Marketing More Clearly What's The Point?

We talk about software as a key to competitive differentiation.  Developing new applications, launching new services, expanding operations. Sun provides powerful open software, award-winning development tools, rock-solid infrastructure and a worldwide community that others can't match. We've published an overview that illustrates how we help companies achieve their business strategies.

In addition, our new product brochure provides the next level of detail to summarize the open, standards-based products that can help you create and launch new products, simplify infrastructure, lower costs and scale your business.

Pragmatic Marketing conducted a webcast titled "Tuned In" which summarized a book they are publishing regarding finding unresolved problems that can result in business opportunites.

The point is companies that focus their attention on problems buyers are willing to pay to solve are more successful than those who only prioritize revenue growth, existing customer needs or competitive  response. All of which are backward looking or reactionary. The tuned in company understands the buyers (not just the current customer) and creates a complete experience to solve a problem they will buy. That complete experience encompasses the product from beginning to end (iPod + iTunes).

After understanding the buyer's needs and addressing the need, a successful marketing approach is articulating a powerful idea around that experience. This idea establishes a stronger connection with the buyer because it is expressed in their language - it resonates. More commonly, a company will push it's products, trying to develop a need by explaining the value of a technology created from internal development, to tell prospects what they want.

Their takeaway advice is to spend more time on research, plan around problems (not products) and refine your buyer personas.

Marty Neumeierm says it's the customers who decide which brands live or die.

And the solution for companies  who want their brands to succeed is to zag when everyone else zigs.

We live in a world of clutter where everything is accessible immediately in quantity. Too many choices, brands, channels, features, messages. The boundaries are defined by the walls in the customers minds, not the competition. People like to buy, but they don't like to be sold. They buy in tribes, like groups with similar needs and wants. So it's not about offering more, rather offering it differently. Differentiation in marketing lingo. Companies usually focus on being better, more of the same, but better. The trick is knowing when different is good, because sometimes different is bad. You have to catch a trend and attach compelling communications to zag. It takes understanding the passion, vision, what best makes your company unique.

What makes you the "only." The only ? that ? is the simple test.

You are looking for an innovative partner that can provide cost-effective software to help start your development projects, securely run your applications and quickly grow your business. 

Start

Your new application quickly using Java, the top development platform
Your new business cost-effectively by accessing Sun software for free
Your new service securely on Solaris, the most secure operating system

Run

Your applications securely on everything from mobile devices to your datacenter
Your business cost effectively by consolidating your applications and integrating them
Your services with less risk using our industry leading identity management

Grow

Your services quickly combining the best thinking of Sun and millions in our communities
Your business on our platform which is connecting billions of people, devices and transactions every day
Your connections securely with your customers, partners, and employees

 
Sun reduces the time, effort and risk involved in starting, running and growing a business with powerful and flexible software that is easy to access, easy to deploy and easy to scale.

It's not the name of a law firm, rather a New York based jazz band who often go by MMW.

I had the chance to see them at Villa Montalvo, a great setting for live music.

Having never even heard them previously, we discovered many of the people around us had seen them the night before and were coming back the next night to hear them again. These guys are an improvisational jam band who've been performing together since 1991. John Scofield joined them recently to record and tour.

Live they are extremely energetic and skilled musicians, in studio more straight ahead.

IDG Research conducted a study for Sun with the readers of CIO magazine.

A third of the responders were IT managers in large organizations primarily manufacturing, government and financial services. The survey was completed in December, 2007 and was US based.

Our goal was to better understand how IT is used to improve the performance of the business so we could improve the marketing of our products. Aligning IT and business goals was the top issue (followed by cost control, application upgrades and implementing best practices). Almost half felt they were being effective although they recognized defining goals, communication and lack of metrics were the biggest problems. Near term, their spending priorities are server consolidation, business continuity and data management. Customer satisfaction was their primary measure of success. What they look for from their vendors are useful tools for making a business case like best practices, cost estimators and customer references.

We used these findings to help us tailor our message and develop a program to speak to them. For example, we created a whitepaper and a slidecast using what we learned to make our message more relevant to this audience.

Have you slidecasted? 

Post your slide presentation there for all to see. There already are many Sun presentations. It's the biggest community for sharing presentations. You can also embed them into your blog and link to an audio file (which they don't host).

Mine is here

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AMA recently hosted a webcast, “Make Your Content a Powerful Asset in 10 Steps,” presented by Todd Tibbitts, director of Aquent Studios, the world’s leading marketing and creative staffing agency based in Boston.

Todd's point is that most company's content is all over the place and to make it an asset you really need to get a handle on your core material and audiences. Much of the content created over time may still have value, but may not have been created with community involvement in mind. Most of his discussion had to do with content management, but he also made some good points about continually telling your story. That is, use your assets externally, get involved in a dialog and resource it as if it were as important as any other marketing activity. And measure it.

His ebook is available online.