By Barg Upender, CEO of Mobomo and Bob London, President of London, InkIt’s been more than four decades since Michigan State University Professor E. Jerome McCarthy theorized that marketing contains four basic elements: product, price, place (distribution) and promotion, also known as the “Four Ps of Marketing” or the marketing mix.

Amazingly, despite the unprecedented upheaval and transformation in marketing strategies, techniques, channels and tactics during the last forty years-not to mention marketers’ penchant for postulating all manner of new philosophies, methodologies, rules and acronyms–the Four Ps of Marketing have remained unchanged.

But perhaps now there is good reason to revisit and refresh marketing’s Four Ps: the emergence of “applications” or “apps” as a new means for organizations to acquire, retain or otherwise engage customers and prospects.

What are “Apps”?

An app is a small, self-contained computer program that provides value or engagement to a mass or targeted audience in a community, marketplace or platform.  Think of Scrabulous for Facebook; WeatherBug for the iPhone; NBC’s Saturday Night Live widgets; or the Wall Street Journal’s reader for the Blackberry.  Apps are commonly grouped via their method of distribution and/or platform:

• Mobile apps: Designed to leverage the unique characteristics of mobile audiences and smartphones, such as the need for location-based information or lightweight, portable versions of larger, more complex services such as Salesforce.com
• Community- or platform-based apps: Those that are developed exclusively for and can only be used on a particular site such as Facebook; and
• Widgets: Portable apps that can reside on multiple third party sites and blogs.

The App explosion

The proliferation in the use of apps by large and small businesses, as well as non-profit and government organizations is well-documented.  Apps have been developed by brands of all stripes as standalone marketing tools or to target fast-growing, communities such as Facebook (350,000 apps used by more than 70% of Facebook’s 250 million users¹) or the iPhone (65,000 apps available; 1 billion downloads in first 9 months²).

And due to their ability to achieve low-cost global or geographically-targeted distribution; their relatively inexpensive development; and rapid time to market-as well as their virtually unlimited potential for creating unique and valuable user experiences-apps have only begin to reach their potential as a new category of marketing tool.

Let’s examine the explosion of one type of app: mobile.  The transformation of the mobile web landscape is reminiscent of the original trajectory of the World Wide Web.  Very quickly, the consensus shifted from “Why does my company need a Web site?” to “Why don’t we have a Web site yet?”  That shift was caused by the reduced cost of developing sites, their practical and proven use in engaging customers, the increase in available bandwidth; and technological advances that helped organizations deliver more useful and relevant user experiences.

The same phenomenon is occurring today with mobile apps: A recent New York Times article reports that nearly half (48 percent) of phone users shop for apps more than once a week and about the same number (49 percent) report using apps on their phone for more than 30 minutes a day; the cost of developing mobile apps has dropped dramatically; and technological improvements are enabling more speed and a better user experience.

 

How do “apps” relate to Marketing’s Four Ps? 

Apps can deliver some portion of the product experience; promote the brand; place themselves wherever customers are; and/or be priced to stimulate trial or engagement.  But while “apps” combine elements of each of the Four Ps, they’re neither fish nor fowl–they don’t neatly fit into any one category.

In other words, apps are not products, promotions, channels or pricing strategies.  But an app can have some or all of these elements.  Apps are…well, they’re apps.  Simply put, apps have become a box you check in your marketing plan, right next to the other Four Ps.  It’s hard to imagine a new brand launch, Hollywood film, ad campaign or even a fundraising push occurring without the question being asked, “Should we develop a mobile or Facebook app for this?”

Let us know what you think: Do apps deserve their own slot in the marketing mix pantheon, right alongside the traditional Four Ps?  Please join the discussion in the ‘comments’ section at the bottom of the following page: http://www.mobomo.com/blog/is-it-time-to-add-apps-to-marketing-4 -P-s

¹   Source: Facebook

²   Source: Apple

About the Authors

Barg Upender, Founder and CEO of Mobomo, LLC

Barg is the CEO & co-founder of Mobomo, a leading mobile application development company focused on developing applications for smart phones in the consumer and enterprise markets. Mobomo has deep expertise in Apple iPhone, Google Andoroid, Palm Pre, RIM Blackberry, Windows Mobile, and Symbian OS. Barg is a serial entrepreneur and technologist with 20 years of experience in commercial software product development. Barg was founding partner of web development firm Intridea and he founded and sold Concentric Methods, a biomedical software development company.  In 2009 Barg was named by Washingtonian Magazine to its list of Washington, DC’s Top 100 Tech Titans.

Bob London, President of London, Ink

Bob London is president and founder of London, Ink, a marketing and communications consulting firm that helps organizations define and prioritize their products and services based on what the market wants - or doesn’t want - to buy. In pioneering the Virtual VP of Marketing concept, Bob works with established and early-stage companies who aren’t ready for the cost and commitment of a full-time marketing executive to assess their market opportunity, determine the strategic options and develop a practical go-to-market plan.  Bob’s work and writing has been profiled or covered by the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Miami Herald, USA Today and Marketing News, the AMA’s flagship magazine, and he recently spoke at Network Solutions’ Unintentional Entrepreneur series. For more information, please visit www.londonink.com.

Just a reminder about what promises to be an educational and fun event (where I happen to be speaking!) on August 5th.  The event is part of the Unintentional Entrepreneur program which was conceived and is being underwritten by Network Solutions and Outright.com–two companies at the forefront of helping entrepreneurs and small/growing businesses–and is being held at the Johns Hopkins University–Montgomery County Campus.

 

I have the honor of joining another speaker, Shashi Bellamkonda, who is an expert on helping entrepreneurs and small businesses use technology for marketing, communications and overall productivity.  Shashi was also recently named to Washingtonian Magazine’s list of Top 100 Tech Titans (http://www.washingtonian.com/print/articles/6/173/12164.html) and is a popular speaker on the tech/marketing/small biz circuit nationwide.

 

Please check out the Unintentional Entrepreneur site and register for the event at http://uedc.eventbrite.com.  Remember it’s on August 5th and space is limited!  Hope to see you there.

Later this week, I’m reprising my highly rated (by the audience) presentation, originally given at this summer’s National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU) Strategic Growth conference.

The topic is social marketing but not from a “slam dunk,” “gotta have it,” “full speed ahead, damn the business case,” perspective.  Rather the presentation examines whether there is any “there” there yet regarding revenue (specifically for credit unions, member acquisition, retention and non-account revenue).

Here’s the abstract from the NAFCU Annual Conference site, and I will post the presentation on SlideShare in the next couple weeks.

Social Marketing is Free so it Must be Worthwhile… Right?   Well maybe, but BEWARE— don’t be drawn in by the ‘coolness’ of using Facebook, Twitter and interactive applications to market your credit union without some investigation. Before you launch a social media campaign that you’re sure will “go viral,” don’t forget these three simple letters: R.O.I. Even though setting up a Facebook or Twitter account, or even a blog, is free, there are hidden costs in terms of time, resources and budget. This presentation will explore how credit unions and other organizations are using social media and other Web 2.0 tools and to what degree they are successful.

Presented by Bob London, President and Founder of London, Ink, LLC 

See NAFCU Conference site at bit.ly/fdMyl

How to Blame Your Predecessor

(Or the art of throwing the previous regime under the bus.)

By Bob London

We all know about the so-called honeymoon period in business: the time at the beginning of a new job when an executive can sit back and absorb and assess the way things work, who the power players are and where the bodies are buried–without being expected to make any great decisions or pronouncements. It’s a no-fault grace period which can last as long as several months depending on the role and company.

But there’s another less-talked about phase executives can leverage to their advantage: the Blame Window.  This is the period during which you can hold your predecessor responsible for the challenges you are now facing.

One might naturally ask, as I did, how long after you’ve assumed a new role can you blame your predecessor?  And how would one go about throwing him or her under the bus?

My research yielded no credible answers to these questions, so I developed the following handy formula (Fig. 1) to help executives calculate their available Blame Window:

 

Here is a fictitious example to show how the formula works.  Let’s say Bill S. takes over as CFO of a venture-backed start-up which has already raised two rounds of funding and is burning $75,000 per month with profitability two years away, soonest. After 6.5 weeks on the job, Bill discovers a serious flaw in the company’s pricing model that requires redoing the model–and therefore the business plan–from scratch. Bill’s predecessor held the CFO post for 2.5 years.

Q: Can Bill blame his predecessor?
A: Absolutely! Using the former CFO’s tenure of 30 months, divided by 2 equals 15, which is then divided by the 6.5 weeks of Bill’s tenure and multiplied by a Problem Magnitude Rating of 5. The result is a Blame Window of 11.4 weeks. Since Bill discovered the error in under seven weeks, he can throw the former CFO right under the old Greyhound.

Caution: this formula can be dangerous if not used judiciously.  Here are some important tips to remember:

First, make sure you get the math right.  There is nothing more embarrassing than miscalculating the Blame Window and having the whole situation blow up in your face.  Set some reminders in Outlook 90, 60, 30 and 7 days prior to the expiration of the Blame Window so you will know when to stop blaming your predecessor.

Second, do your homework before you start laying on the criticism.  Was your predecessor revered or scorned? Respected or tolerated?  Make sure to get these and other data points before you start spraying around accusations.  The last thing you want to do is tear into someone who is a company legend or, worse, someone who is deceased.

Third, make sure to select the right way of broaching the subject with your superiors.  Here are some preambles to get you started:

• Jocular: “Gee, if I’d known all this before I would have asked for a lot more money, ha-ha-ha!”
• Nothing Personal, Just Business: “I’m sure <name of predecessor> was a good guy, but…”
• Delicate but Direct: “I don’t want to cast aspersions on anyone, but now that I’ve gotten my feet wet…”
• Mildly Annoyed: “I have to tell you I’m not sure what I’ve gotten myself into here…”
• Threatening: “If you think I’m going to take the fall for any of this, you can just find yourself another CFO.”

Older gentleman sues Facebook and LinkedIn for age discrimination, calling them “too confusing for some of us older folk.”

Broomville, CO–A 58-year old accounting manager has filed suit against two of the most popular networking sites, accusing Facebook and LinkedIn of discriminating against him and millions of older people who find social networking sites and technologies too intimidating and complicated to use.

“It’s tough enough getting older every single day, but its downright degrading when you run into a zillion people a day asking if you’re using LinkedIn or Facebook, as though they’re some sort of panacea,” said the complainant, Frank Sawyer. “I’ve tried to use those newfangled things and have spoken to a lot of my peers who’ve tried also. It just isn’t in our genetics, and it isn’t fair.”

Added Sawyer’s attorney, Barney Simonton, “You can’t teach an old dog new technologies. We’ve tried to contact both LinkedIn and Facebook to make the case that older folk need a simpler process for signing up and using these sites–and it took us literally a month to find a phone number where we could reach a live person. Ultimately, our complaints have fallen on deaf ears, which has forced us to take legal action.”

“I had one older friend who actually figured out how to start using Facebook,” said Jennette Porteax, a 61-year old home maker. “Just when he got comfortable using it they changed the whole darn site around–the way it looks, the way it works, everything. He just couldn’t keep up–he pitched the whole social networking thing and took up woodworking.”

Marketing expert and self-proclaimed ‘thought leading social media demi-guru,’ Bob London of marketing firm London, Ink predicted the social networking trend may in fact leave the older generation behind. “Age is a state of mind–on the Internet no one knows you’re old, unless you forget to suppress your year of birth on Facebook,” said the forty-something London.

“Old people just need to take a deep breath and try harder. It ain’t rocket science, and if you need proof of that, just check out some of the younger crowd’s atrocious profiles. They’re full of bad grammar, misspellings and illiterate-sounding corporate jargon.”

Both LinkedIn and Facebook declined to comment for this story.

© 2009, Bob London

London, Ink is proud to sponsor an exciting event on March 27 - 28: Government 2.0 Camp (http://gov20camp.eventbrite.com/).  Here’s a brief description of the event and the “camp” concept:

What is Government 2.0 Camp?

Government 2.0 Camp is the unconference about using social technologies (aka web 2.0/social media tools) to create a more effective, efficient and collaborative U.S. government on all levels (local, state and federal).

Government 2.0 Camp will bring together the leading thinkers from government, academia and industry to share Government 2.0 initiatives that are already in process and collaborate about Government 2.0 ideas that are currently just visions.

There is also a wiki for the event where attendees and other can discuss topics and other themes: http://www.barcamp.org/Government20Camp

Why is London, Ink sponsoring this event?

1. I’m very dissatisfied–to the point of taking action–with the lack of efficiency and abundance of waste in government and am a big believer that new Web technologies, Web 2.0 applications and social media/networking applications can help.  Trimming the Federal budget by a quarter of one percent over the next five years could pay for a lot of fixes (long-term) to our educational system or seed the nascent but promising field of alternative energy.
2. I fully support transparency in government, particularly government spending–it’s our money after all–and again believe that Web 2.0 technologies and social media/networking apps can enable this.
3. I believe the Gov 2.0 arena will yield good business opportunities for London, Ink, long-term.
4. Sounds like a great event!  (I like the participatory BarCamp approach.)

Hope to see you there.

Great info from destinationCRM.com and supports why companies should consider solutions like e.SSENTIALS from London, Ink, a fixed-price bundle of online/social marketing programs.  See e.ssentials.net for more info.

Given the state of the economy, Lamba writes that social networking is a relatively low cost solution that could help in fostering, “steady communication with existing partners, and clients as well as incubating new relationships” — a function both desired by consumers networking with friends and with employees in the workplace. The aforementioned IDC social networking survey, in fact, indicates that the majority of social networking users list communication as their number one reason for usage of such sites.

http://www.destinationcrm.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=51944

Announcing e.SSENTIALS, from London, Ink: A new, fixed-price online marketing program including development of five essential initiatives: marketing database, e-newsletter, Google AdWords, search engine optimization & social marketing presence.

Potomac, MD, December 11, 2008-London, Ink, (www.londonink.com) a full-service, on-demand marketing and communications firm, today launched e.SSENTIALS, a fixed-price program of online marketing services for small- and mid-size businesses and non-profit organizations.

Designed to meet the budgeting predictability requirements of small- and mid-size organizations, the London, Ink e.SSENTIALS program includes the development and execution of five essential online marketing deliverables for one fixed price.

The London, Ink e.SSENTIALS Program Includes:

• Marketing Database: Compilation of an organization’s key contacts, including prospective, nurture (long-term), and existing customers/clients and partners. Regularly communicating to a house list can be the most cost-effective way to for an organization to maintain or increase mindshare-a critical step towards being “short-listed” when prospects are ready to buy.
• E-Newsletter: Development of a web-based newsletter template that will be emailed to one or more segments of the Marketing Database, plus execution of one prototype e-newsletter.
• Google AdWords/Analytics Test: Development of a test of the Google AdWords pay-per-click online advertising program, the world’s leading online advertising platform.
• Web Site Search Engine Optimization Audit: Assessment of content, page titles and other factors for search engine “friendliness” and recommendations for immediate enhancements.
• Introductory Social Marketing Program: Development and implementation of a program that leverages free distribution of an organization’s message, via at least one of the following tactics: company/product blog or leading social networking sites.

“Running any business today without online marketing tools such as database marketing, search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising and basic social marketing, is like making an omelet without eggs,” said London, Ink president, Bob London.  “These tools are lower cost and easier to measure than traditional marketing tactics, but too often they fall off the priority list due to a lack of resources and expertise to properly plan, implement and maintain them.”

“Now with e.SSENTIALS, London, Ink provides small- and mid-size organizations with a practical, cost-effective and low-risk way to implement these fundamental programs as they enter 2009.”

What about Content?

The e.SSENTIALS program leverages an organization’s existing content, such as news releases, white papers, articles and other subject matter or thought leadership content.  New or additional content can be created for an additional fee.

How is the e.SSENTIALS Program Priced?

The fixed-price, all-inclusive cost of the London, Ink e.SSENTIALS program is based on the size of the organization by annual revenue.  Please contact London, Ink at essentials@londonink.com or 240 994 7644 for more details.  The cost of the program is billed monthly in five equal amounts.

“Teaching Organizations to Fish”

In addition to the development and execution of the above programs, for an additional fee London, Ink will provide training for managers and staff on how to continue to leverage and maximize the above tools.

Additional details are available at e.ssentials.net.  To sign up for this program or to learn more, please contact Bob London, president of London, Ink at essentials@londonink.com or 240.994.7644.

About London, Ink

London, Ink is a full-service, on-demand marketing and communications firm based in the Washington, DC metro area, that develops and implements marketing and communications programs for mid-size and growing businesses and non-profit organizations.

Bob London, president of London, Ink, serves as a Virtual VP of Marketing for organizations that need hands-on, interim leadership in marketing strategy, planning and execution.  For more on London, Ink please visit www.londonink.com or contact Bob London at 240 994 7644 or essentials@londonink.com.