Innovation As Marketing
By Thom on Jun 2, 2009 in Uncategorized
So much of advertising has degraded to the point that the ads themselves are the focus and not the products/services that they were supposedly created to sell. In an attempt to stand out from a crowded marketplace, the messages are getting louder and louder to the point where the marketplace – in many situations – has simply become tone deaf.
That’s why I love it when I see and am able to share what I believe to be great marketing – often for very ‘unsexy’ products. In this case – auto insurance.
While GEICO has clearly chosen and successfully run on the path of name recognition and low-margin bargain shoppers, Nationwide is staking its competitive edge on a different path – Innovation and Service.
Nationwide has just introduced a Mobile Application for the iPhone. While I personally think the “creative” for the ads themselves leave MUCH to be desired, there are several really brilliant strategies about this innovation from a marketing standpoint. Among them:
- The core functions of the application make the process of reporting an accident and filing a claim as streamlined and hassle-free as possible. Nationwide has obviously been asking themselves the hard question – “What can we do to make doing business with us easier?”
- Beyond that, many of the functions of the application are helpful even if you’re not a Nationwide customer. By giving away a free set of handy tools to people that aren’t even their customers, Nationwide is effectively building a bridge to new market share.
We’ve yet to see the result of what this will accomplish for Nationwide. However, IF it is communicated well enough as to get some traction, then I suspect that Nationwide will have effectively positioned themselves as service leaders and innovators in a valuable market that is willing to pay a premium for convenience and cool new tech solutions. We’ll have to wait and see.
For the rest of us, this case study serves as a reminder that, as marketers, we often ask ourselves the question, “What’s In It For Me?” in relation to the communication of why our clients would choose to do business with us. But, how often do we ask that question about our products or services themselves? Are there ways we can innovate to make doing business with us easier, quicker, more effective or fun, etc…?
My business partner, Bob Burg, and myself have asked ourselves those questions about Extreme Business Makeovers. We’ve taken our answers and have been building an EXPERIENCE and COMMUNITY that is unlike any other seminar out there – from our web site all the way to the follow-up tele-seminars and Q&A calls we provide to our attendees free of charge. We are constantly looking for more ways to add value and help our Extreme Business Makeovers “family” get the results they were looking for when they decided to join us.
How about you? Are there innovations you could make which would help you serve a larger audience – or help you serve your existing audience on a much deeper level? If so, get innovating and make the rest of your marketing efforts much easier, more fun and vastly more effective.
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