As MBA students, we all have gone through the marketing concepts as explained by Mr. Kotler and we might think that we have become a better marketer than all other people doing business out there especially the street-side vendors, then let me break your myth and take you through my journey of what I have experienced and what I call is ‘
The Local Street Marketing’.
While the local vendors may not be knowing the technical terms of the concepts, but they very well know the concepts and use them so intensively that might put us B-Schoolers in shame. On observing closely, I found a local Golgappa vendor using the following highlighted marketing concepts to sell its product. The interesting part about this man was that he was not just selling Golgappas, but he was running a whole
Integrated Marketing Campaign.
During the first visit to the local market, we were skeptical about which stall to choose to eat the Golgappas. One of the stalls spotted us and called us to try their Golpgappas for free. While the
Freemium Model is a trend now in the marketing world. This man was using it in his small shop. He greeted us and asked us about our hometown. This is what we call
‘Gaining consumer Insights’. I could see him trying to connect something of his life to our hometown. This desperate attempt of his is what we call
‘Connecting with the consumers’.
Surprisingly he figured out what type of taste we are expecting from him and made the Golgappas exactly suiting our taste. It means he had already done his
marketing research, and through the
consumer insights he got, he immediately prepared the
product best suited to consumer needs.
He remembered our taste preference and every time we went, he made the Golgappa accordingly. This is called
customizing the product according to consumer needs.
After finishing our lot, he used to give one extra Golgappa to us just because we were his regular customers. This way, he was
incentivizing loyalty among its customers. It’s the same way brands issue loyalty cards to the consumer, but they need highly paid marketing professionals for doing it.
One day, it so happened, we went to that stall after a month, and what shocked us is that he remembered us not coming to the stall for over a month and enquired about it. He was concerned about our absence for over a month. As consumers, we were very impressed by him by the personal touch shown by him towards us. I wish brands of today could show such a personal touch instead of spoiling us with offers.
Lastly, after every Golgappa session, he used to ask us about the taste and the experience of the product. This activity is what we call taking
Customer Feedback.
Overall he was not just selling the products but was running his own Integrated Marketing Campaign by providing a unique and personal experience to his consumers.
This was just a small example of how we can observe the marketing concepts being applied on the activities around us. While some of us may still think that Marketing is ‘Globe’, it’s concepts are omnipresent and we cannot ignore it.
It boils down to one basic logic i.e, keeping the customers happy. These Concepts are simple and interesting and one does not need to do an MBA to learn it. A curious mind and observant eyes are all we need to explore the beauty of marketing.