What Exactly is Market Driven Growth?
Market Driven Growth is profitable sales growth that results from sensing and responding to changing customer behavior. Market Driven Growth is deceptively simple and becomes harder to do as an organization crystallizes. It requires openness to change any aspect of the business model.
Market Driven Growth principles can grow any company in any industry and any business model, from B2C to B2B to D2C.
George S. Day is the creator of this concept and the author of 23 books on this subject and others. He is the Geoffrey T. Boisi Emeritus Professor in The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. I believe his approach is even more relevant today than when he first began publishing.
Why is it so hard for organizations to stay on a market-driven path?
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They become self-centered, more focused on what they can do than on what the market actually wants. Paradoxically, this may be a result of tremendous early success, which begins to trap the corporate mindset. You will hear "we don't do that" in this situation.
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They become customer compelled. This means that every function is empowered to get insights from the customers and then act separately on the input. This can create an avalanche of information, a belief that all customers are equally valuable, and conflicting initiatives that are missing a shared vision. You will hear "I talked to a person who said..." in this situation.
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They become skeptical. Statements like "customers can't articulate what they don't know" and "customers will ask for a bigger nail when what they really want is a bigger hole" become accepted as a reason for ignoring the customer.
What are the distinctive behaviors of market driven organizations?
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Offer superior solutions and experiences. They anticipate and act on emerging opportunities.
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Focus on superior customer value. They know their target and focus obsessively on what that target cares about.
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Convert satisfaction to loyalty. They realize that loyalty is the key to profitability.
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Energize and retain employees. Employee satisfaction correlates to customer satisfaction.
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Anticipate competitors' moves. They are proficient at the chess game of what a competitor might do, and block those moves before they happen.
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Treat marketing dollars as an investment, not a cost. The marketing spend determines the sales level, not the other way around.
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Nurture and leverage brands as assets. The brand name bestows credibility; a strong brand has better leverage from the marketing investment.
Excerpted with permission from George S. Day , "What Does It Mean To Be Market Driven?", Business Strategy Review, 1998.
What Is Marketing?
There is way too much jargon in marketing. Acronyms and multi-syllable words cover up simple ideas with confusing language. It has always seemed to me that our greatest minds are so impactful because they are able to communicate great concepts simply and pragmatically.
Marketing In Plain English
Marketing Roadmap Marketing Capabilities
(In Plain English)
(The Toolbox Of Skills)