Common Mistakes Companies Make In Marketing Their Products
June 21st 2007 06:37
Al Ries, best-selling marketing author and brand strategist, co-author of The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding and the Origin of Brands, offered some lessons and marketing advice in one of his marketing conference in Asian countries.
According to the marketing strategist, the most common mistakes made by companies in the branding and marketing of their products is line extension. Line extension or putting your company name on every product. He cites IBM, as an example. IBM used it's name on it's line of personal computers which have never made money for the company. This company reportedly lost $15 billion on their computer line which they eventually sold to Lenovo. Line extension mistake was repeated at Lenovo. Instead of using a separate name for their computer line, they are making the same mistake IBM made. What Lenovo should have done, according to Al-Ries, is to focus on laptop computers only and then use the Thinkpad name as a brand name, not a model name.
Another mistake a marketing company could make is the lack of focus. Trying to sell too many products to too many different markets is a deadly sin for marketers. Ries advised to keep your company focused. BMW focused on smaller, more nimble "driving machines" and made big , comfortable cars. In the process, BMW outsells Mercedes in most countries with their long-time slogan "The ultimate driving machine."
According to the marketing strategist, the most common mistakes made by companies in the branding and marketing of their products is line extension. Line extension or putting your company name on every product. He cites IBM, as an example. IBM used it's name on it's line of personal computers which have never made money for the company. This company reportedly lost $15 billion on their computer line which they eventually sold to Lenovo. Line extension mistake was repeated at Lenovo. Instead of using a separate name for their computer line, they are making the same mistake IBM made. What Lenovo should have done, according to Al-Ries, is to focus on laptop computers only and then use the Thinkpad name as a brand name, not a model name.
Another mistake a marketing company could make is the lack of focus. Trying to sell too many products to too many different markets is a deadly sin for marketers. Ries advised to keep your company focused. BMW focused on smaller, more nimble "driving machines" and made big , comfortable cars. In the process, BMW outsells Mercedes in most countries with their long-time slogan "The ultimate driving machine."
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