COMPLACENT MARKETING
ELIMINATING
THE HASSLE
By Diana Obath
S
taying ahead of the
competition is the new
norm in marketing.
As the market is flooded by
competing products and online
sales takes a share of clients
from the products that use retail
chains, innovative products and
staying one step ahead of the
competition are imperative to
business success.
In the current ear of disruption,
millennials and online growth,
businesses in the creative
industries are held up in a
constant cycle of reacting to an
app or new service that has just
been launched. Their response
is to quickly study it and
incorporate the most stunning
features of the app or service
into their menu to stay relevant.
It is a constant game of catch up.
Even relatively new online
market players face the same
constant catch up with the new
start up fraternity. However, the
games become exhausting for
businesses that have been around
for much longer as products
tend to become as rigid as the
customers who use them.
‘‘Plussing is different from mere
brainstorming, the term often used for
meetings designed to generate ideas. The
goal in brainstorming is typically just to come
up with new ideas, sometimes as many as
possible. In plussing, the goal is to critically
review existing work, often rigorously, and
to generate new ideas that build further and
create something better.”
10 MAL 17/17 ISSUE
It is no secret that companies who
have built their success concentrate
solidly on creating fresh ideas
that are customer focussed. They
look to develop market changing
products and services which in
turn create their own demand that
challenges the competition.
Karma Cola for example stands out
from the world’s larger beverage
manufacturers using radical
transparency and a disruptive
design. They are open about their
community work in Sierra Leone,
where the cola is sourced and this
story has formed a vital part of the
brand’s message.
Besides selling their cola, the
communities also get five cents
from every bottle invested into
local projects to grow sustainable
futures for the communities they
work with.
On the aspect of design, one look
at the brand’s range of colourful,
creatively-packed beverages make
it clear that design is a key element
of the business. They change the
way people think about soda using
mascots on the design of the cans.