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 The 3rd step in the Duct Tape Marketing program is packaging and image.
The first two steps set you up to start thinking about your target market and your core difference. Now you are ready to consider how you want to ‘wrap’ your product. This is the image step.
This step is about the experience your customer has. It is what your customer sees, hears, senses and feels when consuming your product. Look at these products that are all about a cool refreshing beer:
- A cool refreshing beer served in a frosty cold glass every time.
- A cool refreshing beer ordered and delivered to comfortable lounges.
- A cool refreshing beer in the comfort of a quiet lounge where the soft background music allows friends to talk freely
- A cool refreshing beer where all the action can be viewed on large screens.
- A cool refreshing beer chosen from 101 varieties from Australia and from all over the world.
Every club and hotel sells a cool refreshing beer. This is not a point of differentiation. Some clubs sell all of the above products without turning them into points of differentiation. It does not matter if the exact same product is sold by your competitors. You steal a march by developing it as your image.
Every commodity or service can be differentiated into a product by packaging them into combinations that include service, sounds, sights, choices and other factors that make you different.
But once you decide on your packaged product you have to deliver it – every time. Gradually it becomes part of your overall image and aligns with your core difference.
Any one of your product packages could be the reason for a member to choose your club more often. Nobody chooses you because you sell cool refreshing beer or hot coffee or fish and chips. They can get those in every club or hotel.
Creating points of difference and a unique image in your market depends on some issues that seldom get a second thought when businesses are developing their marketing strategies:
- The way the telephone is answered
- Your voice mail
- Your e-mail
- Your Notice Board
- Your communication with members
- Your processes
Creative thinking can turn commodities and basic services into attractive products that enhance image and build sales. Often a simple “Identity Audit” can spark new presentation ideas and these audits can be done at no expense by utilizing the combined intelligence and experience of the staff. Sometimes the cost of an external facilitator here will pay for itself many times over.
The 3rd Step in the Duct Tape Marketing System is closely integrated with the previous 2 steps. No matter what size or type of club, the opportunity is there to be different. Profile your ideal customer, research and find a core difference, create great product packages and images and watch the cash registers speeding up.
Next Tip – Step 4: Marketing Material That Educate
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