Archive for the ‘Packaging’ Category
Amazon’s new Kindle ‘Fire’ — is a brilliant marketing decision
Sure, the pricing is absurd. Absurdly good. For consumers. Some believe Amazon’s losing money on every tablet they sell. So the brilliance isn’t because of the extremely good price.
Kindle is playing on its strengths, not competing on its weaknesses
The tablet computer market is crowded. Over-crowded. So another tablet is not a smart idea. Neither is creating an alternative to Apple’s iPad. Kindle Fire makes neither mistake.
Kindle Fire is both unique AND beneficial
Kindle’s Fire is different and better than Android tablets that are both supported — and limited by — Google. Amazon’s Kindle Fire is supported by Amazon’s version of Android and its own content — a far more extensive resource. Also, Kindle is not seeking to woo a wide market like Apple is doing with the iPad. Instead, Amazon is targeting its significant base of loyal Amazon customers who are seeking a convenient way to access Amazon’s content.
The Kindle Fire is also not as elegant as an iPad. It doesn’t have to be. it just has to provide access to Amazon’s extensive content. Just as when Coca-Cola gave it’s vending machines away for free — because Coke™ made its money by refilling their machines. Brilliant!
KEY POINT:
“Never bring a knife to a gunfight” — Amazon is defining it’s own ‘Fire’ power and will likely be a winner because of it.
Today’s post is dedicated to a lady named Kate Barber who founded a business (Big Steps Little Feet) that is truly amazing and wonderful.
Kate graduated university with a degree in Dance and became the director of a dance school in Sydney, Australia. While there, she discovered that learning to dance is not the same thing as dancing to learn. To Kate, creative movement and dance is but a means to the end of a child’s self-discovery and joyful expression of creativty and not an end in and of itself.
Follow Your Passion, Kate!
Kate obviously loves children and the creative aspect of teaching children to experience the world through creative and contemporary movement i.e. dance. So she continued to study early childhood development and how creative movement plays a key role in the way young children engage with their environment, stimulate their creativity and develop their cognitive and physical abilities.
Passions Fuel Dreams and Make Them Real
In 2004, Kate started her own ‘brand’ of creative movement for young children that she called, aptly, “Big Steps Little Feet“. It’s so much more than a dance school! Kate uses creative dance for babies, waddlers and toddlers as a way to promote healthy development (physically, mentally and emotionally) while fostering strong bonds between parent and child.
Successful Results (700% Growth in Year 1) Reflects Market Alignment
In her first year of operation as Big Steps Little Feet, Kate’s enrollment grew 700%. Why? Because what she does resonates beautifully with her target audience — “Mums, age 35 – 45, who are well educated, have discretionary income and appreciate a quality experience for their children”.
Postscript
You might wonder how I ‘met’ Kate Barber and her lovely business Big Steps Little Feet — given that it’s in Sydney, Australia. Actually, I was alerted to a question she posed on a marketing site (MarketingProfs.com) and I replied. I then Googled the company and found her profile on facebook. From there, I found a link to her website.
Several lessons here:
1. Do what you love . . .
(life’s too short to squander who you are on what you don’t love to do)
2. When you’re clear about what you offer . . . the right people will respond to you
(alignment / target market)
3. The world is very connected if you’re ‘online’
Walt Disney was right . . . it IS a ‘small World’ afterall
If you’re providing an intangible service, odds are the real benefit of your services will not be enjoyed by your client until some time has passed. You’re not selling ice cream cones that a client can buy and consume immediately.
That’s a problem. Why? Because it forces your prospective client to DELAY GRATIFICATION. That’s not fun to do. When people pay their money, they want their ‘ice cream’ … NOW!
It’s The Package
So what can you offer a prospect today that seems ‘real’ — even though you can’t deliver the real goods until some time in the future? Simple. A package. This is just a BUNDLE of your services that suggest the benefit your prospective client wants is likely to be enjoyed.
For example, we helped one client create a series of ‘packages’ that she describes in a one page format and each one addresses specific PAINS her target clients want to solve. The mere fact that she has a package for a prospect’s problem communicates that she understands her prospect’s problem. Her package also communicates that, while you may have to delay gratification, you’re more likely to enjoy it if you hire her than if you work with some other consultant who just says, “Yeah, trust me . . . we can help you”.
KEY POINT:
Packages make it easier to buy — and sell — your intangible services!
