eBusiness Weekly
Leslie Mupeti
Marketing often gets an outsized reputation as some kind of a magical miracle worker — the silver bullet saviour of struggling companies and flailing products.
But the reality is that marketing, no matter how ingenious or well-funded, cannot make up for fundamental flaws in what’s being sold. At its core, marketing serves as a multiplier of a product, not a substitute for quality or real value.
Simply put, marketing can make a good product greatly successful, but it cannot rescue a bad product from failure.
And in many ways, this relationship places the lion’s share of responsibility on the product side of the equation. Because no matter the marketing brilliance, if the core product is broken or does not meaningfully solve customer problems, no campaign in the world will change that underlying truth.
When you multiply any number by zero, the answer is always zero. So too with marketing — if you start with a product rated at “zero” in terms of actual ability to satisfy, the most sophisticated marketing plan won’t upgrade that rating to anything other than zero. Lipstick on a pig, as the saying goes, does not make it any less of a pig.
New Coke
New Coke launched in 1985 amid a marketing blitz the likes of which had never been seen. Billions were spent convincing consumers the sweeter, less robust taste was preferable. And yet, the reformulation failed to gain traction because it strayed too far from what people liked about the original. No amount of promotion could make up for the product swap itself missing the mark.
Dyson
On the flip side, look at companies like Dyson that poured massive R&D resources into reinventing product categories from vacuum cleaners to hair dryers through true innovation.
Once the breakthrough designs hit shelves backed by competent marketing, they took off as authentic improvements delighted customers. Here, high-quality products multiplied marketing’s impact.
Grassroots enthusiasm versus gimmicky marketing
This dynamic also helps explain why products with diehard cult followings often thrive without major promotional support early on.
Think instant pots, fidget spinners or Crocs — their success propagated through grassroots enthusiasm driven by the products themselves tangibly improving lives. Marketing amplified pre-existing word-of-mouth, but did not instigate it.
The lesson is that companies should lead with product excellence over promotional pandering.
Gimmicky marketing may generate short term buzz, but meaningful solutions get rediscovered and reintroduced to new audiences for decades.
Focusing obsessively on marketing also risks building campaigns around products ill-equipped to fulfil promises made in ads down the line.
Not that marketing is irrelevant by any means.
But responsible organizations understand its role is to spread awareness of offerings that truly move the needle, not convince people to buy swap out quality for hype. Smart marketers let the product do the heavy lifting, using carefully crafted messaging to introduce it to as many receptive buyers as savvy targeting allows.
Aligning product and marketing
For optimal outcomes, product development and marketing efforts must align seamlessly. Marketing teams should be involved early in the product development process to understand the product’s unique value proposition and target audience.
This collaboration ensures that marketing strategies are aligned with the product’s strengths and effectively communicate its key benefits.
In the end, marketing only works to the extent customers find real value aligning with businesses’ claims.
Brands pouring cash into ads won’t salvage subpar solutions failing basic customer needs. But given a great product that resonates, thoughtful promotional support engineered around demonstrated user benefit can work wonders. The lesson: build something better first, then tell the world about it.
Leslie Mupeti
Leslie Mupeti is a brand strategist and creative Innovator. He is the founder of Daily Brand and can be reached for feedback on www.dailybrand.co.zw or email on: [email protected] or +263 785 324 230. His Twitter and Facebook is @lesmupeti
