point-of-view

Commentary

Six Marketing Lessons From Egypt

It sounds like the beginning of a bad joke: what does the current political environment in Egypt have to do with marketing today?

Despite the obvious differences, there are, in fact, a number of parallels between the political revolution happening in Egypt and the so-called Information Revolution confronting marketers today, as the following six lessons indicate:

You can't predict when a tipping point will occur. Just as no one could judge when an uprising in Egypt would take place, despite the fact that it had been predicted for years, it is difficult to plan when behavioral shifts will become meaningful on the marketing front. Since you can contain market forces for only so long, taking on-going small, incremental steps to adjust to changing conditions is critical to survival. Making radical change once movements have started is "too little, too late."

Stay in touch with your customer base. It is easy for leaders to surround themselves with people who will tell them what they want to hear in order to keep their jobs. Ultimately, executives must pay attention to their customer base -- or someone will take note at your expense. This means that leaders' inner circles should include staff who can report accurately on the changes that will affect their ability to succeed. Furthermore, when hearing unpleasant news, leaders must be open to hearing how their customers' evolving values and behaviors can impact success.

advertisement

advertisement

Younger consumers' expectations may radically change the landscape. Politicians and marketers must appeal to many population groups -- their loyal base, emerging majorities, etc. Studying the behavior of younger consumers must be analyzed along with other key constituent. Their actions can reveal important trends that may not be evident, if they are not examined separately. As an example, initially, telephone companies focused on cell phone growth as a new revenue stream without looking at the fact that the 18-24 year-olds were using cell phones without adding land lines, when they set out on their own. That trend became more prevalent and now affects the business model and profitability of phone companies going forward.

Be prepared to handle the impact of new communications tools. Even if you or your company is not an early adopter, it is still imperative to be prepared to handle how new communication tools can affect your situation. Because information moves faster than ever, if you don't have the capability in-house to manage communications, have a ready list of partners who can help you respond quickly. The failure to act fast will make it infinitely more difficult for you to change the tide.

Steady growth can balance other issues. More than one news analyst has commented that China is unlikely to experience the same fate as Egypt, because its economic growth offsets similar frustrations among the population. Marketers must also focus on growing business, even as they address other concerns, such as image, need to experiment, etc. Improving bottom lines is ultimately what people want to see, and they are more likely to forgive other issues, when growth is evident.

The perfect solution does not exist. When everything around you is in upheaval, there are no easy answers. The best course of action is to understand your brand's core values and needs and how they relate to your customers. Then, you must determine what new paths can be forged that will enable the key items to remain. In the course of moving forward, you will have to compromise many small things to keep your core values intact, but doing so can improve the odds of winning.

Politics are a fact of life for marketing executives. Now, world-stage politics provide an opportunity to observe a roadmap to success.

Next story loading loading..