1. 01 | February 2009 issue
p. 3 In trying times. (Part I of 2)
Market downturns make
companies try harder. But are
they focusing their scarce
resources in the proper areas?
p. 6 My friend, my banker.
A simple way to earn a monthly
DIVIDEND.
p. 7 Brand touchpoints 101.
Marketing has come of age;
understanding the new paradigm.
p. 9 The term de jour Once-in-a-century?
Make it a Great Recession.
peek inside the next issue
In trying times. (Part 2 of 2)
Where should companies be
focusing their marketing
resources in this trying time, plus
the tools to help them do it.
Brand environment. More
than just a pretty place.
The brand space should be more
than just branded space. How to
get your consumers to seek out
and live your brand.
Influencing Influencers.
The influencer can be the brand
ambassador or the anti-brand.
This important touchpoint
requires more than facts and
figures.
The term de jour

2. www.themarketingagora.com 2

3. In As we kick off 2009, we enter a period of uncertainty. When Alan Greenspan
terms it 'an once-in-a-century credit tsunami', then an assessment of how your
trying
marketing is run, why and for whom is long overdue and necessary.
Good companies review their marketing operations during good times. Those
companies that have followed the marketing playbook and regularly assess their
times. marketing effectiveness will be able to consolidate their learnings and perform
strongly during the current economic downturn. For those that haven’t, it’s not
too late (yet); but it soon could be. While it is unfortunate that it takes an
(part 1 of 2) economic meltdown to nudge many organisations to undertake a critical review
of their overall marketing goals and effectiveness, it is a discipline that has
entered management’s ‘radar’.
Marketing efficiency can A marketing effectiveness review is a precursor to a full marketing audit. By
determine whether initiating an effectiveness review, management can gauge how their
businesses survive, organisation’s marketing function is gauged across five key parameters.
succeed or fail during this
economic downturn. Consumer (and/or Customer) Alignment
Understanding whether Is the organisation (management, vision, practice) centered around the needs of its
chosen market (consumer, customer)
your organisation is an
effective marketer is not Integrated Brand Organisation
so difficult, if you know Are the internal marketing functions operating around a common brand vision?
what to look for. Available Information
How is market information obtained? From which sources? How recent is it?
Strategic Orientation
How formal (or informal) is the marketing planning? To what extent is the planning?
Operational Efficiency
How well are the results from the previous four being implemented?
It is important to get an understanding from within each of these parameters to
identify where the gaps are. Each section is interdependent. Excelling at one
while under-performing (or worse still, ignoring) another will result in a less than
ideal outcome.
Access the marketing effectiveness tool. cont...
3

4. In Smaller organisations should by their very nature be adaptable and nimble yet
many tend to dismiss such an exercise. Some would claim they don’t have the
trying
resources, while other consider the exercise something only the large successful
organisation use.
The notion that high-performing organisations are marketing leaders is a
times. misconception. This is not necessarily the case and quickly becomes evident once
the economy heads downwards; sometimes success is a matter of circumstance.
(part 1 of 2) The idea that the exercise drains limited resources couldn’t be farther from the
truth. Instead of looking at it as a time-consuming, expensive activity, consider
these truths:
Highlights In any given 5 year period, the average company loses about 50% of its
customers.
Marketing effectiveness Retaining 5% of your customers (or consumers) can lead to incremental
reviews will identify gaps. sales of 25%.
There are 5 key During a recession period, the negative impact on your brand equity from
parameters to lost customers can lead to a higher rate of customer loss.
understanding your
marketing effectiveness. In trying times, competition is fierce. Those that create more value, perceived
and actual, succeed. Yet it is a matter of understanding what that value is, as
Building brand equity can understood by those that pay your salary; customers + consumers.
save marketing spend
while creating strong By changing the framework of thought and shifting your focus to the actual
foundations. customer, you begin to answer the first step of the marketing effectiveness,
Customer Alignment by asking:
Self-evaluation makes the
organisation stronger, What value are we delivering? Is it relevant? What gap requires filling?
and the brands better Why us? Why not our competitors?
equipped to create value.
When are the moments of truth that makes us relevant, and sought?
How do we deliver that value in a manner that builds a solid relationship with
our customer?
These are indeed trying times. Trying harder is the new mantra. Yet, before anything
can be done, the most difficult question must be answered: Are you ready?
Access the marketing effectiveness tool.
4

5. Live like a Wall Street CEO
We’re not talking about the successful ones. They don’t make enough. It’s those CEOs that lead their firms to bankruptcy,
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monthly dividend.
Contact us by email at dividend@agoramarketingmanagement.com or
give us a shout. The only strenuous work in your future could be prying the AGORA referral program
your bank manager’s lips off your butt.
5

6. The DIVIDEND Business Referral Program provides you the opportunity to earn
My friend, substantial monthly dividends for referring new customers to AGORA. Our
Referral Partners have no monthly commitments and do not need to assist
My banker. with the sale. Simply provide us with a business referral, and we will take it from
there. We’ll arrange the meetings, present our credentials, and let things take
their natural course. Your only responsibility is the referral: No support, No
obligation. No conundrum.
A recession needn’t be
depressing.
Sometimes, the best way the AGORA referral program
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help yourself in the
process. How it Works.
The way it works is quite simple. Refer a prospect to us, then sit back and share
in the profits while we do all the work.
DIVIDEND is the AGORA business referral program that makes sense. The
program works by giving you a percentage of the revenue received on a monthly
basis for any new referral that becomes an AGORA customer. This referral fee
starts after a customer has been with AGORA for 30 days and is payable monthly
for as long as they are clients. Judging by our track record, chances are they’ll be
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Benefits
Well, let’s see. Banks aren’t giving loans. Bummer. Companies are laying people
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giving away money so that we can all have a great recession. Cool.
To find out more, click here. 6

7. Not so long ago, marketing continued to be confused with advertising.
Brand The bulk of marketing resources were spent on communication. As the markets
Touchpoints became more fragmented, it became much more difficult to convey messages to
consumers effectively.
101 Then, an awakening started to unfold. First came satellite television. Then the
advent of the internet age. Barriers were broken. The power to entertain and
inform no longer rested with the media barons. And information flowed. Choice
became a right, not a privilege.
Brands no longer dictate what messages you are exposed to. Advertising is less
effective. And marketing is evolving at the break-neck speeds dictated by young,
Advertising is not techies powering the technology we now depend on.
marketing.
The marketing paradigm shift took hold. It no longer is about the ad. It is no
Brands are not products. longer about the product. It is no longer about the distribution. It is about the
Brands are experienced. brand. Not the logo. Not the ‘identity’. It is about what that brand makes them,
the customers, experience.
Great experiences are
sought. This new paradigm was all about the brand experience. Apple understood this
early on, spawning the iPod, iTunes and the iTunes Store. It was marketers such
Touchpoints are brand as them that began to truly comprehend that consumers interact with brands on
experiences, at a specific an emotional + rational level; that to do so, they experience the brand and
moment of truth. unconsciously decide whether to recommend or trash its reputation.
To comprehend this concept, one must look at each interaction with a brand as a
touchpoint. Whether it is contact with a salesperson or visiting a website,
picking up the packaging or throwing it away, each interaction is experienced,
positively or negatively. The level of success a brand has is understanding how
each touchpoint is experienced and ensuring each and every touchpoint is
united around a common brand vision.
Brands have anywhere between 30 to over 100 touchpoints that customers,
employees, consumers and other stakeholders experience on a daily basis.
Brands cannot sustainably thrive unless marketers understand each of these
touchpoints and how to ensure they are interpreted in a manner that satisfies
the stakeholder.
cont...
Learn more about brand touchpoints, here. 7

8. At the core of the touchpoint wheel is the vision. Both the consumer and the
Brand brand have their own visions to fulfill a particular need/want/desire yet it is that
overlap that determines the perfect fit between the two. A brand without a true
Touchpoints vision cannot succeed at filling a consumer need
it doesn’t truly comprehend.
101 Once the vision is clarified, the
8
renew
touchpoint wheel can be organised
into three distinct stages of 7 1
retire awareness
experience:
1) Pre-Purchase
Advertising is not * awareness of brand
Consumer
marketing. 2
Vision
Brand
* learning about it learning
6
Brands are not products. 2) Purchase contact
Brands are experienced. * Purchase/Intent to interact
* Preparation to use/interact
Great experiences are * Usage/Interaction
sought.
3) Post-Purchase 5 3
Touchpoints are brand * Contact representatives for
experiences, at a specific use purchase
assistance
moment of truth. * Retire/intent to stop interaction
* Renew (repeat the steps) 4
prepare
Within each experience stage, a detailed itemisation of the brand touchpoints
allows the organisation to assess which ones drive the experience they desire.
By doing so, they can determine where resources can be utilised to contribute to
an immediate effect on brand perception and experience.
Developing the brand touchpoints to become a seamless, inspirational
experience transforms all the stakeholders into enthusiastic brand ambassadors.
And in times of limited resources, it is by far the most powerful implementation
of sound marketing strategy.
Watch out for more information on how
to transform your Brand Touchpoints
into inspirational experiences. Learn more about brand touchpoints, here. 8

9. just words? parole श"द$
kliem ‫ﺍﻟﻜﻠﻤﺎﺕ‬ palabras
λόγια kelime
Term Hierarchy of Needs
de jour A diagrammatic tool that assists in identifying
the primary, supporting and unique needs of:
(a) the customer organisation and/or
(b) the consumer,
plus the specific personal needs of that contact.
It’s not the size of the
word that counts, but
how you use it.
general Empowering
example
Ego Needs info |
transformational
tone
Enlightening info |
Social Needs professional tone
Security Needs Helping info | confident tone
Biological/Physiological Needs Coping info | empathetic tone
If you like words, you’ll like our glossary
of marketing terms. Perfect for breaking
the ice during those uncomfortable
quiet moments. Access the AGORA Book ‘O Terms, here 9

10. an AGORA Marketing Management publication
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creating brand experiences
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