I bet you thought the movie “Daddy Daycare” was a kiddie comedy, right? Wrong…It’s a marketing strategy film! When Charlie and his friend Phil are fired as Product Development/Brand Managers for a cereal company, they decide to fill a need in their community˳
Along the way to success they demonstrate several solid marketing strategies — equally applicable to online, offline, and integrated companies˳ Take these lessons to heart when developing plans for your business˳
Lesson 1: Research the competition
The future entrepreneurs visited each daycare in the area˳ While doing so, they got a feel for their daycare competitors˳ By knowing your own competitors you will be better able to effectively find a way to compete˳
Competitor research does not have to be thought of as “guerrilla warfare˳” In many industries, competitors work together by partnering, cross promoting, sending business to each other, or even manufacturing each other’s products˳
Lesson 2: Know your customers’ values
Charlie and Phil understood that price is not the only important factor for their target market˳ Based on their own experience and customer research (talking to other parents), they recognized that other concerns besides price played a part when parents choose a daycare provider˳
While price is almost certainly a consideration for your customers, don’t get caught in the mentality that customers will buy from you only if you have the lowest cost˳ If you think of your own service/product as a bundle of attributes having a unique value for your customers, you will be more successful˳
Lesson 3: Identify opportunities
Charlie and Phil uncovered an unmet need in the market by combining their competitor research and knowledge of customer values˳ You can do the same when looking to develop new products/services or improve existing ones˳
Lesson 4: Develop a positioning based on opportunity
Using knowledge from the first three lessons, they positioned themselves as the quality alternative and focused on providing different benefits than their nearest competitor˳ In the movie, Daddy Daycare stole all the competitor’s customers and drove her out of business˳
In real life, customers choose a product/service that best fits their needs˳ Consequently, competitors can co-exist when each are valuable in different ways to industry customers˳
Lesson 5: Create a catchy tag line
The tag line “Who’s your Daddy?” helped advertise the new business˳ Often, a concise, catchy tag line can go a long way in building brand equity, communicating benefits and features, and/or conveying a feeling/mentality your target customers can relate to˳
Some examples:
“Just do it˳” (Nike)
“Life Unscripted” (TLC)
“Naturally sweetened whole grain oat cereal with real berries˳” (Berry Burst Cheerios)
“Makes anything possible˳” (Craftsman)
Lesson 6: Spread the Word
Phil and Charlie put their tag line on t-shirts along with their business name˳ They also printed and distributed flyers that explained their new company’s positioning˳
A few more ideas you can use to spread the word about your business:
Word of mouth — give customers an incentive to tell people about your business˳
Advertising — use both online and offline methods˳ Online options include pay-per-click search engines and ezine advertisements˳ Offline methods include radio spots and newspaper advertisements˳
Philanthropy — donate money, services, and/or time to non-profit organizations or conduct your own event˳
Lesson 7: Be ethical and above-board
The new business owners cooperated fully with the daycare inspector˳ They treated him as a source of information rather than “Big Brother”˳ This resulted in not only a better business, but also a valuable ally˳ In the long run, your own company will be more likely to thrive if you concentrate on improving the business rather than dodging regulations˳
Lesson 7A: Subterfuge is a poor long-term strategy
Besides being unethical, subterfuge soils your reputation˳ In the movie, the competing daycare crashed and ruined a fundraiser event…spilling bugs, freeing animals, and drenching visitors˳ Short-term, it worked˳ Phil and Charlie were broke, seemingly with no way to continue with their venture˳
In the long run, Ms˳ Subterfuge had such a poor reputation (from this and other business tactics), her business failed˳
Lesson 8: Implement until you’re blue in the face
In the beginning, the new Daddy Daycare was a complete disaster˳ Charlie and Phil did their “homework” and knew they had a good idea˳ When reality hit theory, however, a few not-so-minor details got in the way˳ Like all successful marketers, they worked out the kinks (okay…disasters) and kept trying (and trying, and trying) until they got it right˳
Keep the Daddy Daycare lessons in mind when developing and implementing your own marketing plan˳ Don’t give up, strive to continually improve, and you’re business is sure to be a success˳
Source by https://ezinearticles˳com/?8-Lessons-in-Strategic-Marketing-A-La-Daddy-Daycare&id=6791
