thefunnel

A while ago a created the attached customer value model. This model looks at all the influencers that a typical customer is faced with making a purchase decision. The model is probably generic enough to work for any B-2-B settings, but each industry / company has to figure out the relative importance and weight of each attribute presented.   Decision Making model

A while ago I got involved in doing some brand research around customer intimacy. The company I was doing this for had selected this as their strategy (out of three possible ones according to some marketing gurus: customer intimacy, product leadership and operational excellence) and wanted to know how they were doing. The attached document briefly discusses the methodology. In the end, companies can call their strategies whatever they want, but if the brand attributes doesn’t resonate with their customers or a chosen strategy isn’t economically viable something have to change.    Brand Value Drivers in B-2-B

I was asked why I decided to call this blog “thefunnel”?  Briefly. I think the traditional linear marketing funnel (awareness through loyalty) is a good metaphor for us in marketing to remember that customers can be in any place in the funnel, which will have an impact on all elements of communication. It is also a reminder that there’s always the next step in the funnel and an ultimate objective to achieve an outcome such as sales and loyalty. In addition it’s a reminder that the traditional linear funnel is obsolete, and that understanding the customers decsion process is much more challenging today than it used to be, due the web, social media, choice, interaction between on-line and off-line experiences, fragmentation of media and pull marketing in general.