The Dynamics of “NEED MARKETING”

You may be thinking what ‘Need Marketing’ is. It is a simple concept, where the Marketer focuses on the immediate NEED of the prospect and establishes the relationship based on that. It is a very instant association and the rapport behind it is completely based on the needs of both the parties. It is a very important step and is used widely by Marketers all around and by companies of all sizes.

The benefits of Need Marketing are numerous:

• Gives you an instant connect
• Creates Awareness among your prospects
• Starting point of the relationship
• Shows how well you understand each others’ NEEDS
• And most important of all, it provides a platform to satisfy the Need (thus building business in return)

There is a very important catch here – Need Marketing may be useful and profitable in short-term; but it would be a setback if the relationship is maintained just on the basis of Need. It means that the relationship may end just after the need is satisfied; or if someone else can service the need better. This is evident in telecom companies; here the competition is based on price. Thus the customer shits the telecom operator based on who provides the cheapest tariff. Tata Docomo leveraged on this and was successful in gaining tremendous subscriber base last year due to its revolutionary pay-per-second call tariff. Similarly many companies see immediate profit and end up just concentrate marketing the Need of its end consumers and gain benefits on those.

But, these relationships are short-lived and unsustainable. You wouldn’t get any loyalists and all your consumers would be in the opportunity to be serviced well; thus letting any other competitor a fair chance to outperform you. Even in Tata Docomo’s case; it just lost its competitive advantage when other players followed the pay-per-second plan. It even lost many of its customers when competitors such as MTS, Aircel, etc.. launched cheaper call rates.

Here the relationships are self-centered and profit-oriented. This is also an attractive decision at the beginning; but companies should realize that they ought to be ‘HOLISTIC’ and customer-centric; rather then being just plain attractive and profit-centric. Long-term focus and Commitment is the key to sustainable growth. Relationships should be nurtured with Trust, Values and Integrity; only then you could find respect for your Brand and only then you can assure profit in a long-term.