Mindset Marketing

A lot of effort and study has been spent on the process of how a consumer chooses a brand.

The traditional “Four P’S of Marketing” are in order. The Product exists, The Price is set, the Promotion is out there trying to convince you to buy, and of course the Place determines where you actually fork out the cash---whether it’s a store, a catalog, or the internet.

But these all about what happens before you actually use the product. All the above have happened, and now the moment of truth is here.

What is going through your mind? What are you doing right now? What role are you playing? How’s your mood? Are you different than you were yesterday, or this morning?

Your mindset changes frequently and it has a lot to do with choices you make. In marketing that’s key. How can you tap into the experience of using the brand, so that it will be chosen the next time?

If you focus on the actual use you are practicing Mindset Marketing.

Here are the new “Four P’s”:

Persona. That‘s the role you are playing as you use the product. What are the touch points of your day, and what are you trying to do? How will the product help you to fulfill that role?

Perception. That’s the preconceived notion of a brand. It’s the de facto wide spread consensus of what the brand is all about---how it is thought of, compared to other brands in the category. It may or may not have anything to do with what’s most important to users. But it is vital to understand this to begin.

Positioning. This is the key. You should find out what benefits are being delivered, through research and watching how and when the product is being used.
Then you determine which benefit is the most important. That will become the one thing you will be known for---your positioning, the basis for your brand’s success.

Participation. Mindset Marketing identifies with a user’s persona and taps into his most basic needs with a winning positioning. It also makes possible marketers’ fondest dream---that users become fans. They might communicate with us through social media, become loyal customers, and recommend us to friends.

Mindset Marketing means walking in the user’s shoes, feeling what he feels, and making human contact at the tipping point of brand prefence.

The traditional “Four P’s” proceed from the makers’ point view---Product, Price, Place and Promotion.

But the Mindset Marketing “Four P’s” are more basic---Persona, Perception, Positioning, and Participation---come from the users. That’s a good place to start and to end.

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