[Summary] Introduction to Marketing Frameworks
What is a marketing framework?
Simply put, it is like a "map" used to sell products or services. For example, when a small stationery store wants to sell a new notebook, they need to organize where, to whom, at what price, and how to communicate it. A framework helps with that organization.
Let's look back at history a little.
From the 1950s to the 1960s, the era of mass production and mass consumption began in the United States. At that time, marketing was centered on "running advertisements and getting many people to buy."
However, in the mid-1960s, management scholar Jerome McCarthy proposed the concept of the "4Ps." This is an acronym for "Product," "Price," "Place," and "Promotion." For example, deciding on product design and quality (Product), determining the appropriate price (Price), deciding where to place it in stores or online (Place), and how to communicate it through flyers or commercials (Promotion)—if you consider these in a balanced way, you can see the mechanism for selling.
In the 1970s, the "STP" framework gained attention.
STP refers to "Segmentation," "Targeting," and "Positioning."
For example, even for the same drink, the design, price, and sales location will change depending on whether it is for "children who like sweet juice" or "health-conscious adults." Finding those differences and deciding which segment to sell to is Segmentation and Targeting, and showing that "our juice is special here" is Positioning.
Furthermore, from the 1980s to the 1990s, frameworks for analyzing the environment in which a company is placed and its own strengths and weaknesses gained attention. A representative one is "SWOT analysis." SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.
For example, you organize the strength of being able to produce at low cost in your own factory (Strengths), or the threat that a new competitor might arrive (Threats). By doing this, instead of just thinking about "selling," you can establish policies to "leverage your company's strengths, not miss external opportunities," and "avoid dangers."
Recently, frameworks with a more comprehensive perspective have also been increasing. For example, "5C analysis" is a method of checking five things: Company, Customer, Competitor, Collaborator, and Context. This allows you to see not only your own company but also customers, competitors, cooperating suppliers, and social trends all at once.
Such methods are useful when thinking about business from a long-term perspective, rather than just selling the product in front of you.
The important thing is to "decide on the timing for review."
No matter how excellent a framework is, it is not finished once you create it.
I think you should look back at it every six months or every season to incorporate new trends and changes in competitors. Otherwise, the plans you worked so hard to create might become outdated, making it harder to achieve results.
By using long-standing frameworks and gradually cultivating your way of thinking, marketing should become more familiar.
Addition
Here is what it looks like when you actually format a plan for creating a marketing plan using formats for a startup.
Environmental Analysis Phase
Basic Strategy Construction
Use STP strategy to segment the market, narrow down customers, and take a position
Analyze at what timing you can approach customers with AIDMA
Concrete Measures
Keep practicing and keep moving
Ending Theme "Marketing Framework"