Melvin Feller Explains a Powerful Marketing Strategy

Melvin Feller Explains a Powerful Marketing Strategy

Melvin Feller has always taught and believed that once your company understands the need for taking value to market and not just products and services, it is necessary to assess and determine why some customers flood through the doors of one business and completely ignore a competitor just two blocks away? Why?

Marketing Strategy by Melvin Feller MA

Melvin Feller believes that you could name many reasons why one store does not’ do as well as another but I want to focus on the marketing strategy that makes a business irresistible. You know the ones that customers cannot stay out of.

 Here is the secret.

 What makes one business soar to the top of the success mountain with others struggle at the base is what I refer to as the ….

Unique Purchase Appeal.

It is the “reason why” your customer should choose you over your competition? Every customer has to answer the “reason why” question in his or her mind before doing business somewhere.

Let’s go back in history and review Unique Selling Propositions (USP), you can look at Apple Computer at it’s inception. Here was a company housed in a garage, no fancy office, no one knew who they were yet based on their USP they became one of the fastest growing companies of their time. Even though they were competing against well-established giant IBM and then Microsoft.

Marketing Strategy by Melvin Feller MA

What was their unique purchase appeal? At its core it was their “point and click” operating system which made it possible for the “rest of us” to operate a computer without having to speak geek!
At the time, it was revolutionary. Just take a mouse and point and click. In addition, it, along with all the other cool stuff it could do, took them to the top of the mountain.

However, they lost their advantage when Microsoft figured out their own version of the “point and click” and of course, now the rest is history.

Staying in the history mode let us take another walk down memory lane… Domino’s Pizza. These people started out as a single pizza store and have a vision and a unique purchase appeal. Do you remember what it was?

Fresh hot pizza delivered to your door in less than 30 minutes or it is free.

Marketing Strategy by Melvin Feller MA

They did not promise the best pizza, they did not even promise the best tasting pizza, nor did they promise the least expensive pizza. Just delivered in 30 minutes fresh and hot or it is free.
None of the their competition made this promise although many offered free delivery, and it took 
Dominos from obscurity all the way to the top of the pizza mountain in record time.

Yes, they ended up losing their UPA, at least in part, when they started killing people with it. You may remember that their pizza drivers hit and killed a few people trying to make their deliveries in less than 30 minutes. They could no longer make this promise but it was powerful enough to keep them at the number 2 spot on the top 100 pizza companies in the world even today.
Wal-Mart shot to the top by utilizing a duel USP. Not only did they do the “low price” deal, but also they selected markets outside of the metropolitan big city and found a niche in a more “rural” environment. Thus immediately making them the “big fish” in the little pond versus a guppy in the big city.

Why you should not use low price as a USP

Marketing Strategy by Melvin Feller MA

Most entrepreneurs try to compete based on the low price like Wal-Mart USP, even though they are not a Wal-Mart nor will they ever be and they completely miss the point that they do not want to be.
Frankly, low price is the least profitable and the least appealing USP there is. For example, look at Blockbuster.

The early years of the video rental market was filled with small mom and pop shops. It was a new industry and location usually established their customer base. At first making money was like shooting fish in a barrel but not as messy.

Then corporate America got involved with the Blockbuster type operation. It was truly sad to watch what the mom and pop shops did to compete with the video rental giants.
With zero marketing background and even less imagination they lowered their prices!

Oh, wow! What a great idea! Let us lower our prices, cut our already thinning profit margins, make ourselves less competitive and send ourselves to the poor house faster than the re-entry speed of the space shuttle.

Not many small mom and pop shops around today are there? What where they competing against that was so powerful that “low price” could not defeat it? It was “widest selection”. Moreover, at the time consumers were willing to pay more for it.

Marketing Strategy by Melvin Feller MA

Then you have seen how the video rental big boys have changed or adjusted their USP around extended rental time, lower late fees, no late fees, to monthly memberships with unlimited rentals and no late fees.

In addition, not all this creative marketing is enough to keep Blockbuster ahead of the new competition with a new more powerful USP. They have just recently narrowly escaped bankruptcy.
Again in an effort to compete in a changing market where you can buy videos in a retail environment for about the price of one rental fee and a late charge, Blockbuster resorted to lower prices with their monthly membership with unlimited viewing and no late fees.

Now add NetFlix to the picture, with its online convenience USP, Blockbuster is definitely in a fight for survival.

As you can see, a Unique Purchase Appeal can make you big bucks. It can also do the same for your competition.

It would be worth the investment in time and money to come up with one don’t you think?

Melvin Feller MA Business Consultant, Business Owner, Entrepreneur and MBA

Melvin Feller is known as “The Entrepreneur’s Mentor” because Melvin walks his talk. Melvin Feller has been there and done that and more importantly, Melvin Feller knows how to transfer the skill set for success. This is main reason that he has been the sought after coach to hundreds of small business owners, entrepreneurs, Realtors, real estate investors and service professional internationally. Melvin Feller’s main talent is to show you how the step by step process to build and enjoy a successful 6-figure plus business while having a balanced life. Melvin Feller maintains offices in Texas and Oklahoma.

Melvin Feller MA is in Texas and in Oklahoma. Melvin Feller founded Melvin Feller Business Group in the 1970s to help individuals and organizations achieve their specific Victory. Victory as defined by the individual or organization are achieving strategic objectives, exceeding goals, getting results or desired outcomes. He has extensive experience assisting businesses achieve top and bottom line results. He has broad practical experience creating WINNERS in many organizations and industries. He has hands-on experience in executive leadership, operations, logistics, sales, program management, organizational development, training, and customer service. He has coached teams to achieve results in strategic planning, business development, organizational design, sales, and customer response and business process improvement. He has prepared and presented many workshops nationally and internationally.