examples of smart marketing. Dinero Express and Electrolux serve entirely different markets and their products are worlds apart but both understand good marketing.

Dinero Express. The Spanish bank BBVA is targeting immigrants with special Dinero Express branch offices that remain open 12 hours a day, 364 days a year, offering basic banking services plus affordable extras that this niche market needs, like making cheap international phone calls from the branch. BBVA is expanding in the Americas, as well. For more, look at: BBVA's web site and an International Herald Tribune story.

Electrolux. Sweden's Electrolux is targeting higher-value market segments by analyzing unmet consumer needs, measuring how well its current and proposed household appliances meet those needs, and using metrics to track new product development and introductions. Rather than rely solely on consumer surveys, it uses ethnographic research and then constructs personas representing the targeted segments to help staff members better visualize and understand their customers. For more, see this Business Week story.

Watch this space for additional examples of smart marketing in the coming weeks...