What kind of marketing is useful during the coronavirus pandemic? The basics and latest information

Today, as digital technology and communication infrastructure have evolved dramatically, the environment surrounding consumers and businesses is rapidly becoming digital and online, and the line between the real and digital has become blurred. As a result, customers have become accustomed to purchasing products and receiving services both online and in physical stores, making it increasingly easy to find the value they are looking for from a wide range of options. Most of the customer needs that appear on the surface have already been met, and if companies do not grasp the “something” behind those needs, even if they develop new products and services, they will not be able to reach the consumer’s mind. However, the situation is such that success is uncertain.

The importance of “marketing” has long been emphasized in these major business transformation phases. However, even if you try to put marketing into practice, if you do not have a correct understanding of the specific definitions, types, and methods, you will not be able to use it for your business and increase sales.

Moreover, in today’s business environment, the definition and methods of marketing themselves are undergoing major changes. Therefore, in this article, for those who want to utilize marketing activities for business, we will review the basics such as the definition and types of marketing, and explain what procedures and methods to use and strategies for marketing that are useful for business. I would like to explain whether it is necessary to formulate the following.

What is marketing?

marketing basics

○Backstory of marketing

The concept of

marketing

is said to have originated in America in the early 1900s. Records show that in 1905, a course related to marketing was added to Ohio State University’s business courses.

It is said to have been imported into Japan around 1950, at the beginning of the period of high economic growth, and after that, it rapidly began to be recognized as a new way of thinking necessary for business, and it came to be systematized in various ways.

Originally, the word “marketing” was derived from the word “market,” meaning to transact in the market, but it could not be translated into easy-to-understand Japanese words like “sales” or “promotion,” so it was changed from this word to “market.” There are no words to clearly express this, so in Japan, marketing has been used as is. Therefore, since marketing entered Japan, its definition and methods have evolved and changed as the environment surrounding society and business has changed.

As a result, the definition of marketing has often differed in detail depending on the position and perspective of the scholar or organization doing the research*, but broadly speaking, it is understood as a “broad concept related to buying, selling, and exchange.” .

According to the definition established by

the Japan Marketing Association

in 1990, “Marketing is the process by which companies and other organizations take a global perspective, gain mutual understanding with customers, and create markets through fair competition.” It is defined somewhat narrowly as “the comprehensive activities of

The international definition has been revised several times by the American Marketing Association, but according to the most recent definition in 2007, “Marketing is defined as value for customers, clients, partners, and society as a whole.” “It is an activity, a set of institutions, and a process for creating, transmitting, delivering, and exchanging certain offerings.”

The expressions in Japan and the United States are slightly different, but the key points to be extracted from them are: ・It is a mutual exchange of value with customers and stakeholders, not a unilateral imposition.・The most comprehensive definition of marketing is that it is a comprehensive activity to create the value desired by customers, stakeholders, and society. .

In other words, marketing activities involve the entire process of getting customers to choose products and services, as well as providing something of value to stakeholders and society, and include individual visible activities such as sales promotions and promotions. It can be said that the entire customer purchasing process and all activities surrounding it are the target area of ​​marketing. *There are some different definitions from the standpoint of social economics and macroeconomics, but we will omit them here.

〇Definition and evolution of marketing

○Definitions of Drucker and Kotler Also, the definition and purpose of marketing differ depending on the researcher who advocates it. Here we will review the definitions of the most prominent researchers, Drager and Kotler.

First of all,

Peter Drucker

, who is considered an authority on management and the father of business administration, left behind the words, “The ideal of marketing is to make sales activities unnecessary.”

In other words, marketing is all about creating a state in which customers naturally want to buy something, even if you don’t have to sell to them and say, “Please buy this.”

To achieve this, companies need to properly understand customer needs, develop products that meet those needs, and disseminate useful information that reaches the appropriate target group.

Specifically, we are able to consistently plan, implement, and manage a series of measures such as product development derived from market research and analysis, formulation of sales strategies, public relations and advertising, and verification of their effectiveness. It’s a marketing activity.

Drucker emphasized the importance of standing on the customer’s side in this series of processes, and as long as marketing activities can understand the customer’s needs and provide products and services that suit the customer. , states that a “system for selling” will be created naturally.

From this, in Japan, the idea that “systems that sell” is the whole picture of marketing has been born.

On the other hand, according to the definition of

Philip Kotler

, a leading authority on modern marketing and the author of “Marketing Management,” marketing is “the process of creating products and value and exchanging them with others. “The social and business processes that individuals and groups use to obtain what they need or want.” The book also provides a more concise definition of this as “making profits by responding to needs.”

These “needs” are, of course, the needs of customers, and it goes without saying that in order to meet these needs, it is essential to stand in the customer’s shoes. In other words, both Drager and Kotler define the same thing using different words.

○ Changes in marketing as seen by Kotler In order to talk about Kotler, it is important to note that he considered the flow of marketing trends, which change with the times, from Marketing 1.0 to Marketing 4.0. Let’s take a look at how the definition and framework of marketing has changed as society has changed, and look at the marketing trends of each era based on Kotler’s definition.

history of marketing

Marketing 1.0: Product-centric era

The 1950s was a time when the automobile industry flourished and new industrial products began to be produced in large quantities. There was still a lack of products and information, so it was an era of mass production and mass consumption, where the more products you made, the more you could sell. Particularly in the United States, the economic structure was such that if you produced a product in large quantities and sold it cheaply, demand outstripped supply and consumed more and more of it. It is positioned as “product-centered marketing,” with an emphasis on “product management for the purpose of.”

At that time, as product-centered marketing was being explored, a marketing mix method that combined various methods became popular, with automakers taking the lead. In the 1960s, the framework of “4P analysis” (more on this later) was born, which is still fully applicable as the basis of marketing today. It is a method that emphasizes what kind of product (Product), how it should be distributed (Place), what price (Price), and how it should be promoted (Promotion).It matches the historical background of the time. It was an effective marketing method.

Marketing 2.0: The era of consumer-oriented

Around the 1970s, as production technology developed through repeated mass production, a large number of inexpensive products entered the market, and many similar products were distributed. As a result, there is an oversupply of products on the market, and consumers who previously accepted products on the market as they are now begin to carefully examine and select products and services. A reversal has occurred in the positions of companies and consumers. This was spurred by the oil crisis. As economies around the world and in Japan have slumped and consumer purchasing power has declined, consumers have become increasingly selective in their product choices. Companies are now required to analyze consumer needs to find out what products and services consumers want, and reflect this in their marketing activities. For this reason, it has been positioned as a consumer-oriented era.

Marketing 3.0: The era of value-driven

Since around 1990, public Internet networks have been developed and have become widespread in ordinary households, making it possible for consumers to freely obtain information through the Internet. By collecting not only information from companies but also word-of-mouth and reviews online, consumers can now exchange information and opinions about products and services with each other, and compare and consider products based on their own values. . For this reason, companies are introducing marketing activities through the Internet.

Also, during this period, the quality of manufacturing technology and services has improved significantly, and it has become commonplace for products and services to have high quality functionality and performance. Therefore, consumers not only focus on quality and cost performance, but also consider what kind of social value they can enjoy by purchasing a product or service, and what kind of social contribution they can make through it. People start to engage in consumption behavior based on their perspective.

We are now in an era where companies are evaluated not only on the quality of the products and services they provide, but also on how they contribute to society. The very meaning of the term is now being questioned. In this way, the value-driven era began when consumer evaluations began to be considered in terms of value to society.

Marketing 4.0: The era of self-actualization

From around 2010, there has been a demand for products that satisfy not only social factors but also spiritual values ​​by fulfilling consumers’ self-actualization and desires. The term self-actualization is a concept introduced into marketing based on the final stage of the five-level hierarchy of needs proposed by American psychologist Abraham Maslow.

In today’s world, where most of the material needs of consumers are considered to be satisfied, with the spread of blogs and SNS, people are now able to satisfy their self-approval needs through posts and likes. After that, the idea is to assume that the person has entered the final stage of desire, “self-actualization.” Companies are not only focusing on the “process up to purchase” as they have done up until now, but are also considering the process “after purchasing the product” and are considering the needs of consumers regarding the kind of self-fulfillment they are looking for. Marketing activities began to involve analyzing and manifesting the results and providing them through products and services.

Specific activities in marketing

Benefits and methods of marketing activities

So far, we have looked at changes in definitions and trends as the basis of marketing, but next we will look at the benefits of actually implementing marketing activities, and conversely, what will happen if we do not implement them. Let’s try it.

○Advantages of conducting marketing activities

There are four main benefits of conducting marketing activities:

1. Value in the market can be objectively grasped 2. Less likely to get caught up in price competition 3. It prevents “wasteful efforts” in product and technology development 4. Costs can be reduced by optimizing the budget

1. When planning a marketing strategy that can objectively capture market value, the first step is to conduct market research, which I will touch on later, and investigate and analyze consumer trends in the market, evaluations of competitors, etc. It turns out.

This allows companies to quantify and understand the current situation of consumers and their companies in the market. If we take advantage of this number, how many consumers are there who are the targets of products and services that we should consider strategies for? How much need do you have? It will be possible to view it as an objective market value that is not biased by the provider’s subjectivity or seeds.

For this reason, a series of marketing activities starting with market research will target the consumers you want to acquire.

It can also be said that it is an activity that accurately delivers the value of desired products and services.

2. You will be less likely to get caught up in price competition If you can accurately grasp the market value of your products and services and fully convince consumers of their value, consumers will be willing to buy your products or services even if they pay a slightly higher price. would buy the service.

The reason why expensive brand products and luxury cars are purchased regardless of their price is because marketing activities constantly research consumer trends and capture the hearts of consumers.

In other words, if you accurately capture the value of your company’s products and services through marketing activities and communicate it effectively, you will be able to establish your own unique position without getting caught up in the vortex of low-price competition.

3. Prevent “wasteful efforts” in product and technology development No matter how highly functional a product or high-quality service or technology is developed, it is rare for it to penetrate the market simply by conducting sales activities.

It can be said that the days when products could be sold simply by the seeds of a good product or technology are over, so in most cases, sales cannot be expected to increase even if sales activities are repeated on an ad hoc basis.

In such cases, it is best to make full use of marketing techniques and conduct test marketing of products, services, and technologies in advance. This is because by allowing consumers to try out a sample product or experience a service and get their evaluations, it is possible to judge how much a product or service is needed.

By feeding this information back to the development department, it is possible to eliminate so-called “wasted shots,” reduce the number of people and effort required for development, and increase the probability of a hit. This is where the benefits of marketing activities lie.

4. You can reduce costs by optimizing your budget Marketing is an activity that seamlessly connects the entire process of getting consumers to choose products and services, so whether each process is performing efficiently. At the same time, it will also have a function to check whether the

Naturally, at that time, indicators such as efficiency, cost, and timing will be reviewed, so it will be possible to optimize the budget.

Strategically approaching consumers through marketing activities also improves the efficiency of sales activities. This eliminates the need for so-called “drop-in sales” and allows sales staff to focus on mature prospects, which can lead to improved business performance.

○What will happen if we don’t do marketing activities?

After the war, during the long period of high economic growth, if you put out a good product, things would sell one after another. However, in modern society, it is said that we live in an era where products cannot be sold without marketing activities.

Advances in technology have enriched people’s lives and expanded consumer needs, resulting in a diversification of product types. This is because there are so many products on the market that it has become difficult to convey accurate information to consumers.

Therefore, if you do not conduct marketing activities, you will not be able to understand consumer needs, which may lead to selling products that are not wanted.

As mentioned above, the rest of the world was quick to realize the effectiveness of this kind of marketing and have taken advantage of it, but in Japanese industry, until now only a few companies had carried out thorough marketing activities. The situation was such that it could not be said to be fully utilized. What kind of situation did this result in?

1. Losing consumers because “good products sell” In Japan, where products were recognized by both themselves and others as being of high quality, they were slow to break away from a “product-centered” mindset. In the manufacturing industry in particular, there is a belief that “good products will sell” and it has not been possible to smoothly shift marketing activities from a consumer’s perspective by listening to consumer needs. As a result, information dissemination and marketing activities focused on specifications, which are said to be product-first, were not able to encourage consumers’ desire to purchase. This was compounded by the economic slump caused by the Lehman Shock, and at the same time, low-priced, high-quality products were flowing in from overseas, causing Japanese products to lose their competitiveness.

2. Loyalty declines due to “commoditization” When low-priced and reasonably priced foreign products took over the Japanese market, many companies without a marketing perspective shifted their strategies to expand market share by lowering prices or quality. It was commoditization. Although this is the easiest and effective way to increase sales temporarily, it ends up leading to price competition, making it impossible to differentiate products and services from other companies, and resulting in a loss of added value. . Even if sales increase, profits will fall because the unit price is kept low. As a result, the budget for developing new products is cut, and the product and the company are no longer attractive to consumers, ultimately leading to a negative spiral in which it becomes difficult to continue the business. It happened.

Typical process of marketing

As you have seen so far, you can see that marketing has many benefits and should be introduced by more companies.

So, what exactly is marketing?

Let’s introduce each phase below.

Phase 1.

Researching the internal and external environment Marketing activities begin with researching the environment in which your company is located in the market, both internally and externally.

Regarding the external environment, market research is conducted to find out how many consumers exist in the target market and what they are looking for.

It is necessary to investigate objective facts such as how competitors’ products and services in the same category are viewed by consumers.

Regarding the internal environment, it is important to thoroughly check the characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses of your company’s products and services, as well as your customer base and changes in business performance in recent years.

The information obtained through these surveys serves as a basis for determining important elements of the overall marketing strategy, such as whether or not to proceed with development, the price range, and the timing of bringing the product to market.

Phase 2.

Segmentation and TargetingNext, segmentation (segmentation), which divides consumers (customers and prospective customers) into smaller segments by setting a standard classification axis, and the volume of the market for each group separated by segmentation. Targeting is performed to determine which groups should be prioritized based on size, purchasing intent, etc.

Segmentation refers to targeting consumption based on personal factors such as generation, gender, and occupation, geographic factors such as place of residence and work, and psychological and behavioral characteristics such as hobbies and preferences. The task is to classify people.

In this way, segmentation involves classifying a certain amount of volume into homogeneous groups, finding common needs within those groups, identifying high-priority groups among them through targeting, and formulating marketing strategies aimed at these groups. I’m going to go there.

By selecting target segments through targeting, you can efficiently approach the segments you want to reach, so it is best to think of segmentation and targeting as one phase.

Phase 3.

Setting personas The process from segmentation to targeting has been the mainstream of marketing up until now, but in recent years, marketing has often been conducted using “personas” that have been set in even more detail.

A persona is a “semi-fictional” typical user image that is a detailed image of a customer. By sharing this persona with those in charge and deepening their understanding, it becomes possible to unify marketing policies and formulate strategies from a more user-centered perspective.

Unlike targeted anonymous segment groups, personas have fictitious names, separate profiles, and may even have a story behind them.

There are many different ways to set up a persona, but in most cases, you should keep the following six items in mind.

6 basic items for persona settings

1. Basic information (age, gender, place of residence, fictitious name, etc.)

2. Academic background/occupation (university/faculty, industry/position, final educational background)

3.Family structure (presence of lover, spouse, children, etc.)

4. Values ​​(what you value, likes and dislikes, attitudes towards money, spending habits, etc.)

5. Hobbies and preferences (favorite foods, interests, personal trends, how to spend holidays, etc.)

6. Behavioral style (how you spend your time from waking up to going to bed, time spent commuting to school, daytime type/night type, etc.)

In addition to this, recently, it has become common to add items related to IT literacy and online lifestyle habits, such as how long you access the Internet and how you use smartphones and computers.

Phase 4.

Analysis using a framework Marketing activities are formulated based on the previous research and setting phases, but before that, “analysis” is an important phase that must be considered.

There are several frameworks that have already been developed for analysis, so it is efficient to use them.

A framework is a framework or system that has already been established, and by using it, you can analyze and identify your target market, your company’s strengths and weaknesses, and points of differentiation from other companies’ products.

I will introduce some of the most representative ones later, but in the rapidly changing fields of business strategy and marketing, many frameworks have been created as analytical methods to organize the situation and understand the overall situation. .

It would be a good idea to select and combine the frameworks that fit your company from among these frameworks to formulate the optimal marketing strategy.

Phase 5.

Marketing Execution Now comes the phase of marketing activities and putting them into action.

Specifically, in addition to the method of placing advertisements in the mass media mainly as an advertising activity, conventional methods such as “PR (publicity)” in which news releases etc. are sent to the mass media and are featured in articles free of charge are used. It’s known.

Recently, SEO, which uses the Internet to gather traffic from search engines and social media, has become a common practice. There is also `

`buzz marketing

,” which spreads word of mouth on SNS such as LINE and Twitter, and “buzz marketing,” which involves building your own website and deepening communication there. Various new methods such as “owned media” have been developed, and actual marketing activities will take advantage of these characteristics.

Phase 6.

Results evaluation and strategy review (PDCA)

Even if you do a lot of research, put effort into analysis, and develop and implement a strategy that you think is optimal, you may not always get the results you want right away.

There may be problems on the company’s side, such as misreading survey results or strategic mistakes, or unexpected problems may occur, such as sudden changes in the market or unexpected moves by competitors.

It is also important to understand that consumer lifestyles and behavioral patterns are constantly changing.

Therefore, rather than approaching marketing activities in a short period of time, we aim to develop a medium- to long-term strategy by setting KPIs for each phase, regularly checking the degree of achievement, and formulating new strategies that analyze and reflect the results. It is important to keep this in mind and follow the PDCA cycle.

Of course, even if short-term goals are achieved immediately, it is necessary not to stop there; instead, in order to establish and evolve marketing activities as a strategy, it is necessary to continue using the PDCA cycle.

How to practice marketing? Strategy and implementation points

○Framework for thinking about marketing strategy

In order to formulate a marketing strategy, there are a number of frameworks available, so you can apply them to your company and utilize them. Here, we will introduce some of the most popular ones that you should keep in mind.

Through 3C analysis, you can check the market and clarify your company’s strengths, competitors’ strengths, and company’s weaknesses, and in what field your company, its products, and services will compete. It becomes decisive.

マーケティングとは？基礎から定番の手法・戦略まで、ガッツリ学ぶ

“Who” is determined by segmentation and targeting, and “what” is determined by positioning.

It is useful when formulating a promotional strategy to organize customers and needs, and in what positions to appeal to products and services.

STP分析･･･マーケティングの基本の一つ、必ず押さえておこう

The important thing is that it is not possible to use 4P analysis, considering one of the 4P elements. This is because 4P analysis is effective by multiplying and analyzing the four elements related to each other. At this time, it is also important that consistency is applied between elements, such as “price is valid for the product content”.

In recent years, the concept of “4C”, which has been reviewed from the consumer side from the perspective of the consumer, has also attracted attention.

4C is an acronym for customer value (Costomer Value), cost (COST), ease of obtaining (CONVENIENCE), and Communication. This 4P and 4C are not a completely different concept, but 4P is 4C, while 4Ps have come to the company’s perspective, but approaches from the customer perspective.

https://mtame.jp/marketing_foundation/marketing_process/#a01_02

Marketing now and from now on

Marketing latest situation

○ Marketing method trend

Up to this point, the overview of the marketing strategy is, but the specific method is still changing significantly with the Internet and IT progress.

In particular, since 2020, there was a sudden and large swell of responding to Corona’s evils, so measures that take into account the effects of marketing have been created.

Therefore, let’s explain future marketing trends based on the influence of the new Corona.

First of all, the premise is that unless the content is sufficiently considered for infectious diseases, it will not be able to attract customers or want effects.

This is not only the time of the emergency declaration that the various events such as the Olympics have been canceled or reduced, but will continue to be “dense”, “loud”, “direct contact with people.” It is better to think that it is difficult to attract customers at events such as “.

Of course, attracting customers related to entertainment, such as sports, play, and concerts, must be picked up, but large seminars, exhibitions, business meetings, etc. that are used for marketing, “I really want to go” to participants. Unless you are given a big motivation, it has to be said that it is a difficult measure.

Conversely, measures that can communicate “without being densely”, “quiet”, and “without direct contact with people” are welcomed.

The first thing you can think of as such a method is LINE and SNS direct messages. These are now quite established as a simple communication means between companies and consumers.

By getting used to such communication, consumers tend to have a tendency to exchange “deeper” information, so they are active in presentation with content that goes into products and services. Some companies are developing.

In addition, experience -type marketing will increase in the future, as virtual tours and online activities experiences in the travel industry are in the spotlight.

Specifically, there are events that can obtain “reality” even if you go through the screen, such as holding webinas and virtual exhibitions related to new features.

Even though these events are large, companies can significantly reduce venue and construction costs, so participants do not have to spend time on round -trip to the venue. Because of the benefits, it must be increasing in the future.

In addition, the corona evil has also created a negative aspect of “separation from people.” Considering the social distance is the air that has to hesitate to meet people and communicate directly.

However, this means that if you give consumers a means of “you can talk directly without meeting”, you will be able to meet the need to talk with people.

Therefore, conversation -type marketing, which is a tailwind, has been focused on online calling tools such as ZOOM, WebEX, and Teams.

In addition, as an advanced conversational marketing, there is also a method of automatically reading and differentiating consumer preferences and needs by arranging AI with consumers.

And there is no doubt that it will accelerate in the future is various content that utilizes videos.

At present, many video content has already been launched on the market as one of the marketing methods, but it is thought that the number and varieties will increase significantly in the future.

Video contents are mainly divided into those that are replaced by functions that have been performed by different media, such as catalog functions and company introductions, and those that are aimed at attracting customers by transmitting to video distribution services such as YouTube. In the future, due to the evolution of editing tools and the increase in excellent video creation service companies, there is an environment where high -quality video content can be easily created, so it is expected that a completely new type of video marketing will appear. be done.

○ Digital marketing is the key to DX promotion

As seen in omnichanels, the world is changing to a “after -digital” society in which real is a real -digital society, and its movement is increasing in the corona. Above all, a series of movements, also called the “Fourth Industrial Revolution”, which utilizes AI, big data, IoT, etc., affects all situations of corporate activities and have digitalization (DX = Digital Transformation / Digital Transformation /. It is expected to bring digital transformations to companies.

The company’s DX in Japan has been waiting for the coming aftercorona society, as the infection of the new colon virus, which has been the third wave, has been expanding. As the government aims to create a digital office, Japan’s country itself is starting to build new customer value and customer experience (CX) based on digital.

In order to promote this movement, insight into the insights (true needs that customers are unaware) and use digital technology to satisfy it. A digital marketing approach that can provide value as an experience is needed.

Digital marketing does not simply replace the marketing method with digital. While thinking about the feelings of customers every day and continuing to improve the customer experience, so that customers can say that they want themselves, how can they create a selling mechanism, and what kind of activities they need? This is a new approach that should be built while repeating the basics of marketing, how to create a strategy that is the basis of individual measures. Whether each company can lead DX to success can be a problem that greatly affects Japan’s future. In that sense, there is no doubt that digital marketing is an important key for each company in the big swell of DX, which has begun to rush through all over Japan.

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