A Change in Mindset on the Rise in Leadership

Why are Mindful Communications the Marketing Key to 21^st Century Success?

“Next to doing the right thing, the most important thing is to let people know you are doing the right thing.”  John D. Rockefeller

Where do opportunities for market leadership abound in the 21^st century? In the past, companies have created market leadership by relying on the 4 Ps of the marketing mix (product, price, place, promotion), but most heavily on the uniqueness of product, the competitiveness of price and the convenience of place. Historically, the 4^th P, promotion, has been subordinate to the other three.

Why then has promotion now emerged as THE competitive advantage – if one’s intention is to gain market leadership?

Today, access to global markets has evened out the playing field for many companies. They can now show that they also provide the product and service characteristics that created world-class standards and led to sustained market leadership for companies in the past. Promotion, the placement of your product or service, is about positioning your brand in a way that will demand or attract the attention of your target audience. Such positioning influences perception, and you gain market leadership when the perception you create confirms that the core values of your company are well aligned with the values of your target audience. Communications using this type of Mindful Marketing hit all the right notes with your target audience and stakeholders. They are, after all, the authentic voice of your core values: the beliefs and truths that guide your company’s actions in the marketplace.

The opportunity to use promotion to develop your market leadership presents itself in today’s world with more frequency and with more potential power because of the following reasons:

1. The number of communication mediums has increased – from a limited number of print and radio outlets to hundreds of channels over a multitude of communication platforms.

2. The entire globe is available, and it has become a self-serve, 24/7 marketplace.

3. The real-time use of such things as cell phones, texting and streaming video has made the immediacy of information exchange commonplace.

Therefore, the availability and flow of information between you and members of your target audience generate an ever-increasing potential for success as shown by the following:

1. You can now communicate constantly with your audience.

2. Your constant communication offers an opportunity to interact with your audience.

3. Your constant communication and interaction helps to clarify and strengthen your brand.

4. Your constant communication and interaction, as well as your powerful brand, creates your leadership role in the global marketplace.

 

Key Point – Everything in today’s marketplace is moving and moving fast. Positioning via promotion, therefore, is a daily challenge. However, as long as you take care to remain updated, muster the courage to seize opportunity ahead of the competition and provide feedback by mindfully addressing – through your communications – the concerns of all your stakeholders, you are acting in a manner that will gain and promote your market leadership.