Sunday, September 27, 2009

Starting Your Business Foundation With Marketing Advertising And Public Relations

By Johnny Simmona

In order to survive a business needs to follow several principles. First it is important that the business offer a good product. Second, the business must manage effectively the expenses of producing that product. And third, that business must make effective use of marketing communications public relations.

Even if a business has a great product and can manage productions costs, without good public relations and marketing firm, it will not succeed. There have been many businesses with the first two keys that have missed out on the third and they are now history.

Marketing public relations has to do with a businesses reputation. Businesses that do not have a good reputation are destined for failure. A business that begins with an inferior product may be destined to failure even if it later improves the product. Reputation damage has already been done. It may be too late already to get that business back on track. It may always be associated with a bad product.

The public is willing to forgive a company that has a good reputation for a model that does not meet their expectations. If that product is quickly replaced it goes to actually reinforce the public image of the company.

If your company had a bad start is there no hope? Of course there is hope, however you will need to work with extra diligence in the area of marketing public relations.

The following ways may help a business overcome a poor reputation.

Offer samples of the best product you can produce. Diet sweeteners developed a bad reputation in the 1970s. Cyclamates had been banned as causing cancer in 1969. Saccharine had a very bitter aftertaste. In 1984, everyone got a gumball in the mail which contained a new artificial sweetener. Almost overnight the reputation of artificial sweeteners changed due to the blue packets. With the image change, aspartame became the sweetener of choice for everything from soda to dipping strawberries.

Offer a better warranty. Kia motors is a great example of this strategy. The first of these Korean vehicles sold in the United States were inexpensive little cars that did not last. Kia began improving their vehicles, but they had a reputation to overcome. In the mid-1990s they began a ten year 100, 000 mile warranty campaign. At the time this type warranty was not offered by any other vehicle manufacturer. The advertising campaign slogan was "Our wills are strong, our butts are too." Today Kia has gained a respectable part of the market.

The third strategy is to offer a better price. The bottom line for many people is price. Some people will overlook a bad reputation for a better price. If your product has truly improved you will begin to gain a loyal fan base. Products that remain poor in quality but low in price will eventually lose out.

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