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Click here to view the article as it appeared in The Australian.
Tailored to hit the sweet spot
by Kristen Lees
"MARKETING is important" says Rachel Turner, co-owner of thriving confectionery business Sticky, which has wholesale and retail outlets employing 20 people.
"But there is so much else we have to do. We don't have a strategy but we do do marketing and we think we're effective. To put together a comprehensive marketing strategy would take time and it is time that's hard to find."
Turner is right to emphasise the importance of a strategy to underpin Sticky's marketing activities, according to Professor Paul Patterson, head of the marketing school at the Australian Graduate School of Management.
"What is more, she is typical of many small business owners who for reasons of time, money or simply competing priorities, don't quite get around to it," Patterson says.
"Owners of these businesses may wear many hats: they manage the cash flow, the accounting, the staffing, as well as the marketing. And they don't have a marketing plan. They may not even have a business plan.
"Lack of business knowledge -- and marketing is a crucial part of that -- is one of the three main causes of small business failure, along with lack of capital and lack of time.
"Small business typically has a layman's understanding of marketing and equates marketing with overt advertising. But advertising is just the tip of the iceberg."
Patterson says market segmentation, segment targeting, pricing structures, analysing buyer behaviour, and why people may prefer one brand over another, must all be considered.
"Spending money on advertising such as putting out flyers without knowing why the consumer might or might not choose your brand can be a waste," he says.
"And if you don't have a way of measuring how effective your marketing is, you can't know if what you are doing works."
So where does a pressed-for-time, strapped-for-cash small business owner go to get a tailored marketing strategy in a matter of weeks and for about $10,000?
Patterson says there are two approaches to consider: black box and knowledge transfer.
A black box solution is buying in a complete marketing strategy from outside consultants, whereas knowledge transfer may involve a marketing expert working with the business and taking it through the process to develop some expertise.
Advertising executive Graeme Gladman and marketer Jason Eisner believe BrandQuest might be the answer for businesses looking for a black box solution. They have developed this proprietary program of consultation and analysis "to deliver everything from brand personality to an executable marketing strategy to any small business within three weeks".
As a top level ad executive, Gladman has been involved in developing iconic Australian brands and his current business, RPM Communications, specialises in working with SMEs.
Eisner's career has focused on marketing, consultancy and business advisory projects in Australia and the US.
They have joined forces with the aim of transferring marketing tools and techniques of the corporate sector to small business, which they believe has failed to embrace the potential of sophisticated marketing because of unmanageable costs and time pressures.
"We have removed the jargon, simplified the process and created something that we believe is much smarter," Gladman says.
The "something" is a four-step process that delivers a marketing strategy with clear actions, budgets and timeframes.
They have tailored BrandQuest to hit the sweet spots of the small business owner.
"It has to be fast," Eisner says.
"Small businesses don't have the six months it might take a large organisation to agree on a brand concept. We turn around the whole strategy within three to four weeks.
Does such a marketing strategy appeal to Sticky? "If I had the money, I would love someone to break up our markets and show us what to go for, and how," Turner says.
"But I'd want to feel consulted."
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