Remember Jumbo? He was the flamboyant nuts man who crafted a business out of selling nuts at sports and cultural events. We can learn a lot from him about Marketing. His brand name, Jumbo, I imagine, was selected so as to communicate his point of difference vs. other purveyors of peanuts. His nuts were bigger than the others being offered by his many competitors, they were jumbo nuts.
Differentiation
Jumbo understood that central to marketing his brand was that he had to differentiate it. He also understood that he could price it higher than others because his customers would see value not price. So he charged a dollar more. How revolutionary at the time!
Then he invented a new distribution system that allowed him to turn product delivery into a performance which engaged customers, sometimes even those on the periphery of the transaction. And he personified the brand. He was Jumbo; philosopher, fashion designer, entrepreneur, innovator.
The 4P’s of Marketing
He got price, product, place (distribution) and promotions right (the 4 P’s). And I’m pretty sure he never heard of Philip Kotler, David Aaker or Michael Porter. Yet Jumbo understood Marketing. And that’s what makes marketing so fascinating. It’s accessible to all.
And it is Marketing’s accessibility that sometimes causes it to be misdirected. For example, Marketing is often equated with advertising. But if all Jumbo did was dress up without sourcing bigger grains for his brand or fine tuning his distribution, he would not have dominated as he did. According to the authors of “Duct Tape Marketing”, Jumbo mastered “the art of getting known, liked and trusted.”
The Fifth P of Marketing
A fifth “p” that is often ignored or under-valued in marketing discussions is Positioning. David Aaker describes positioning as “A part of brand identity and value proposition that is to be actively communicated to the target audience and that demonstrates an advantage over competing brands.” It’s the first question I think that anyone should ask when talking about marketing a product or building a brand; what is its positioning? It allows you to have a clear picture of what your brand should stand for. (And also what it should not stand for.) What is Marketing? Ask Jumbo, he knows. He turned a commodity into a brand.
