Value add at half the price, the end of a market?

Apr 21, 2009 | Strategy

 

Yesterday I got a telemarketing offer for a half price newspapers subscription, delivered to my door from one of the major dailies. Of course I signed up, beats walking to the newsagent and paying double!

The other major daily in Sydney is giving away free copies of its paper with any “value Meal” purchase at a major fast food restaurant. 

There are few examples of such substantial value add at such a deep discount, is this canny marketing, or desperation? 

The power of newspapers is in the value their distribution offers advertisers, but most people buy newspapers to be informed and entertained. The alternatives emerging over the last 5 years to be informed and entertained have profoundly altered the economics of newspapers.

The ABC seems to be grappling with the digital media, perhaps better  than the commercial media, perhaps because it does not have to worry as much about the distribution and advertising revenue. 

 

The business model of newspapers is going down the gurgler, could it be that these offers are the death throes, or are they just being nice, and saving me a walk.

 

This one or that.

Apr 19, 2009 | Strategy

 

Success always means making choices… which customer, which market, which price point, which channel, and so on.

The key is to actually make the choice after the appropriate analysis, and commit to it, whilst remaining sufficiently alert and agile to recognise early when the choice is sub-optimum, and make the necessary adjustments.

The danger is in not making a choice, rather than making the wrong choice.

Is the customer always right?

Apr 6, 2009 | Demand chains, Management, Marketing, Strategy

 

The most difficult word in the English language for a small business owner is “no”. In most cases, it needs practice, the customer,(or worse) the potential customer is not always right, at least, right for you.

Be careful, be consistent,  be firm, and know which customers add more than the take, not just from the cash account, but from the energy, commitment, and time of your biggest resource, your people.