Launch It: From Idea To The Store Shelf

Launch It
From Idea to the Store Shelf
Dr. Tony Vercillo

Copyright Dr. Tony Vercillo © 2021
All Rights Reserved
ISBN: 978-1-913969-42-4
Library of Congress: 2020921302
Dedication
To my three children, Anthony, Darien, and
Nicolas, who are my purpose in life and my reason for
living. Thank you, my children, for giving my life its
true meaning. And to my students who have blessed
me with years of enjoyment, even entertainment…
many of you have touched my heart, and I hope I have
given back a little in return. You make all the late
nights of evening classes worth it for me, and I feel
truly honored to have crossed your paths.
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Acknowledgments
Writing a book is not easy. It takes many late nights
and weekends to complete a book project. It also
requires a team of people to get it done. I would never
have been able to complete this book without the solid
support provided by my editors and publisher.
Thank you!
In addition, there are a few other important people

I’d like to thank.
 To my many clients throughout the world,

watching many of my projects come to life provided
me with the impetus to write this book.
 To my mentors, John Ledwith and John Thyne.
You both saw raw talent in me and molded me into
the man I am today.
 To my editor, Kim Palmer, for 20 years of
friendship and laser-sharp editing.
And finally, to my family. I have tried very hard to

be a good Dad and want you to all know that I love
you very much. You keep me grounded and focused.
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About the Author
Dr. Tony Vercillo is a 30-year veteran in the
Product Marketing and Distribution industry. He has
a Doctorate in Marketing Management, with special
emphasis in Global Marketing Strategies (Summa
Cum Laude), having also received his MBA in
Leadership and Human Behavior. Dr. Vercillo is a
highly sought-after public speaker known for his
“infectious enthusiasm.”
Dr. Vercillo has been a global marketing and

supply chain consultant for the past 30 years,
performing 350 projects in more than 20 countries.
Dr. Vercillo has also been involved in the launch of
more than 50 products, many of which became
household names.
He has served as a Senior-Level Manager and Vice

President for PepsiCo and a third-party supply chain
firm. He is currently the CEO at a major Kosher Food
service company in New Jersey. Dr. Vercillo also
teaches Global Marketing Strategy and Supply Chain
Theory in the California State University system. His
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passion in life is teaching and coaching, and he has
spent the last 20 years fulfilling that dream.
You can contact Dr. Vercillo at:
www.supplychaintextbook.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/tonyvercillo
www.Facebook.com/Tony.Vercillo
Follow Dr. Vercillo on Twitter - @DrTVercillo
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Preface
According to the Global New Products Database,
20,000 new products are added into the marketplace
every month from more than 50 countries.
The problem with this statistic is that 80% of these

new products fail due to multiple reasons, including a
lack of research, unclear understanding of the target
market, insufficient funding, and the lack of
marketing muscle to exploit the product.
Launch It: From Idea to the Store Shelf will help

entrepreneurs bring their products to the marketplace
the “right” way. With the increase in global
competition, the need to correctly identify the target
market and use the appropriate form of advertising
reach has never been more important than it is
today. In fact, it has never, ever been easier than it is
today to reach a consumer; but at the same time, it
has also never been more difficult than today to get
them to buy something.
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Launch It: From Idea to the Store Shelf is a
practitioner’s view of the major tenets required to
launch a product into the global marketplace.
The point of difference within this body of work is

the blending of academic theory with practical, real-
world tips that will increase the likelihood of success.
In fact, in the Pre-Launch section of the book, the 12
Immutable Laws of Business Success are provided.
These tried and proven success attributes are based
upon 25 years of evaluating products that took the
market by storm.
Launch It: From Idea to the Store Shelf provides

field-tested insights that will create a competitive
advantage for any entrepreneur taking a product to
the global marketplace.
Launch It: From Idea to the Store Shelf is a mix of

practical “Guru” type tips, powerful information,
contacts, and hard-to-find resources that provides a
roadmap to product success. This work is a handbook
with a step-by-step approach to product launch
strategy.
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The true genius of this book stems from the mixing
of theory and real-world application. Many of the
concepts discussed in this book have been personally
practiced by me to launch products worldwide. The
key to this work is in the simplistic, yet compelling
and proven, methods that truly make a difference.
Good Luck!
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Contents
Dedication...............................................................................................................................
Acknowledgments....................................................................................................................
About the Author.....................................................................................................................
Preface....................................................................................................................................
Introduction.............................................................................................................................
Part 1- The Pre-Launch Phase..............................................................................................
Chapter 1 So, you think you have a Great Idea?....................................................................

Chapter 2 Don’t Skip a Step...................................................................................................
Chapter 3 Protecting Your Idea..............................................................................................
Chapter 4 Research, Research, and more Research...............................................................
Chapter 5 Listen to the Global Heartbeat..............................................................................
Chapter 6 Properly Identifying Your Target Market..............................................................
Part 2- The Post Launch Phase.............................................................................................
Chapter 7 Assessing the Competitive Landscape...................................................................

Chapter 8 Securing Funding...................................................................................................
Chapter 9 Designing and Manufacturing Your Product........................................................
Chapter 10 Taking Your Product to Market...........................................................................
Chapter 11 Advertising and Promoting your Product............................................................
Chapter 12 Marketing Analytics: The Key to Continued Success..........................................
Epilogue..................................................................................................................................
Subject Index...........................................................................................................................
Page Left Blank Intentionally
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Introduction
Congratulations on your purchase of Launch It:
From Idea to the Store Shelf. Don't be alarmed. You
do not need to have a genius IQ to use this book.
That's because the content of this book is written in
simple language so that we can all understand.
Thousands of products enter the global

marketplace every year, only for the inventors who
unearthed the idea to find out that marketing is really
hard work. Most new products fail primarily due to
one of four reasons:
 Insufficient research
 Incorrect identification of the target market
 Incorrect positioning of the product
 Insufficient funding.
The purpose of Launch It: From Idea to the Store

Shelf is to provide tried and tested techniques to
entrepreneurs, inventors, or anyone else interested in
product marketing. This guidebook will surely
increase your likelihood of success. The methods
provided are based upon my 30 years of international
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
consulting experience. You will also learn what "not-

to-do," as told by anyone who has experienced the
euphoria of a successful product; "failure is simply
part of the process." The goal here is to minimize the
failures yet learn from the few that do occur.
What Can You Expect from this Book?

Launch It: From Idea to the Store Shelf should be
used as your marketing guidebook. The work is filled
with timeless reference material that can be used as a
marketing encyclopedia.
Let's be truthful. Most product marketing books

today are full of traditional theories such as the 4P's
(Product, Place, Price, Promotion) or Internet and
Social Media Marketing Strategies. While these topics
remain essential, what is often missing from most
product marketing books are the practical tips and
ideas that work in the real world. Instead of offering
actual case studies and real-life examples, they are
filled with academic theories, marketing analytics,
and simple definitions. These things may or may not
make you a better marketer…
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Over the past 25 years, I have learned a few things

about real-world marketing. First, academic studies
and marketing analytics make for great research
papers. Still, they often miss the mark when it comes
to practical application. Second, there is nothing
better than obtaining firsthand feedback from a
consumer group, rather than assuming you have a
great idea. And third, that most entrepreneurs and
inventors are too close to their product idea to
evaluate its feasibility objectively.
In fact, when asked what I do for a living, I often

respond by saying, "I tell you that your baby is ugly."
Of course, the purpose of this rude remark is to point
out that it is my job to tell my clients the good, the
bad, and the ugly.
What you can expect from this book is practical

advice that works both in the classroom and on the
street. You can expect a step-by-step approach to
taking your idea from inception to the marketplace.
You can also expect an abundance of resources to
draw from that will help you enter the exciting world
of product marketing quite easily.
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
After reading this book, you may even feel a little

like a marketing genius.
Why will you use this Book Again and

Again?
Once you catch product marketing "fever," you will
want to launch a new product every few years. It is
here that you will continue to refer to your marketing
handbook, using From Idea to the Store Shelf as your
success guidebook. If you answer YES to a few of the
following questions, then this book is for you:
• Do you want to launch your own business?

• Have you ever dreamt of bringing an invention
to life?
• Have you ever had the thought, "If only there
were a product that could…?"
• Have you ever felt that you can improve a
product?
How the Book Is Organized

From Idea to the Store Shelf is organized into two
primary areas:
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• The Pre-Launch Phase

• The Post-Launch Phase
Part 1 – The Pre-Launch Phase

Part 1 describes the research requirements and
preliminary steps you need to take before
commercializing your product. In this section, you
will learn how to evaluate the likelihood of your
product's success. You will also learn to design
prototypes, protect your ideas, and even secure
funding. Part 1 is the trailer before the movie.
Part 2 – The Post-Launch Phase

Part 2 explains how to accurately field test the
product, how to outwit the competition through
metrics and analytics, and how to develop a solid
advertising and promotional plan. There is also a
section on the renewal strategy, which reveals the
steps you need to take to extend your product's life
cycle. Part 2 details how to become a promotional
genius through the use of paid internet advertising
and social media.
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
About Sidebars
Throughout the book, you'll find sidebars designed
to add context and flavor to the topic at hand. I refer
to them as sidebars because they are literally set-off
from the main text inside of a separate box.
Ready to Get Started?

So, are you ready to get started? My suggestion is
for you to read the book twice.
First, read the book to determine the topics that are

most important to you. You might want to mark these
sections for later use. The second time you read the
book, do so for a deeper level of comprehension. In
addition, be sure to take note of the vast amount of
resources provided throughout this work so that you
can use these contacts to speed up the product
commercialization process.
Let’s Go!
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Part 1
The Pre-Launch Phase

The pre-launch phase of bringing your product to life is the
most crucial part of the project.
It takes 6-9 months of research to launch a new product or
service properly. Before my family opened a restaurant, we
spent literally one year conducting market research about
the restaurant business. We went to more than 30
restaurants in the target area to review every single aspect
of owning and operating a successful restaurant. We
reviewed industry and consumer trends, advertising and
promotional strategies, and the proper use of social media.
Are you willing to put in the hard work and research to
bring your idea to life and become successful?
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
Chapter 1
So, you think you have a Great
Idea?
In This Chapter
Your Odds of Success
Chapter…
Learn the 12 Immutable Laws of Business
What it takes to be an Entrepreneur
Product Success Traits
The Cost to Launch a Product
You wake up in the middle of the night and have an

A-ha moment. You say to yourself, I think I have this
great idea for a new product. The product is a simple
gadget that plugs into any electrical outlet and
eliminates the need to have your cell phone tethered
to a charger. Conceiving the idea is the easy part.
Now, the hard part begins. This chapter will spell out
the odds of commercial success associated with
product inventions. I will provide you with a way to
filter a new product to determine its likelihood of
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success. You will also learn precisely what it takes to

be an entrepreneur, the success traits you need to
exhibit, and the immutable laws of business.
Why Do Products Fail?

80% of all new products that enter the global marketplace fail
for a variety of reasons, including:
Lack of research
Insufficient funding/capital
No money left for marketing/advertising/promotion
Entrepreneur doesn’t have the guts to stick it out – expects
instant results
Lack of properly identifying the target market
Incorrect market positioning
The product lacks a unique point of difference
The product is not supported by clinical or efficacy studies
The product is prematurely rushed to the market before it is
ready
Lack of patience and an unrealistic belief that the product
sells itself
Lack of advertising and promotion
The product is complicated and requires a great deal of
consumer education
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
Great marketers avoid these mistakes by carefully

planning their product launch. Remember, those who
fail to Plan, plan to Fail!
The Odds of Success

The Internet and Social Media have forever
changed the world of marketing. It has never been
easier to reach consumers than it is today, yet it is
harder than ever to get them to buy. Consumers today
are more discerning and demanding. Due to
technology, they are also highly impatient. Due to
these and other market dynamics, 80% of new
products fail.
They fail for a variety of reasons, but mainly due to

insufficient funding or incorrect positioning and
pricing within the marketplace. It is also important to
note that it not only takes 6-12 months of research in
order to successfully launch a product, but it also
requires 1-2 years to get the product successfully
situated within the marketplace. Most entrepreneurs
think “you build it and they will come,” meaning
entrepreneurs make the mistake of assuming their
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product will sell itself. It doesn’t work like that. In

fact, just because you got your product into some
retail stores doesn’t mean it will sell. Product sales
require branding, advertising and promotion.
With all this gloom and doom, does this mean you
should pack your bags and go home right now?
Absolutely not! In the world of product marketing,
failure is simply part of the process. The trick is to
understand the odds and figure out a way to beat
them.
This unusually high failure rate has been

exacerbated by globalization as new products get
showcased all over the world in minutes once a
website goes live. Your product idea may get copied or
“knocked-off” within a few months after the launch.
As travel and telecommunication speed increases, the
world, figuratively speaking, shrinks. Bolt this
together with the widespread use of the Internet and
Social Media, and now you face new competition from
all over the globe faster than ever before.
In addition, our intellectual property (IP) laws,

covered in a later chapter, simply do not protect your
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
idea outside of the USA. In fact, in recent years, IP

laws have even failed us right inside our country. So,
what can you do? Be smart, fast, and outwit the
competition by:
1. Being first to the market to gain first-mover

advantage.
2. Making sure you have a sufficient SRP:COGS
(suggested retail price to cost of goods) mark-
up; typically, a markup of at least 4:1, even 6:1,
is required to make money and be in a position
to reduce your price point later in the product’s
life cycle.
3. Maintaining price competitiveness by
continually conducting a review of pricing
within your product category.
4. Knocking yourself off with a slightly lower
quality, lower priced product.
5. Being careful not to enter a product category
that is already saturated with competition.
The Immutable Laws of Business

Product marketing should be approached like any
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other business. As with any other venture, product

inventing and marketing requires a very serious effort,
a great deal of tenacity, and an overwhelming amount
of patience. It also demands stick-to-it-iveness!
Many inventors and product developers will give

up way too prematurely at the first sign of failure. If
Thomas Edison or Albert Einstein had given up
prematurely, our world would surely be a different
place. I once had a client who invested $200,000 in
product development and preliminary inventory. He
then decided it was time to go to market, therefore he
hired me for assistance.
However, after just 2.5 months and only $30,000,

he terminated the project because he felt it was
costing too much money and taking too long to get
retail sales. Really, less than three months? If you do
not have the patience to deal with all the pushback
and craziness you will get from retailers, change
professions as this is not your field. Retail sales, due
to the timing of store planograms, seasonality, and
competition, is a game of hurry up and wait. It will
often take 3-4 weeks just to get a buyer to return a
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
phone call or email due to the barrage of

communication they must deal with every day. Most
retailers will demand samples, sales sheet, a category
presentation, and information surrounding your sales,
website, and customer reviews. This could take
months. Patience, patience, and more patience is the
key here. Product marketing is like marinating a tri-
tip steak; the longer you marinate the tri-tip, the
better it tastes. In product marketing, the more you let
things marinate, the better your odds of success. Do
not badger a buyer. Call or send an email, then sit
back for two weeks to let it simmer.
If you decide to go solo and market your idea by

yourself, make sure you follow this prescription for
success:
The 12 Immutable Laws of Business

Success
1. Become obsessive about one thing. Stay
focused on one product at a time until it is fully
exploited. Do not try to be everything to
everybody.
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2. Make meeting people an everyday event. Set a

goal to meet one new person every day; stay
networked.
3. Understand that there is a major difference
between Strategy and Ambition. Develop a
specific “space” where you want to compete,
while implementing detailed initiatives that
will help you win in your category.
4. Hire people who are smarter than you. Choose
people with complementary skills. Diversify
your hiring practices to gain varying points of
view. As the saying goes, If you and I always
agree, one of us is unnecessary.
5. Celebrate failures. Give your people a License
to Fail by praising their effort, then providing
mentoring on how to do it better the next time.
6. Understand that slow, methodical, and phased-
in growth usually works better then explosive
and uncontrolled expansion.
7. Do one thing every day that inches your
business forward on the Progress Meter.
Literally plan this into your daily calendar by
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
asking yourself, What can I do today that will

get me one step closer to my goals?
8. Integrity, integrity, integrity in all dealings with
suppliers and customers. And ask yourself, Are
all my marketing and advertising efforts
ethical?
9. Create a Think-Tank of Innovativeness. All
businesses goes stale; constantly listen to your
suppliers and customers and implement new
ideas each and every month. Reward your
employees for even bad ideas.
10. Do not allow GREED to be your motivator.
Stop thinking about yourself, but instead the
well-being of others in your circle of influence.
11. Outwit the competition by constantly assessing
the competitive landscape, looking for ways to
stay one step ahead of them. I used to pay
interns to “go out to dinner on me.” In reality,
they were gathering competitive intelligence to
bring back to our family restaurant.
12.Create your OWN LUCK by becoming a
voracious reader of everything -- hot new
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books, news stories, industry events and

trends, magazines, etc.
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
Mistakes made by most

Entrepreneurs
Telling your friends or family about your idea prematurely

(the more people you tell, the more likely you will get
knocked off).
Deciding not to invest in Intellectual Property (IP) due to the
lack of funds.
Not raising enough funds to properly market and advertise
the product. Remember, you are selling the sizzle, not the
steak.
Taking the easy way out when designing the product to
reduce complexity and lower the cost of manufacturing. The
consumer of today will see right through this and bury you
in bad reviews. In fact, the easier the product is to
manufacture, the more likely you will get knocked off.
Not collecting enough intel about the competition.
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What does it take to be an

Entrepreneur?
Do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur?
Do you operate under the motto, your best teacher is
your last mistake? The thing you should probably do
before you go any further is to determine whether or
not you really have the skill set necessary to succeed
as an entrepreneur. If you have the requisite skill set,
rock and roll. If not, do not be dismayed as you can
sell or license your idea to a third party and just
collect royalties. This option is explained a little bit
later in this chapter.
So, what skills do you need in order to take a

product from Idea to the Store Shelf? Which personal
attributes, when mastered, will turn you into a Shark
Tank® type entrepreneur? Here goes…you need to be:
 Independent and have the ability to work alone

 Super Confident
 Charismatic and have Showmanship
 Passionate and have a Sense of Purpose
 Resilient and have an Unwillingness to Accept
Failure or take No for an Answer
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
 A good Communicator and have both oral and

written communication skills
 Persistent and have Perseverance
 A Problem Solver
 Organized and have excellent Planning Skills
 Patient, patient, and more patient
 Able to resolve Conflict
 Intolerant of Mediocrity
Stop right now, and rank yourself on a scale of 1-5,
five being you exude the trait incredibly well. A total
score of greater than 45 means you are ready to be an
entrepreneur.
Rank Yourself on a Scale of 1-5

Independence/ability to work alone _______
Super Confidence _______
Charisma and Showmanship _______
Passion and a Sense of Purpose _______
Resiliency/Unwillingness to accept Failure ______

Communication Skills (oral & written) _______
Persistence and Perseverance _______
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Problem Solving Skills _______
Organizational & Planning Skills _______
Patience, Patience, Patience _______
Conflict Resolution Skills _______
Intolerance for Mediocrity ______
Don’t give up too soon

I once launched a real estate product titled
Cashmaker’s Real Estate. It was a self-help manual to
help people who wanted to invest in real estate and
rent out their properties. I launched the product on
television via a two-minute commercial; it failed. I
then put it on radio; failed again. Most people would
have given up. But, knowing that entrepreneurship
requires patience, persistence, and perseverance, I
decided to advertise using little classified ads in
magazines.
Bingo! This is the ad medium that worked. I got a

6:1 return; meaning every $1 I spent on advertising
returned $6 in sales. The moral of the story? Do not
give up too soon and make sure you have exhausted
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
every avenue before assuming the product is a failure.

This assumes you have a good, unique product that is
priced and positioned correctly.
Product Success Traits

Now that you know what it takes to be a successful
entrepreneur, let’s examine what it takes for a product
to be a hit. Today’s consumer demands a lot for a
little. They want a high-quality product that is
inexpensive and reliable. Consumers expect a high
degree of accessibility and will start the shopping
process by searching online at discount sites such as
Amazon®, eBay®, or Groupon®. The country of origin
has lost its importance as evidenced by Walmart ®
securing the majority of its products from China.
Made in USA, while patriotic, just doesn’t seem to
have the same meaning it used to years ago.
In order for a product to have a better than average

chance to be successful, it needs to have at least seven
of the following attributes. Use these attributes to
filter your product to determine its likelihood of
success. Again, rank your product idea on a scale of 1-
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5, five being your product does have this attribute.
Does your product have what it takes?

Must be Unique
Simply stated, me-too products do not work. The
more unique and one-of-a-kind a product is, the
higher the chance of success. Taking another energy
drink to the market might seem exciting to you, but
the lack of uniqueness will probably cause this type of
product to fail miserably. It is estimated that there are
more than 280 energy drinks on the market today.
Make sure your product is unique, different, and
special.
The more unique the product, the longer the

product life cycle is extended. As revealed in the
following chart, the traditional product life cycle has
been replaced by a bell curve type behavior (not in all
cases of course, as heavily branded products still tend
to follow the traditional curve). Due to the internet,
social media, and knockoffs, product life cycle for the
average product has been cut short to just 2-3 years.
The more unique your product, the longer it will
survive.
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
Note: Traditional product life cycle theory only

holds true today with highly branded products.
As can be seen in the accompanying charts, due to

global competition (knockoffs) and social media,
small to medium size companies that launch products
suffer from shorter product life cycles.
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Must have Mass Appeal

The more a product cuts across gender, age, and
ethnic lines, the more likely it will be successful. Take
the iPhone® for example. The iPhone® is so popular
that people from ages 13-70, male and female, and
from all ethnic backgrounds just love it. People line up
one million deep to get the newest version the day it
gets released. This doesn’t mean that a product such
as a new revolutionary golf club will fail. Instead, it
simply points out that your odds of success increase if
your product appeals to a larger segment of the
population. When pondering an idea for a new
product, the question you must ask yourself is: What
type of product does everyone gotta-have?
Must Deliver on a Promise

The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has been
cracking down on marketers since the dawn of the
infomercial age. The reason for this scrutiny is simple
-- the government doesn’t want marketers to make
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
outlandish claims that are not backed up by science.

This alone has made marketers more ethical in the
past ten years. In addition, the Millennial generation
is more demanding of quality than ever before and
will kill you with bad reviews and social media taunts
if your product does not do what you claim it does. I
call this The Power of One. In the old days, we would
write letters when we were dissatisfied with a product
or service. At least 90% of the letters went unnoticed,
leaving the consumer unhappy. Today, one consumer
can launch a social media tirade and get the attention
of the most senior level of any organization. For
example, consider the power that was afforded to one
guitar player who lambasted United Airlines for
breaking his expensive guitar. Check out the You
Tube® video United Broke my Guitar. The point here
is that if you claim your product helps someone to lose
weight, it better be truthful and backed by a clinical
study.
Must Fulfill a Dream or Desire

There are a few universal desires that the majority
of the world’s population of more than seven billion
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people want, including:
 get rich
 be loved
 be sexy
 stay youthful-looking
 lose weight
 wanting something to be faster or more

convenient
Any product that fulfills one or more of these basic

human desires will have a higher chance of success.
Must Solve a Problem and have

Effective Positioning (USP)
The more a product solves a problem for a
consumer, the better it will fare in the marketplace.
Solving a problem is a compelling motivator that will
get the consumer to consider buying your product.
Solving problems such as making something faster,
safer, more convenient, or less of a problem will make
consumers clamor for your product. As far as
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
positioning goes, your product must have a unique

selling proposition (USP) and be situated within the
marketplace exactly where consumers perceive it
should be found. Where would a woman go to shop
for your product? Why a woman? It is because women
either buy or influence more than 67% of all
purchases within the United States.
If a woman believes your product should be in

Walmart®, yet you continue to insist it is a
Nordstrom® product, who do you think wins this
battle?
Effective positioning places the product in the

correct sales venue as perceived by your target market
consumer. You need to find out exactly what is going
through the mind of a consumer when they are
contemplating buying your product. How will a
consumer answer these questions?
1. Is the product priced correctly in the mind of

the consumer?
2. Is there perceived value in terms of quality

versus price?
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3. Is the product easily accessible such that the

consumer doesn’t need to “search” for it?
4. Is the product positioned where the consumer

perceives it belongs, i.e., Walmart®?
5. Does the product stack up when compared to

similar products?
Should Provide Instant Gratification

The consumer of today is highly impatient. They
expect fast and even free delivery. This is the reason
why Amazon® met with NASA to figure out how to
deliver products to consumers within two hours after
ordering - using drones. When a consumer purchases
a product, they want to see the results or benefits
immediately. Imagine advertising a weight loss
product that touts, take two pills a day and you will
lose weight in six months. Of course, it wouldn’t sell.
Must have Perceived Value (Quality &

Pricing)
Consumers are looking for high quality products at
a reasonable price. They want to feel like they got a
deal. If a consumer pays $79.95 for a product, they
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
demand that same amount in value.
Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of over-

pricing their product. A buddy of mine had a great
golf product that improved your grip. If used properly,
it would truly reduce the number of strokes in your
golf game. Because he believed golfers would pay
anything to improve their game, he priced the
product at $79.95.
The problem is that all the product consisted of was

a neoprene grip that went over your club. It looked
like a $10 item. Of course, golfers refused to pay for it
and you can now find it on the internet for $14.95.
Should Elicit Emotions from the

Consumer
The best products create an impulse within a
consumer. These impulses are driven by basic
emotions such as fear, doubt, guilt, greed, joy, love,
sex, and safety. Some people consider this
manipulative. Maybe it is. But in order to cut through
all the internet clutter and get someone to take out
their wallet or reach into their purse to eventually buy
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something is extremely difficult.
Take the insurance commercial that has been on

television for years. A grandfather is seated quietly in
the kitchen. His granddaughter runs into the room
and jumps into his waiting arms. Then there is a
caption and a voice-over: Do you have enough life
insurance? Clearly the marketer is preying upon your
guilt and fear that you may not be leaving enough
money for your family. You may feel this approach is
coercive. The bottom line is that this approach works.
Should have a Powerful Presentation

(Packaging)
Have you ever really studied the shelves inside a
supermarket? Next time you go grocery shopping, pay
attention to the products at eye level and on an
endcap. This kind of product placement is done very
meticulously. The products with the best overall
presentation – the products that pop – are the ones
that have the best shelf space. Women have been
known to use elegant packaging as a home decoration.
Men have been known to use cigar boxes the same
way. Make sure you do not skimp on the packaging
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
design. Make it user-friendly, attractive, and with the

smallest footprint you can (retailers like this).
Would benefit from compelling

Testimonials, Reviews, and Social
Media mentions/likes
A recent study I conducted at the university where I
teach revealed that more than 80% of the Millennial
Generation distrusts advertising. The study showed
they disregard most testimonials in favor of peer
recommendations and online reviews. Does this mean
you should forget testimonials? No. Having
unsolicited and unpaid testimonials can still be a good
thing. However, your focus should be on building your
online presence in terms of:
 Likes
 Shares
 Views
 Retweets
 Solid Reviews
 Customer Recommendations
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One more thing here -- do not make the mistake of

buying reviews and likes. Consumers will see right
through your effort and shy away from buying if they
feel you are unethically building up your product. I
had a client who once bought 100,000 Facebook®
likes. The problem was that consumers figured out
there were only a few thousand visits to the site,
therefore the likes were likely to be bogus. Needless to
say, this hurt my client’s business and I advised her to
take down the likes. There are legitimate ways to get
reviews, likes, and recommendations. First, ask for
them. In your advertising, use Like us on Facebook
and get a free dessert (or whatever). Ask customers to
review your product by giving them an incentive to do
so. Have a section on your website that spells out
refer a friend and get a free gift, and a section that
requests if you like our product, please give us a good
review.
Keep track of your likes, views, shares, reviews, and

recommendations. Monitor whether or not these
product performance indicators are increasing or
decreasing. Special attention should be placed on
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
reviews and peer recommendations.
Would benefit from Celebrity and

Influencer Endorsement
Not all products lend themselves to being endorsed
or even used by a top celebrity. However, if you can
figure out a way to get a known celebrity to use your
product or be seen with your product, the sky is the
limit. I once had a product spoofed on the Ellen
DeGeneres show. Ellen literally made fun of the
product in a kind, sincere way. The corresponding
flood of orders was unbelievable. Another time, I sent
a product of mine to Howard Stern. He stated on air,
“Some moron sent me this product.” We received
48,000 hits to our website within two hours after he
made the remark. Do not underestimate the power of
connecting the right celebrity to the right product.
Make sure the consumer sees the connection.
Many an automaker has learned a valuable lesson

about this. Putting the wrong celebrity behind the
wheel of a car that consumers believe he or she would
never drive is a big mistake. And do not neglect social
media influencers. They, too, can have a dramatic
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impact on product sales. Send your product out to as

many influencers in your product category as you can.
Must have an Irresistible Offer (Gift

with Purchase, Bonus)
Be sure to price your product correctly. Conduct a
competitive assessment to see who else is traveling in
your category space and how they are pricing their
product. If you are a new entrant to the market, be
careful not to price yourself out of the market. Greed
cannot be your motivator. If your product is truly
unique (although this is rare as 95% of all new
products are merely adaptations of an existing
product found somewhere else in the world), then
price your product at the lowest price point that still
meets your profit margin objective.
Options for Commercialization

Although the topic of commercialization is fleshed
out in a subsequent chapter, I wanted to quickly
mention some high-level approaches that can be used
to take your product to market. As can be seen in the
accompanying chart, there are four main approaches
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
that are heavily dependent upon your funding and

personal experience. These approaches include:
 Selling your Idea Outright

 Licensing your Idea to a Third Party
 Testing your Idea, then using a Partnership
 Doing it yourself
Selling your Idea

If you do not have the money to launch your
product and cannot borrow from family or friends,
you may want to consider selling your idea (and the
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intellectual property). There are plenty of private

investors and/or direct response type companies
willing to shell out a decent amount of money for a
unique idea.
In most cases, however, this requires more than

just an idea on a piece of paper. You would be wise to
develop a simple working prototype or CAD drawing
of your idea. In addition, it is always smart to secure a
trademark for the product’s name and a patent for its
design or utility. Intellectual property law changed in
favor of individual inventors just after the financial
crisis of 2007. A small company or an individual can
now go on to www.uspto.gov and apply for a
trademark or patent relatively inexpensively. That
being said, you may want to use a firm such as
www.legalzoom.com to handle the intellectual
property.
Licensing your Idea to a Third-Party

A second option is to spend a little money to place
yourself into a solid position to secure a licensing
agreement. Securing a licensing agreement requires a
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
bit more work than just selling the idea. Licensors

typically expect the following:
1. A working prototype
2. The product supplier already chosen and ready
to go
3. A limited amount of inventory if possible
4. The Name and Trademark already in place
5. A website, or at least the name domain,
purchased
6. Initial social media pages
Licensors want to see that you have some skin in

the game before they are willing to take on all the risk.
Testing your Idea, then using a

Partnership or Strategic Alliance
The third option is to spend the money on some
preliminary testing of your product idea. Some people
prefer to do what is called a dry test, whereby you
purchase no inventory, but instead just advertise the
product to determine its desirability. I am not a big
supporter of doing this as you may upset those
consumers who did order – meanwhile, you have no
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inventory.
A better strategy is to have limited inventory, a

website, and all your intellectual property in order.
Then you can conduct an inexpensive online focus
group to determine your product’s viability. There are
companies that perform these online focus groups. Be
prepared to spend $500 - $1,500, depending upon the
size of the audience. If the results of the focus group
are favorable, you then send out an email blast to let’s
say 250,000 people within your target market. These
two tests will provide enough data to determine the
path forward. Do you go to the next step or kill the
project based upon the results? Assuming you get
decent results from both tests, you can use a
partnership or strategic alliance relationship to get
your project to the next level. I marketed a dietary
supplement this way. I owned the intellectual
property and the website.
I then formed a strategic partnership with a dietary

supplement manufacturer. They supplied the
inventory while I supplied the marketing support and
funding. This somewhat mitigates the risk and clearly
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
lowers the out of pocket expenses associated with the

project. Both parties carry less liability and less
financial risk.
Doing it Yourself
If you have the funds and the product development
and marketing/advertising experience, by all means
take the product to the marketplace by yourself. But
remember, when it comes to product marketing,
multiply everything by the number 3. It will cost three
times as much as you planned, take three times longer
to accomplish than you thought, and will give you
three times as many headaches as you imagined.
Cost to Launch
I get asked this question all the time. -- how much
does it cost to launch a new product? The answer is, it
depends. There are so many variables that I can only
venture a wide range for the answer. Here goes: It will
cost anywhere from $50,000 to millions of dollars,
depending upon how big of a splash you intend to
make. If you are an entrepreneur just launching one
product from scratch, it would be safe to assume you
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need at least $150,000 to properly launch into the

marketplace.
The high-level costs would be:

 Intellectual property - $750 - $10,000
 Preliminary inventory - $5,000 - $20,000
 Website and related expenses - $3,500 -
$7,500
 Advertising and Promotion - $10,000 -
$100,000
 Entity and Compliance/Insurance - $2,000 -
$6,000
 Customer service and fulfillment - $5,000 -
$10,000
The reality is you really need more money; say

$250,000 - $500,000 depending upon the product
category and the type of play it is (retail, pure
internet, direct response such as television and radio,
etc.) in order to really gain shelf space. Does this
mean small town inventors with little financial
resources cannot market a product? Absolutely not.
But it does mean that you are less likely to be
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
successful if you are operating on a shoestring budget.
The costs that are most often overlooked include

regulatory and compliance costs, product and
business liability insurance, point of purchase and
material costs, and potential lawsuits.
The other question I get asked a lot is -- how long

will it take to make my product successful? Typically,
it takes 2-3 years to fully exploit a product. Product
marketing requires 6-12 months of research prior to
the launch, followed by 6-12 months of testing and
tweaking of your advertising and promotional
strategy. The last 12 months are spent expanding the
product into the international market and figuring out
how to maintain your market position. If you get
anything out of this section, remember that product
marketing is all about testing, testing, and more
testing.
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In Summary
80% of all new products Telling too many people

fail, primarily due to lack about your idea
of research or prematurely is a big
insufficient funding. mistake.
Product marketing The amount of funding
requires confidence, and product marketing
persistence, and experience you have
showmanship. plays an important part
Social media likes, when making a decision
shares, and online to take a product to the
reviews are a critical marketplace.
aspect of creating the It can take 2-3 years to
buzz about your product. gain a decent amount of
shelf space and fully
exploit a product.
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
Chapter 2
Don’t Skip a Step
In This Chapter
Chapter…
Learn the steps to Launching a Product
Learn how to Create a BUZZ during the Pre-Launch

Phase
Learn a variety of Product Launch Tips
Launching a new product takes time. It also

requires a great deal of patience. The purpose of this
chapter is to provide theoretical and practical
framework necessary to successfully launch a product.
You will learn the intricate steps required to take a
product to the global marketplace.
You will also learn the importance of creating the

buzz surrounding your product; that is, creating a
level of anticipation and excitement about your
product offering pre and post launch.
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Chapter 2 is one of the most important parts of this

book. Read it very carefully and read it more than
once. Pay particular attention to the tips section to
gain ideas about how to improve your chances of
success.
The 3 Stages of a Product Launch

The high-level stages associated with a new product
launch include:
 The Pre-Launch Stage

 The Launch Stage
 The Post Launch Stage
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
Pre-Launch Stage
The pre-launch stage is the most important phase
of new product development. Stage 1 is all about
setting up your product-based business and testing
the concept. During this stage, you are designing your
website and setting up social media pages. You may
want to set up a toll-free number and a cs@xyz.com
email for customer service.
Remember, most investors want you to have some

skin in the game. If you pitch an investor, you need to
showcase your product idea with more than just a
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picture or drawing. Normally, they want to see a

decent sample of the product, a website, a sales sheet,
a category presentation that spells out the competitive
landscape, and a pitch deck that lays out exactly how
much money you need, what the money will be used
for, and how quickly the investor will get paid back (or
the equity they will receive).
This is discussed in more detail in a later chapter.

During this phase of the project, do not underestimate
the importance of pre-launch research. Researching
your target market tendencies and buying behavior
will ensure you understand the 5 W’s and an H of
your target demographic:
 Who is the target market (i.e., age, income,

education, gender)?
 What kind of goods do they normally
purchase?
 When do they buy? What time of day and
which day of the week?
 Where do they buy? Retail stores, online?
 Why do they buy? Functionality, desire,
impulse?
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
 How do they buy? Credit card, PayPal®?
The more you know about your target market, the

more likely you can better advertise and appeal to
their likes, wants, desires, and needs.
The other important research that needs to be done

during the pre-launch stage (or even sooner) is a
thorough review of the competitive landscape. Never
assume your product is new and there is nothing like
it currently on the market. This is dangerous as 90%
of all new products are adaptations of other existing
products. Rarely do I ever see a truly, never seen
before product. Most new products are either already
being marketed in another country or are nothing
more than a slightly different variation of another
product.
When conducting your competitive assessment, be

sure to address the following questions:
1. How are my competitors (or similar product

competition) positioning their products?
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2. How does my price point match up against the

competition? Am I higher priced, lower priced,
or right in the middle?
3. How does my packaging compare?
4. Who are the main players in my space and how
do I best compete against them?
5. On what basis will I be able to compete? Price?
Quality? Service?
6. How do I create a sustainable competitive
advantage over the competition?
7. What other products or services do my main
competitors offer?
8. Is the product category expanding or
contracting?
9. How are my main competitors promoting their
products? Online? Social Media?
10. What are consumers saying online and
on social media about my competitor’s
products? Which competitor has the best
reviews and online recommendations? Why?
11. How would consumers rate the following
features of your product compared to your
major competition?
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
Rate the following on a Scale from 1-5, with 5 being

excellent, 3 being average, and 1 being poor.
My Product / The Competition
___________ /__________ Price
___________ /__________ Quality
__________ /__________ Reliability/ Durability
__________ /__________ Packaging/Image
__________ /__________ Perceived Value
__________ /__________ Brand Recognition
__________ /__________ Customer Service
_________/_________Convenience/Accessibility
__________ /__________ Online Presence
__________ /_________ Use of Social Media
Remember, if you are launching a truly unique

product, you should consider comparing your idea
against like products.
Part of your pre-launch strategy should be to

conduct a SWOTT Analysis. SWOTT stands for
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, and
trends. Many of you might be saying, Most textbooks
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and other marketing books talk about SWOTT

without the extra T.
I find it unconscionable that my peers do not

include trends. In order to conduct a complete
competitive assessment and deep dive look at your
product category, researching trends is an absolute
necessity.
Is the industry going smaller, bigger, more organic,

natural, or whatever? Just consider cell phones. Back
in the 80’s and 90’s, cell phones were huge. Then the
trend became smaller, so manufacturers started
reducing the size of most cell phones. Now the trend is
reversing as cell phones are getting larger as of this
writing. Be sure to consider generic trends, too. For
example, the two population trends impacting buying
behavior over the next ten years will be the aging and
ethnic shift in the population. Will these trends affect
your product category?
So, be sure to conduct a SWOTT Analysis to

uncover the main areas that will impact your product.
Strengths are the characteristics of your product

that give it a distinct advantage over the competition.
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
Weaknesses are the limitations that may cause

your product to be at a disadvantage relative to the
competition.
Opportunities are the external factors in the

environment that may improve your overall chance of
success.
Threats are the external elements in the

environment that could cause trouble for the business
or project.
Trends are both general and economic trends along

with specific industry trends that may impact your
plan. In addition to a SWOTT, a high-level look at the
product category and industry is in order. Michael
Porter, the father of Competitive Strategy, suggests
the Five Forces Model to determine the competitive
landscape of an industry. The Five Forces include:
 The Intensity of the Rivalry (Is the

industry saturated? How many players are in
the space?)
 The Ease of Entry (Can anyone get into the
industry with nothing more than a website?)
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 The Power of Suppliers (Is the industry

monopolistic? Does the power rest with the
suppliers such that prices remain very high?)
 The Power of Buyers (Do buyers have a
large number of choices? Do buyers tend to
check discount sites for your type of product?)
 The Likelihood of Product Substitution
(Do consumers easily substitute generic or
private label brands?)
By taking the time to perform a SWOTT and the

Five Forces Analysis, you will most likely need to
tweak a few of the product attributes. Do not fret over
this. It is part of the process. By conducting a
thorough amount of pre-launch research, you will be
in a better position to excel post launch. The last part
of the pre-launch stage is the idea called, Creating the
Buzz. Getting people talking about your product and
buzzing about it on social media is the real ticket to
success. Consumer engagement is what marketing is
all about today.
So, how do you create the buzz about your product?

Although it is not easy, you can create the buzz by
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
launching a series of online efforts to get and keep

your product in the minds of consumers. Six (6)
months before the actual launch, submit articles,
PowerPoint presentations, videos, audio podcasts,
and press releases all over the internet.
Send samples of your product to anyone and

everyone, including influencers such as top bloggers
in your category, and even celebrities. You should be
blogging, tweeting, and posting mentions and videos
all over the variety of social media platforms that
exist.
Do this often, at least three days a week. Seek out

reviews and recommendations from existing
customers by offering them an incentive. This pre-
launch stuff seems like a lot of work, right? It is, but it
will save you tons of time, energy, and money in the
long run.
The Launch Stage

After you have created enough chatter about your
product, it’s time for your grand opening or launch
event. The launch event should be a media bonanza.
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Send out a press release announcing your launch.

There are a number of excellent third-party firms that
will send out your press release to thousands of
outlets, including social media, for just $299. Some
will even help you by providing the appropriate
format for a release. Invite influencers to write about
or review your product. Invite the media to showcase
your product in magazines in the what’s hot/new
section.
Commence with your internet advertising. Get your

product on eBay®, Amazon®, and Groupon® to help
with the initial branding efforts. Be careful when
using these discount sales channels as they tend to be
extremely low price oriented. You can always lower
your price, but it is quite difficult to raise it once
consumers see it at a lower price. One more thing;
Send out more samples – everywhere!
The Post Launch Stage

After the launch, the real work begins. You are
trying to create stickiness: consumers who continue to
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
come back to your website or retailers to buy your

product again and again. The post launch phase really
consists of listening to your customers and even your
non-customers.
 What are people saying about your product?
 Are you getting unsolicited reviews and

recommendations?
 Are the key social media metrics such as likes,

shares, and views trending well?
 Are we getting testimonials?
 Are there any success stories you can publish?
 Are consumers providing any ideas that might

improve your product?
The other important part of the post launch stage is

the renewal and/or expansion strategy. When it
comes to marketing, you are only as good as your last
hit (product). Since most products have finite and
rather short lives, you must always stay one step
ahead of the market by planning your next move. Will
you expand the product line? Improve the existing
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product? Add a new ingredient or modify the design?

The purpose of these sorts of changes is to keep the
product alive another year or two. If done correctly,
you may be able to create enough brand recognition
that the product’s longevity becomes endless.
The Detailed Steps to the Product

Launch Process
As the old saying goes, the devil is in the details.
The accompanying chart details the intricate steps
required to launch a product. The four most critical
steps during the detailed pre-launch are:
Step 1: Conducting sufficient marketing research

prior to the launch and after the prototype/sample is
ready (discussed at length in Chapter 4).
Step 2: Screening and filtering your ideas based

upon the product success attributes identified in
Chapter 1.
Step 3: Identifying your primary and secondary

target markets. The primary market is the main
demographic you intend to chase. The secondary
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
market, also known as the non-market, is the market

you should also consider going after even though it
may not seem logical at first. When we launched
Snore Free Now, an anti-snoring device, we agreed
that our primary target market was 35+ males who
snore. After doing some additional research, we
learned that females were just as likely to buy an anti-
snoring device, but, mainly for the men in their lives.
Step 4: Assessing the Competitive Landscape by

conducting a SWOTT and Five Forces Analysis.
The remaining 14 steps shown in the following

chart are covered in subsequent chapters. For
example, Step #5, Secure Intellectual Property Rights,
is covered in detail in Chapter 3.
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The Danger of Skipping Steps

Many an entrepreneur has attempted to skip over
some of the crucial steps to the
product launch process. Yes, launching a product is
hard work. But, rest assured that if you try to side step
some of the elements that make up product launch
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
strategy, you will most likely pay for it three-fold later

on post launch. For example, one of my clients
insisted we did not need to get a trademark or
perform an assessment of the competitive landscape
to see what else was out there in his product category.
Although I argued profusely, in the end, the client got
his way.
I am sure you can imagine what happened. Four

months after we launched, he received a cease and
desist from a European firm that owned the
U.S. trademark to the name my client was using for
his product. We had to change names, packaging, the
website, and all the marketing materials.
Counting all the sub tasks, mini tasks, and third-

party responsibilities, there are about 100 discrete
steps to launching a new product. Do not be lazy,
cheap, or impetuous when it comes to launching a
new product. Take your time, and painstakingly
perform each and every task the right way without any
shortcuts. You will be glad you did.
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How to Create the Buzz during Pre-

Launch
I can’t emphasize enough to need for pre-launch
PR (public relations). Attach a blog to your website
and add a free newsletter. Blog at least three times a
week, providing valuable and free information to
consumers. Create a free newsletter that also provides
consumers with more meaningful information. The
more free information you provide, the more likely
consumers start to feel somewhat obligated to buy
from you.
For example, let’s say you just launched a new

weight loss product. You can blog and use your
newsletter to write about topics such as:
 The 10 things your Doctor won’t tell you about

Weight Loss
 The 5 foods you must stay away from to get a
flat belly
 Why salt should be considered your weight loss
enemy
 The truth about Protein, Fat, and Carbs
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
Your product needs to have a solid online

reputation, and more importantly, an online presence
such that it is found all over the internet when
consumers search. Launch a series of engaging and
humorous videos that you can post all over social
media. Flood the market with a ton of free articles,
presentations, podcasts, and press releases (note:
press releases should only be sent when you have
something worthy to report).
Never Stop Creating the Buzz

One of the most important aspects of marketing is
the 4 P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. In
today’s marketing environment, you must add to the
traditional 4 P’s the ideas of Engagement,
Collaboration, Convenience, and Speed (of ordering
and delivery).
Once the proper price point is set, the single most

important thing you can do is keep your product
constantly in front of consumers. Never stop
promoting your product. At a minimum, you should
be:
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 Blogging three times a week

 Posting videos on social media two times a
month
 Posting articles all over the internet once a
month
 Sending out press releases every other month
 Posting PowerPoint type presentations all over
the internet every month
 Posting monthly (new) promotions every
month on social media
The key to successful product marketing is creating

and maintain the buzz about your product so that
your product is always in the mind of the consumer.
Remember, it takes 8-10 impressions of a product
before the average consumer even thinks
about buying your product.
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
Product Launch Tips When you are

contemplating the type of product you
wish to market, be sure to consider
these sure-fire tips:
1. Create products that are easy to explain and are
not complicated. The product needs to almost
sell itself because every consumer gets-it.
2. Make sure to develop your USP (unique selling
proposition). The USP answers two questions:
How will you separate your product from the
competition? What is your product’s main
point of difference?
3. Do not get emotionally attached to your
product name. Conduct a small focus group
made up of strangers (no friends and family as
they will tell you what you want to hear) and
ask them to choose a name from a group of five
possibilities.
4. Do not sweat the imitators. Know going into
this business that you will be knocked off.
Make sure you work diligently to be bigger,
better, and faster than the competition by
outwitting them.
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5. Always be working on your encore. Start

developing additional products or a line
extension right after your launch. Most
unbranded products have short life cycles of 2-
3 years.
6. Create a catchy and memorable slogan.
Regardless of age or ethnicity, the
overwhelming majority of people would know
that BMW’s slogan is The Ultimate Driving
Machine.
7. Recognize that every product has a finite life.
For example, Apple® very consciously comes
out with a new iPhone® every 18 months or so.
It’s called planned obsolescence.
8. Leak news about your product prior to the
launch. When a dietary supplement client
asked me how to do this for his new protein
product, we developed a series of mysterious
advertisements using silhouettes that shouted
COMING SOON, the Ultimate Protein.
9. Give away product in return for social media
chatter.
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
10. Do something memorable during the

initial launch. For one of my products, we shot
a funny Italian Mafia video that made people
howl with laughter.
Adhering to these tips will make your product
launch more successful. In fact, most of the
successful marketers I know follow these tips
almost to a level of obsession.
Testing, Testing, and More Testing

Product marketing is all about testing. The more
you test, the more likely you will succeed. You should
use online focus groups and preliminary email blasts
to test the following:
 Viability of the product*
 Product name choice
 Price point Positioning (is the product
Nordstrom®, Macy’s® or Walmart® type pricing
and quality?)
 Package design
 Sales Venue Choice such as internet or retail
stores
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* Prior to committing a bunch of money to a full

launch, you may want to conduct an online focus
group and then an email blast to your target market
consumers. If the results of the focus group come back
positive, move to the email blast. If the email blast (at
least 100,000 people) comes back positive, then move
to a full launch. If the results of these mini tests are
negative, you have some re-thinking to do. Rethink
the price point first, as that is normally the issue.
Executing the steps required to launch a new

product requires time, patience, and money. The
launch also requires a bit of ingenuity and
resourcefulness. Do not spend all the money you have
on developing the product, only to have nothing left
for marketing and advertising. In this field called
marketing, remember, you are selling the sizzle, not
the steak. Many a good product has failed due to the
lack of advertising and promotional dollars to support
the launch.
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In Summary
There are three main Performing a competitive
stages to product launch assessment that
strategy: compares your product
The Pre-Launch The against the key attributes
Launch The Post Launch that create perceived
There are 18 total high- value is a crucial step to
level steps to launching a the pre-launch stage.
product. Do not overlook, A SWOTT Analysis and
skip, or otherwise ignore the Five Forces Model
any of the 18 steps. are great tools to use to
Including all the possible ferret out the good, the
sub-tasks and third-party bad, and the ugly about
responsibility, there may your product and
be up to 100 steps that category.
may need to be Never stop creating the
executed. buzz about your product
by using the variety of
social media channels as
your forum.
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Chapter 3
Protecting Your Idea
In This Chapter
Chapter…
The definitions, types, and cost of Intellectual
Property
The importance of owning Intellectual Property
The Steps to securing Intellectual Property
Is it really possible to protect your Idea?
Walking down the Champs-Elysees, I decided to

step into a bookstore to browse some new book
releases. Much to my chagrin, one of my works
published in the USA was right there on the
bookshelf; published by a different publishing house
and translated into the French language.
Of course, I was not getting any royalties on any

book sales. Can you imagine my surprise?
Chapter 3 provides the inside scoop behind

intellectual property (IP). I will provide some insight
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
into securing the appropriate intellectual property and

whether or not you should handle it by yourself. You
will learn the difference between a copyright, a
trademark, and a patent. We will also delve into the
problem of foreign knockoffs and overseas
competition. Finally, we will discuss the actual cost to
secure and maintain intellectual property rights and
whether or not you should hire an attorney to handle
all of our intellectual property needs.
The Definition, Types and Cost of

Intellectual Property
According to Wikipedia®, intellectual property is a
term referring to creations of the intellect for which
a monopoly is assigned to designated owners
by law. An easier definition to understand is that
intellectual property is the protection of the intangible
rights assigned to a creation, such as patented
inventions, trademarks for names and logos,
copyrightable works such as books, and trade secrets.
Intellectual property law is intended to cover music,
literature, and other forms of artistic work; inventions
and discoveries; and words, phrases, logos, symbols,
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and designs. The original purpose behind intellectual

property law was to encourage innovation, specifically
in the areas of new product development, art, music,
and literature. The objective of owning intellectual
property is to protect an inventor, a scientist, an artist,
an author, or a musician from unauthorized use or
misuse of their creations. This unauthorized or misuse
of your work is called infringement, which is covered
by federal and state laws.
There are a few types of product-related intellectual

property, including:
Copyrights, which generally last 70 years after the

death of the author, are a form of protection provided
to the authors of original works of authorship
including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and
certain other intellectual works, both published and
unpublished. Copyrights are registered by
the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress. The
self-filing fee for a copyright is approximately $65
($114 as of this writing if you use a 3rd party), but
ranges between $45 and $500 depending upon the
type of work being copyrighted and whether it is a
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
single author or a group.
Note: Be sure to use the copyright symbol on

every document, article, or any creative works you
post on the internet.
Trademarks, which generally last ten years before

requiring a renewal fee, are recognizable signs,
names, logos, slogans, or expressions which help to
distinguish products or services of a company or
inventor from other similar ideas. Trademarks cost
about $170 if you do it yourself and perform the task
online. You must file a Declaration of Continued Use
at the six-year mark in order to keep your trademark
in good standing.
There is also a filing for a trade secret, which is a

formula, practice, process, or compilation of
information used by a business to gain a competitive
advantage. You file for a trademark through the
United States Patent and Trademark Office
(www.uspto.gov). Trademarks operate under the
first-to-use system, so conducting extensive due
diligence prior to using a name, logo, or slogan is the
prudent thing to do. In fact, in the old days, we would
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mail ourselves a letter with our new name and logo on

a piece of paper inside the envelope to prove first use
in commerce. The other important thing to note about
trademarks is the issue of jurisdiction. Some attorneys
suggest you file a Federal and State trademark to push
out the local competition. Personally, I have always
filed for only the Federal trademark. You should check
with an attorney in your respective state before filing.
Federal trademarks trump State designations, but
again based upon first use. For example, although my
sister owns the federal trademark to the name of our
family restaurant, someone else owns the same State
trademark in Utah due to first use. You may also want
to consider extending your U.S. trademark
registrations to foreign countries.
Extending U.S. registrations can save time and

money when attempting to secure rights abroad. The
United States and many other countries, including
Japan, Australia and many in Europe are parties to
the Madrid Protocol, a treaty that allows the owners of
a local trademark registration to extend those rights
to member countries. Patents, which generally last 14
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
years for a design patent and 20 years for a utility

patent, are protection rights granted to an inventor
such that others may not use, make, or sell the same
design or invention utility. Just like a trademark, you
file for a patent through the United States Patent and
Trademark Office (www.uspto.gov). Patents now
operate under a first to file system, so if your product
is unique, file for a provisional patent as soon as you
can. A provisional patent, which only costs about
$200 (maybe even less for an individual inventor),
allows you to use the patent pending designation.
However, provisional patents expire after 12 months,
so be sure to stay on top of the renewal process.
The fees for a non-provisional patent are as follows:
 Design Patents, which protect the design (e.g.,

the external appearance) of a functioning item,
cost between $190-$760, depending upon your
entity or individual status. Large entities pay
the $760 fee while small entities with less than
500 employees pay $380. Micro entities,
defined as an entity that does not have more
than four previously filed applications, has a
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gross income of less than three times the

published median income, and has no
obligation to assign, grant, or license the
intellectual property to another entity, only pay
$190. Design patents are non-renewable and
have no ongoing maintenance fees. These fees
do not include the cost of having an attorney do
a formal patent search or the cost of having a
third party do the necessary drawings and
filings.
 Utility Patents, which protect the use and

functionality of an item, cost between $400-
$1600, depending upon the status of your
entity. Individual inventors who meet the
micro entity criteria pay $400. Utility patents
also carry ongoing maintenance fees.
In addition to these basic filing fees, be aware that

there may be other fees such as a search fee, a fee for
drawings, and an examination fee. The government
fee schedule for intellectual property is quite
complicated. In fact, it is more than a dozen pages
long and, I swear, you need a PhD to decipher it.
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
Should You File for Intellectual

Property Yourself?
If you get anything out of this chapter, pay strict
attention to this section. While filing for intellectual
property pro se (without legal representation or on
one’s own behalf) is positively cheaper, faster, and a
great learning experience, I highly recommend using a
professional instead. The reason I tell you this is it is
very difficult dealing with the federal government
when it comes to intellectual property. Figuratively
speaking, one uncrossed T or un-dotted I and they will
send the application back to you.
If the drawings you submitted or the paperwork

you sent in are not 100 percent exactly what is
requested on the application, you will get it back. A
person with limited IP experience will go back and
forth with the government, on average, about four
times over the course of 6-12 months. So, unless you
have the experience and the time and patience
required to deal with the government, you should
leave this task to the experts. You can hire any
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attorney who specializes in IP, regardless of where

they practice, so take plenty of bids to uncover the
cheapest law firm. Another good option which I
personally use all the time is www.legalzoom.com. Of
course, if you use an online service or an IP attorney,
the cost is much higher than doing it by yourself.
A smart marketer follows these tips when it comes

to intellectual property:
1. They use non-disclosure and non-compete

documents even when dealing with suppliers,
friends, business associates, and even family.
2. They tell as few people as possible about their

idea, but when they do, the avoid revealing too
much.
3. They research every person they intend to do

business with, before granting them access to
any IP (if something doesn’t feel right, go with
your gut instinct and forego giving them access
to your idea).
4. They document, and keep highly organized,

everything surrounding intellectual property,
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
including conversations, emails, and

application filings.
5. They use provisional patents as a means to

speed up the process and to make it less
expensive initially.
6. They use all the appropriate forms of IP such as

copyrights, trademarks, and patents to protect
their ideas.
7. They spread their production across multiple

firms when dealing with foreign manufacturers
so as to never reveal all of the trade secrets to
any one company.
The Importance of Owning Intellectual

Property
Besides the fact that investors, venture capitalists,
and even retailers demand that you own your idea or
product’s intellectual property, large companies place
a big emphasis on IP. Google®, was way behind other
large firms as it relates to owning intellectual
property. However, due to recent acquisitions and
additional IP filings, Google® now has more than
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50,000 patents and spends billions of dollars every

year on securing intellectual property.
Owning intellectual property yields a few important

benefits, including:
 IP protects your domestic interests. You can

also file for foreign IP, but usually that is quite
expensive and doesn’t always protect you. If
another party infringes on your IP, you can
have an attorney send them a cease and desist
letter, threatening a lawsuit. An attorney can
also file for an interference proceeding,
claiming the other party is interfering in your
company’s trade. In addition, you may be able
to file an IP claim with US Customs, preventing
some foreign competitors from entering the
market.
 Investors and venture capitalists love

intellectual property. Investors want to know
your product or idea is unique and that they
will be protected from a lawsuit by a third
party.
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
 IP protects you from litigation. Owning the

appropriate form of IP may prevent lawsuits
against you. That being said, it is super
important that you perform an exhaustive
search all over the internet prior to using your
new name/logo or slogan to make sure no one
else has used it first. In addition, many retailers
will demand you prove that you own the rights
to the product being marketed.
 IP can be a form of Brand Equity. Intellectual

property has value. You might be able to sell
your patent, trademark, or copyright to another
party – for cash. For example, imagine if
Apple® decided to close shop and sell off all its
assets. What do you think just the name Apple ®
would be worth? Probably billions, in my
opinion.
Sidebar: Don’t Make this Big Mistake!

I have watched many entrepreneurs make the
mistake of taking a product to the market without the
protection of intellectual property. Their thinking was
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I am going to get knocked off anyway, so why spend

the time and money? This kind of thinking will surely
get you sued. Large companies are super smart about
filing for IP. Typically, the larger firms will file for
patents and trademarks that cover a wide array of
categories such that they will sue the second you enter
their space. Technically, if the product is in another
category, you may be safe. But I have personally
experienced Fortune 500 companies suing an
individual entrepreneur because the new product was
causing consumers to confuse the entrepreneur’s
product as an extension of the large firm’s product
line.
The Steps to Securing Intellectual

Property
There are nine steps to securing intellectual
property as shown in the accompanying chart:
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
These steps include:
1. Create a design, name, logo, and slogan (if

appropriate) for your product.
2. Draft an NDA (non-disclosure) and non-

compete document and have anyone you
discuss your project with sign it. This includes
business colleagues, employees, friends, and
even family members. Discuss your project
with as few people as possible. You may want
to even exclude friends in the discussion. The
less you tell, the less likely you will get copied.
3. Conduct exhaustive internet research of your
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proposed design, name, logo, and slogan.

Check sites such as eBay® and Amazon® by
typing your proposed product name into their
search tools. See what comes up. Check social
media platforms such as Facebook®,
Pinterest®, Instagram®, and Etsy® to see if
anyone else is making a claim to your proposed
name, etc. Check the HSN® and QVC®
websites, too. I know this seems like a lot of
work – it is, but believe me, it is worth the
effort.
4. Go to an online website domain company such

as GoDaddy® and attempt to buy the URL for
your proposed name. This is a tell-tale sign of
whether or not another party is staking a claim
to your IP.
5. Go to www.uspto.gov and conduct a

preliminary (aka, basic) search of your
proposed name or patent. Let me be clear here.
This government site that controls IP is not
perfect. In fact, a basic search may not reveal
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
an issue. It is usually wise to also conduct an

infringement search (more comprehensive
than a basic search). As mentioned in the
previous section, you may be better off using an
attorney who specializes in IP to conduct the
trademark and patent search.
6. Decide on the type(s) of IP you need

(trademark, trade secret, design patent, utility
patent, etc.), assuming the searches came back
clear (meaning, no one else seems to be using
the design and name).
7. File your IP claim(s) with the United States

Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
8. Continually review the emails sent to you by

the USPTO. Eventually you will receive
notification that your trademark and patent
have been formally executed.
9. When awarded a patent, trademark, or

copyright, keep all the documents in a safe
place.
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Is it Really Possible to Protect Your

Idea?
Since we live in a society that does not respect
intellectual property, why bother securing a patent,
trademark, or copyright? The answer is simple;
retailers, interactive television stations such as QVC ®,
distributors, etc. will all demand to see your
intellectual property to protect them from being
implicated in a lawsuit. Investors and venture
capitalists will also expect you to own intellectual
property.
Can you truly protect your idea from the knockoff

artists? Probably not. This does not preclude the need
for protecting yourself from other people who might
claim to own the rights to your name, logo, slogan, or
design. Fully protecting your intellectual property can
become a full-time job. It requires an extreme amount
of continual spying on the internet. For example, I
have a full-time person who scours the internet every
week, checking all the discount sites, and performing
an exhaustive Google® search by entering all of the
keywords that are relevant to our products. We even
check foreign websites and discount sites to see if any
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
of our products have been copied.
What do you do if you find an imitator? You can

send a cease and desist letter, demand that the
discount sites remove knockoffs from their websites
(good luck), or even file an infringement suit. If you
decide to file a lawsuit, be aware that 80% of
infringement cases end up unresolved. Infringement
suits can take two years in court, a ton of time, and
can be quite costly. You are better off focusing your
energy on making your products, figuratively
speaking, bigger, better and faster than the copycats.
Don’t sweat over the concept of being knocked off.

Why? Because the odds are that you will be knocked
off, imitated, and copied within the first four months
of your product launch. In fact, you will probably see
foreign competition within the first year. Foreign
competitors are even likely to copy your exact name,
logo, and look. So, what can you do to protect your
idea?
 Enforce your intellectual property rights by

using cease and desist letters or infringement
threats.
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 Buy as many similar website URL’s as you can.

Add plurals, buyXYZ.com, and .tv, .net
extensions.
 Consider knocking yourself off by introducing a
cheaper version of your product. There is much
debate over this tactic, but I have used it quite
successfully a number of times.
 When conducting your preliminary market
testing, consider launching in some obscure or
even foreign market to be under the radar.
The best marketers assume that knockoffs are

inevitable. They plan for knockoffs in their overall
strategy and document the tactics they will use when
facing copycats – way before it happens.
How to Deal with IP Infringement

First, let’s understand what is meant by the term
intellectual property infringement. Infringement
occurs when a mark or design is likely to cause
confusion among consumers or a distinct level of
unfair competition. Our legal system will look at a
number of factors to determine whether or not
infringement has occurred. Factors such as the level of
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
public awareness of the mark, the similarity in

appearance, impression, and utility are also
considered. In addition, the courts will consider
whether or not the infringement has caused a clear
amount of monetary damage. The question that must
be asked when you are considering filing an
infringement case is: has the infringing party caused
the shoppers to be confused?
If you are sure another party has infringed upon

your trademark or patent, first send a cease and desist
letter from your attorney. Sending this letter without
the support of an attorney will be futile. Next, send a
letter to any retailers or discount sites that are
showcasing the knockoff, demanding they stop selling
the product. If these efforts fail, by all means hire an
attorney and file a lawsuit. Where infringement gets
tricky is when the infringing party resides in a foreign
In Summary
country. Suing a company or individual in an
international court of law is very time-consuming and
Owning intellectual Intellectual property,
expensive. In is
property most cases, it doesn’t
important make
such as sense or
trademarks to file
because investors and patents, will provide a
a lawsuit. Instead,
retailers make sure
will demand you impress upon
layer of protection
it.You that
consumers are normally better
your product against
is domestic and that
the original
off using an online firm or knockoffs.
an attorney when filing
for intellectual property. Infringement lawsuits are
usually a waste of time
It is inevitable that you and money, especially if
will be knocked off. Do the infringing party is
not sweat over this; focus82 from a foreign
on your product being of country.Intellectual
higher quality, and flood property can oftentimes
the market with social
promotion to keep it in product prototype.
the minds of consumers.
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they should not be swayed by low quality imitators.
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
Chapter 4
Research, Research, and more
Research
In This Chapter
 The Definition and Importance of Marketing

research
 Different Types of Marketing Research
 Steps to the Marketing Research Process
 Marketing Research Resources
There’s an old myth that tells the tale of a large dog

food company that spent millions on the development
of a new canine delicacy. The product failed
miserably. When this large company realized they
wasted a great deal of money, they proceeded to go
out to the marketplace to perform a post-mortem.
They wanted to know precisely why their new product
failed. They conducted a focus group consisting of
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people who owned dogs. After hours of asking all

kinds of questions, they asked the group to provide
their opinions as to why the product failed. With that,
a 9-year-old boy, who accompanied his mother to the
focus group, jumped up and shouted, “It failed
because my dog doesn’t like it!” What is the moral of
the story? Do your research before entering the
marketplace with a new product.
Chapter 4 details the practical ways to conduct

marketing research. I will provide you with some
ideas on how to gather a sufficient amount of data
that helps to justify your product decisions. I will also
give you a step by step process to use that dispenses
with the academic stuff, and provides a real world
approach to marketing research.
The Definition and Importance of

Marketing Research
According to The American Marketing
Association®, marketing research is the function that
links the consumer, customer, and the public to the
marketer through information; information used to
identify and define marketing problems and
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
opportunities. My definition is much more

rudimentary. Marketing research is the process we
use before attempting to launch a new product that
prevents us from screwing up.
The purpose of marketing research is to provide

sufficient data, information, and behavioral
tendencies to be able to overcome the main causes of
buyer objections. Zig Ziglar, the famous public
speaker of yesteryear, once said that every sale has
five basic objections -- no need, no money, no hurry,
no desire, and no trust. Marketing research also helps
to uncover why potential customers would substitute
another product for yours.
Marketers should use research to answer questions

surrounding market dynamics, the current business
environment, and to take a close look at consumer
behavior. Marketing research is important as it
answers the following questions:
1. What price are consumers willing to pay for

your product?
2. Which package design do consumers prefer?
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3. Who is my primary target market?
4. Who are my main competitors?
5. Which form of advertising and promotion

appeals to consumers?
For example, when I conducted the marketing

research for our family restaurant, we were able to
uncover the best hours of operation, preferred menu
items, the need for valet parking, and how to best use
social media. This information was invaluable and
clearly helped us to be better prepared for our grand
opening.
Sidebar
An intelligent marketer uses a variety of research
techniques to form solid opinions about consumer
behavior. They also take their time and never rush the
marketing research process. Genius marketers will
use a combination of research methods before coming
to a conclusion about market phenomena, including:
 Online and in-person focus groups
 Direct observation
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
 Surveys and interviews
 Field visits
 Clinical trials and efficacy studies
Using at least three of these methods will provide

enough data and will help to eliminate any bias that
may exist within any one approach.
Marketing Research Methods

There are many different types of marketing
In Summary
research methods. The trick is to figure out which
method best fits with your research objectives. The
threeType
maintext here type text Type text here type text
methods are:
here type text here here type text here
1. Exploratory Research
2. Descriptive Research
3. Causal Research
Exploratory Research
Exploratory research is the method used when a
problem is not clearly defined. It helps marketers gain
some initial insight or hunches about market
dynamics. Exploratory research also helps determine
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the best research design, data collection method, and

the way to select subjects for the research study. This
research method is useful when a marketer needs to
better understand a situation or identify decision
alternatives (i.e., which price point). Exploratory
research is relatively unstructured and utilizes a more
qualitative approach to findings. To conduct this form
of research, marketers can use focus groups, case
studies, books and articles in the public domain, and
interview and survey techniques. Exploratory research
tends to use both primary data (specifically collected
for the study) and secondary data (already in the
public domain) to draw inferences from the
information.
Descriptive Research
Descriptive research is the method used to describe
a population or particular demographic and/or
phenomenon being studied. It is best used to uncover
specific answers to questions a marketer may have,
including:
 Who is more likely to use our product?
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
 Who are our main competitors?
 What is the likely demand for our product?
Descriptive research uses a more quantitative and

highly structured approach. This form of research
tends to use primary data, or data you collect
specifically for the purpose of your research project.
An advantage of primary data is that it is specifically
tailored to your research needs.
Causal Research
Causal research is the study or investigation of
cause and effect relationships. Casual research is used
when a marketer is trying to determine the impact a
change may have on consumer behavior. Causal
research focuses on manipulating the independent
variable to determine the effect on the other
dependent variable. This type of research is used to
predict behavior and/or test hypotheses. Typical kinds
of questions that may be addressed by causal research
include:
 What impact on sales might a change in price

point cause?
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 What effect may a redesign of packaging have

on sales?
 How might a change to social media promotion

have on repeat business?
Personally, I like to use a combination of these

methods to make my research more comprehensive
and revealing. If you get anything out of this chapter,
just remember that research can be the difference
between mediocre and great results.
The Steps to the Marketing Research

Process
The steps to the marketing research process are as
follows:
1. Develop the overall purpose and problem

definition of the marketing research.
2. Define the primary goals and key objectives of

the research.
3. Determine research design and methods

(exploratory, descriptive, and causal).
4. Design research instruments and tools
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
(surveys, fill in the blank, focus groups).
5. Conduct research in the form of focus groups,

direct observation, etc.
6. Collect quantitative and qualitative data.
7. Gather secondary research available in the

public domain.
8. Analyze and interpret the data and findings.
9. Develop your marketing research report and

communicate results.
The Marketing Research Process
Develop Purpose Collect

Gather Secondary
and Problem Quantitative and
Research
Definition Qualitative Data
Define the Conduct

Analyze and
Primary Goals and Exploratory
Interpret Data
Key Objectives Research
Determine Design Research Develop Report

Research Design Instruments and and Communicate
and Methods Tools Results
The process associated with marketing research
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can be time-consuming, frustrating, and

unpredictable. However, the Genius Marketer doesn’t
overlook the criticality of this important step to the
product development and commercialization
procedure. When in doubt, do more research. When
you are confused about something related to your
product, do more research. When competitors are
driving you crazy, do more research.
You should spend a great deal of time developing

the overall purpose, problem definition, and key
objectives of your research. Make sure you are
working on the real versus the apparent problem. For
example, imagine sales for your product are down 12
percent. You assume the problem is sales related.
However, after further research, you uncover the real
problem is lousy quality. Research will help you
determine precisely what is happening, rather than
assuming you are working on the correct problem.
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The Best Types of Marketing Research

Tools
There are many marketing research tools that can

be used to form opinions, draw conclusions, or even
make educated assumptions. Generally speaking,
research tools fall into two distinct categories
--quantitative tools or qualitative tools. Quantitative
analysis is the science behind marketing research. It is
made up of the facts, figures, hard data, and statistics
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associated with marketing phenomena. Investors and

senior level managers tend to gravitate toward
quantitative evidence. Clinical studies and
mathematical survey results are two examples of
quantitative tools. A marketer may ask a group of
focus group participants which color they prefer and
get the answer that 67 percent of those queried stated
the color blue. This may be quantitatively significant
when choosing the ultimate color of your packaging or
website.
Qualitative analysis is the art behind marketing

research. It consists of beliefs, perceptions, feelings,
and thoughts. Both of these analyses are important. In
fact, although many believe that the hard evidence
associated with quantitative analysis is preferred,
marketers would be better served to uncover the
golden nuggets of information often presented by
qualitative tools. In the example of which color people
tend to prefer, although you quantitatively received
the answer blue, you may want to do a deeper dive
query of the audience to figure out which shade of
blue and how it makes them feel. Qualitative analysis
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will ask what image your mind conjures when you see
the color blue.
Most marketing research tools can be used to

gather both quantitative and qualitative data and
information. It is how you interpret and intend to use
the data that is important here. And when it comes to
data, remember there is a plethora of information that
already exists within the public domain. These
secondary data can be useful when conducting your
marketing research, but must be properly vetted to
ensure no bias exists.
Here are my favorite marketing research tools and

an example of how I used each:
 Direct observation or field trials
 Focus groups (I prefer in-person)
 Clinical and efficacy studies
 Fill in the blanks
 Surveys or questionnaires
 Test marketing
Direct observation or field trials are an important
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tool to use. Quite often, results from surveys and focus

groups are tainted because consumers tell you what
they think you want to hear. This is especially true
when marketers are paying respondents to answer
questions. When you unobtrusively observe
consumers in action in a store, at work, or at home,
you will gather a more accurate reflection of their
behavior.
For example, I was once hired as a marketing

consultant to determine whether or not consumers
would be able to follow directions about how to use a
particular product. I used direct observation as the
research tool. I watched from behind a one-way
mirror and allowed consumers to interact with the
product after immediately reading the instructions.
This provided an unbiased viewpoint as to whether or
not consumers were confused or not.
Focus groups are an excellent tool to use for

research. In terms of approach, there are in-person
and online focus groups. Both can be effective when
used properly. A focus group should be controlled by
an unbiased, emotionally divorced moderator. A good
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moderator never injects his or her opinions into the

focus group discussions. Focus groups work best
when there is a scripted series of questions that fall
into one to three topics. Do not make the mistake of
trying to answer everything in one focus group. It
normally takes two to three focus groups to get solid
answers to your marketing questions. A focus group
should be made up primarily of members of your
target market and should include people from all
walks of life. The more eclectic group you pull
together, the more likely you will get a well-rounded
set of answers. Focus groups tend to yield qualitative-
type responses, but can result in significant insight
into potential customer attitudes and beliefs about
your product. A focus group should last no more than
two hours as consumers tend to shut down if kept
longer.
I once used a focus group to find out how a group

of women felt about a skin care product that was
about to come to market. We had five groups of six
women who were given a sample of the product. We
asked them to interact with the product and provide
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commentary on the name, the packaging, the scent,

and the texture of the product. We also asked them
what they would be willing to pay for the product. We
gathered quantitative data in the form of the
percentage of women who stated something and
qualitative data in the form of raw comments. This
focus group led to renaming the product, changing the
color of the packaging, adding a fresh scent, and
modifying the pricing.
Sidebar – Watch Out

When it comes to focus groups, there are two
things you should know. First, marketing textbooks
state that focus groups consist of five to nine people.
This is plain hooey! You need at least 30, if not 50
people to gain enough of a sample size to justify
drawing any conclusions. While 50 people may not be
statistically significant, it will at a minimum provide a
directional trend.
In addition, textbooks rarely comment on that fact

that you need more than one focus group to gain
enough market intelligence before proceeding to
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product commercialization. I like to use three focus

groups. The first focus group introduces the product
concept and proposed ideas. After gathering the facts
surrounding the first focus group, we make changes to
the product concept. We then conduct a second focus
group consisting of many of the same people we used
in the first one. In this focus group, we reveal the
changes we made based upon their original input. We
then ask a series of additional questions that may not
have been covered sufficiently in the first session. We
again make modifications to the product. If we still
have questions, we may conduct a third session.
The second thing you should know is that most

marketing research forms have moved toward online
focus groups. Clearly, going online is faster and
cheaper. The danger here is the anonymous nature of
online respondents. Unless the research firm has a
highly controlled process, you may get tainted results.
I use both online and in-person focus groups,
primarily because I like to read the unspoken body
language from the audience of an in-person focus
group. Remember, the eyes are the windows to the
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soul.
Clinical and efficacy studies allow marketers to

make claims and representations based upon the
results of these controlled studies. The Federal Trade
Commission (FTC) regulates and monitors how
marketers represent their products primarily on
television. The FTC has sued many marketers for
making false claims - and won. When a marketer
states, lose two dress sizes in three weeks or your
money back, it is required by law that this assertion
be backed up by studies that prove this claim. The
best type of study is an unbiased and independently
controlled trial that has a minimum of 50 to 60
people. In fact, the best study follows this protocol:
 Double blind, whereby neither the participant

nor the moderator knows who is receiving the
product versus a placebo.
 Placebo controlled, where one participant gets

the product while another gets an approved
placebo from a third party.
 Randomized, as evidenced by a third-party
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random selection of who gets the actual

product versus the placebo.
 Calibrated instruments that have been

independently checked.
 Controlled measuring of participants, whereby

the results of each participant are conducted
the same day and time every week, by the same
person, using the same measuring device in the
same area on the participant.
The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) and the

Institutional Review Board (IRB) insist that you
follow a very strict protocol for clinical trials and
efficacy studies. You can find the trial format online.
I once conducted an efficacy study for a weight loss

product. The marketer believed the product would
cause consumers to lose weight in about 30 to 45
days. We followed a very strict FDA-approved
protocol, calling for the calibration of all instruments
and using the placebo method.
The trial was conducted over ten weeks with each
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participant being measured for weight and body

measurements over the entire trial period. The
conclusion of the study was that participants who took
the weight loss pill barely lost any weight, but did lose
body fat. The marketer, in turn, modified the product
claims.
Fill in the blanks is an interesting and sometimes

humorous research tool. The fill in the blank method
calls for participants to finish a sentence. The purpose
behind this type of research is to determine the
stereotypes, biases, and perceptions of consumers. It
is highly qualitative in nature but will add value to any
research project. I used this method when helping a
client launch a new light beer. Participants were asked
to finish these sentences; Men who drink light beer
are___________ and women who drink light beer
are ____________.
The answers were thought provoking and often

times hilarious. The fill in the blank tool definitely
allows marketers to get into the minds of consumers.
Surveys, interviews, and questionnaires are another
research tool that is often used to determine what
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consumers are thinking and feeling. There is an art to

developing research surveys as asking questions the
right way will ensure the appropriate responses from
a participant. Surveys should normally use both
closed end (how old are you?) and open end (how
does this color make you feel?) questions to gain
quantitative and qualitative perspectives from
participants. Online surveys are in vogue but must be
carefully controlled to ensure accuracy.
Test marketing, or A/B testing as it is also known,

is a research tool where a marketer attempts to
compare variables to determine which variables elicit
the best consumer response. Test marketing is used to
compare price points, package designs, and
advertising and promotion.
For example, I launched a household appliance

about ten years ago. I test marketed three price points
on television and on the internet, making sure the
tests were conducted in contiguous and
demographically similar markets on the same day and
at the same time. The result of the test marketing was
that we decided to go with a higher price point as it
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performed slightly better than the lower prices.
The key to marketing research is using a

combination of methods and a minimum of three
tools to make sure you have gathered sufficient
evidence, hard data, and subjective opinion and
perceptions from a buying audience. Marketing
research attempts to get into the mind of a consumer
to figure out what he or she is thinking when they
interact with your product, advertising, etc. Once you
have determined precisely what consumers are
thinking, your likelihood of success triples.
Hard Work for Sure

Marketing research is hard work. Really, really,
hard work. So many inventors and product developers
short-change the research process due to impatiently
wanting to take the product to the market. Greed sets
in and the marketer rushes to judgment and
prematurely launches the product. Of course, 80
percent of the time, the product fails due to
insufficient research. The exhausting amount of
research necessary to launch a product successfully
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will answer these questions:
1. How many competitors are in, or likely to be in,

my product category?
2. Will global competition easily enter my space
with knockoffs?
3. What happens when I raise or lower my price
point?
4. Which social media promotions tend to work
the best?
The blood, sweat, and tears you experience during

this phase of your product launch will inevitably pay
huge dividends in the long run. So, when you think
you have conducted enough research, conduct even
more. You won’t be sorry.
Marketing Research Resources

To help you get started, here are 12 excellent
marketing research tools:
 Survey Monkey, an online survey development

software company, will help you design a
research survey or interview questionnaire in a
snap.
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 Qualtrics, one of the best marketing research

platforms, provides ad testing, concept testing,
survey development, and customer satisfaction
forms.
 Gartner Peer Insights, a business intelligence
platform, assists with conducting peer reviews
of your product, including strengths and
shortcomings.
 Loop 11, a usability testing service, allows you
to recruit users to test your website or even a
competitor’s site.
 Claritas, which provides Site Reports, is an
accurate online source for U.S. demographic
data including five year demographic
projections. Site Reports offers more than 50
reports and maps providing detailed
information helping you analyze markets,
select site locations, and target your customers
effectively.
 Google Databoard for Research Insights, a
detailed research tool, allows you to explore
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insights from Google research studies and

share them with others.
 American Fact Finder, a census based research
tool, provides community-level housing, and
economic data for ZIP codes throughout the
U.S.
 Business Dynamic Statistics, or BDS as it is
also known, provides annual measures of
business dynamics (such as job creation and
destruction, establishment births and deaths,
and firm startups and shutdowns) for the
economy and aggregated by establishment and
firm characteristics.
 Nielsen, a marketing research behemoth,
studies consumers in more than 100 countries
and provides a complete view of the most
recent buying trends and consumer habits
worldwide.
 FedStats, available since 1997, provides access
to a full range of official statistical information
produced by the federal government. With
convenient searching and linking capabilities
to more than 100 agencies that provide data
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and trend information, FedStats has

information on such topics as economic and
population trends, crime, education, health
care, aviation safety, energy use, and farm
production.
 Userlytics, a unique research platform,

provides a forum for doing user testing of
mobile apps, videos, display ads, and more. It
also provides a webcam and a screen recording
so you can compare user answers and reactions
when interacting with your creative team.
 Hoovers, a Dun and Bradstreet company,

provides the largest business directory
available today. Hoovers reports allow you to
build business intelligence and to develop
highly targeted lists to assist you when
targeting specific businesses within an
industry. Marketing research is the single most
important part of any product launch. It is the
reason you will succeed or can be the reason
you fail. Spending a sufficient amount of time,
energy, and money on research will pay out in
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the long run. Making sure you have researched

the competition, the price consumers are
willing to pay for your product, and the product
attributes that create a buying impulse in
consumers will dramatically increase your
chances of success.
Conversely, prematurely launching your product

with insufficient research will most likely doom the
project to failure. In marketing research, it is often not
only what you know that counts, but also what you
didn’t know that makes a difference. Marketing
research is the backbone of product launch strategy
and should be of the highest priority when
formulating your overall marketing plan. Keep the
research simple, straightforward yet comprehensive
in nature and you will be overjoyed with the results.
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In Summary
Eighty percent of new There are three primary
products fail and fifty methods of research
percent of the products including exploratory,
that fail do so due to the descriptive, and causal
lack of research. Using a combination of
When it comes to marketing research tools
marketing research, the such as focus groups, fill
internet is your best in the blanks, and
friend. You will find most surveys will increase
of the tools you need to your chances of success.
collect research data by Marketing research takes
just doing a simple time, energy, and
keyword search. patience.
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Chapter 5
Listen to the Global Heartbeat
In This Chapter
Chapter…
Learn Consumer Trends that are driving
Buying Behavior
The importance of Market Research
The criticality of having a Global Perspective
Most people would agree that global consumerism

has changed dramatically over the past two
decades. On the one hand, it has never been easier to
communicate directly with consumers through the use
of social media, while on the other hand, it has never
been more challenging to get consumers to buy.
Globalization has created a more homogenous yet

more discerning buyer as cultures continue to morph
into a similar worldwide consumer. What this means
for most marketers is that “listening to the global
heartbeat" of the consumer has become the difference
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between mediocre results and real success. As it gets

easier to access the internet and travel around the
world, worldwide consumers continue to crave
branded American products.
The Science and Art of Product

Marketing
Product marketing is both a science and an art.
Marketing is a science in that, unlike yesteryear,
where traditional forms of advertising such as
television drove buying behavior, today's product
marketing requires consumer "engagement" and
detailed analytics to understand who, what, when,
where, why, and how of consumer behavior.
Analyzing the personal data of the consumer that a
marketer can harvest through a functional CRM
(customer relationship management) system has
become a true science.
At the same time, product marketing is an art since

online focus groups, customer feedback forums, and
other forms of research continue to drive product
development and improvement. The art of marketing
consists of constantly testing, testing, and more
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testing of your advertising, determining your

capability to use social media, and performing
promotional activities, etc. This blending of science
and art helps to answer the following questions:
 What sort of marketing research do I need to

conduct?
 What data do I need to collect in the pre-launch
phase?
 How vital is competitive research and analysis?
 How do I establish my pricing?
 How important is proper market positioning?
 How do I uncover my primary and secondary
target markets?
So, how do you get the answers to these

questions? Well, the answer to it lies in just one word
-- Research.
Market research is the key to product success.

Before opening a family restaurant, we spent nine
months analyzing the competition, looking at menus,
researching surrounding demographics, considering
amenities and service offerings, and even researching
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area foot traffic. I even paid a few interns to go to 30

restaurants in the adjacent cities solely to collect
information from the most successful establishments
in the area. The purpose of all this research is to help
figure out the consumer trends that are driving buying
behavior within your product or service category.
The Importance of having a Global

Perspective
When it comes to global marketing, consumers
behave differently no matter where you advertise,
right? In reality, sometimes they behave differently,
and sometimes they behave the same. Of course,
culture does play an important role in the
understanding of consumer behavior.
Customs, beliefs, values, and personal preferences

do vary, causing minor buying nuisances between
cultures. Even the role women play in society has
changed and finally improved over the years, causing
the world at large to behave somewhat similar when it
comes to buying.
There are more than 7.8 billion people in the world
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today. When it comes to core values such as family,

education, and religion, we are very similar in nature
regardless of geography. This manifests in the
underlying buying principles to be relatively similar,
irrespective of the geographic region. That being said,
there are still some major differences in how people
shop and behave as consumers. Failure to understand
this concept might be the difference between
mediocre and real success.
According to the 2019 Global Buying Survey

conducted by Nielsen, there are four major areas
where consumers tend to behave differently
depending upon their culture and country of origin:
Brand Loyalty
For example, the report shows that people from
China will generally favor brands over no-name
products, as will the majority of people from most
other parts of Asia.
Quality
Generally speaking, high-quality products are
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considered important, no matter where you go.

However, in most of Asia and South America, quality
tends to be a significant reason why people buy.
Promotions
Probably driven somewhat by socioeconomics,
price promotions are less important in North America
and most of Europe. However, South/Latin America
and the Middle East countries are particularly
interested in promotions.
Impulse Buying
On average, about a third of respondents said that
they often bought things they did not need and tried
products earlier than others.
That number is considerably higher in China,

where the majority of people buy on impulse. This
may be because discretionary income is up, and many
more people can now afford to purchase things
beyond the basic necessities of life.
There is one more critical area where cultural

influence changes buying behavior:
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The Psychology of Color

Color connotes different things to different people
throughout the world. According to empower-
yourself-with-color-psychology.com, here are the
cultural meanings of various colors throughout the
world. It is important to note that this list should be
used to provide general direction and that there are
always exceptions to every rule of marketing.
Cultural Color Meanings of Red:

Western
 energy, excitement, action
 danger
 love, passion
 a warning to stop
 anger
 Christmas when combined with green
 Valentine's Day
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Eastern
 prosperity
 good fortune
 worn by brides
 symbol of joy when combined with white
China
 the color of good luck and celebration
 vitality, happiness, long life
 used as a wedding color
 used in many ceremonies from funerals to

weddings
 used for festive occasions
 traditionally worn on Chinese New Year to

bring luck and prosperity
India
 color of purity, fertility, love, beauty
 wealth, opulence and power
 used in wedding ceremonies
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 a sign of a married woman
 also the color of fear and fire
Thailand
 color for Sunday
Japan
 life
 anger and danger
South Africa
 color of mourning
Nigeria
 usually reserved for ceremonies
 worn by chiefs
Russia
 associated with the Bolsheviks and
Communism
 means beautiful in Russian language
 often used in marriage ceremonies
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Australian Aborigines
 represents the land and earth
 ceremonial color
Hebrew
 sacrifice, sin
Christian
 sacrifice, passion, love
Cultural Color Meanings of Pink

Western
 caring and nurturing
 love and romance
 feminine
Eastern
 feminine
Europe
 feminine color
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 baby girls
Belgium
 pink was traditionally used for baby boys - now
it is more common for it to be used for baby
girls
Japan
 well-liked by both males and females
Thailand
 color for Tuesday
Korea
 trust
Cultural Color Meanings of Orange

Western
 affordable or inexpensive items
 Halloween when combined with black
Eastern
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 happiness
 spirituality
Thailand
 color for Thursday
Ireland
 religious color for Protestants
 appears on the Irish flag along with white for

peace and green for Catholics
Netherlands
 color of the Dutch royal family
Hinduism
 Saffron, a soft orange color, is considered an
auspicious and sacred color
Cultural Color Meanings of Yellow

Western
 happiness, joy
 hope
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 cowardice
 caution, warning of hazards and hazardous

substances
Eastern
 sacred
 imperial
China
 sacred
 imperial, royalty
 honor
 masculine color
India
 sacred and auspicious
 the symbol of a merchant
Thailand
 Considered auspicious as the bright yellow
flower "cassia fistula" is a national symbol.
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 Represents Buddhism
 yellow is considered the royal color and the

color of Monday, which is the King's birthday
Egypt
Burma
Israel
 used to label Jews in the Middle Ages
Middle East
 happiness
 prosperity
Japan
 courage
 beauty and refinement
 aristocracy
 cheerfulness
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Europe
 happiness, joy
 cowardice, weakness
 hazard warning
France
 jealousy
Greece
 sadness
Africa
 Usually reserved for those of high rank
Buddhism
 wisdom
Jewish
 yellow star badges of the Middle Ages and post-
war Germany and Poland.
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Cultural Color Meanings of Green

Western
 lucky color in most western cultures
 spring, new birth, regeneration
 nature and environmental awareness
 color for 'go' at traffic lights
 Saint Patrick's Day
 Christmas when combined with red
 jealousy
 greed
Eastern
 new life, regeneration, and hope
 fertility
China
 new life, regeneration, and hope
 fertility
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 disgrace - giving a Chinese man a green hat

indicates his wife is cheating on him
 exorcism
 studies show it is generally not good for

packaging
India
 the color of Islam
 hope
 new beginnings
 harvest
 virtue
Thailand
 color for Wednesday
Japan
 eternal life
 youthfulness
 freshness
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Indonesia
 a forbidden color
Ireland
 religious color for Irish Catholics
 color symbol of Ireland - the Emerald Isle
France
 not good for packaging
North Africa
 corruption and the drug culture
Egypt
 hope
 spring
Middle East
 color of Islam
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 strength
 fertility
 luck
Saudi Arabia
 wealth and prestige
South America
 death
USA
 money
 jealousy
Cultural Color Meanings of Blue

Generally the safest color to use worldwide
Western
 trust and authority
 conservative
 corporate
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 peace and calm
 depression
 sadness
 "something blue" bridal tradition
 masculine color
 baby boys
Eastern
 immortality
China
 immortality
 associated with pornography and “blue films”
 feminine color
India
 Lord Krishna
 national sports color
Japan
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 everyday life
Korea
Thailand
 color for Friday
Belgium
 light blue was traditionally the color for baby
girls - now it is more common to use it for baby
boys
Mexico
 mourning
 trust
 serenity
Iran
 heaven and spirituality
 immortality
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Israel
 Coat of Arms
Egypt
 virtue
 protection - to ward off evil
Middle East
 protection
Colombia
 associated with soap
US Politics
 liberalism
UK & European Politics

 conservatism
Religious Beliefs in Many Cultures

 Christianity: Christ's color
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 Judaism: holiness
 Hinduism: the color of Krishna
 Catholicism: color of Mary's robe
Cultural Color Meanings of Purple

Western
 royalty
 spirituality
 wealth and fame
 high ranking positions of authority
 military honor (Purple Heart)
Eastern
 wealth
India
 sorrow
 comforting
Japan
 privilege
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 wealth
Thailand
 color of mourning for widows
 color for Saturday
Brazil
 death and mourning
European
 Royalty
Catholicism
 mourning
 death, crucifixion
Cultural Color Meanings of White

Western
 brides and weddings
 angels
 hospitals, doctors
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 peace - the white dove
 purity and cleanliness
Eastern
 death, mourning, and funerals
 sadness
China
 death and mourning
 virginity and purity
 humility
 age
 misfortune
India
 unhappiness
 symbol of sorrow in the death of a family

member
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 traditionally the only color a widow is allowed

to wear
 funerals
 peace and purity
Japan
 white carnation symbolizes death
Thailand
 white elephants are considered auspicious
 white symbolizes purity in Buddhism
Korea
 purity, innocence,
 morality
 birth and death
Middle East
 purity
 mourning
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Cultural Color Meanings of Black

Western
 power, control, intimidation
 funerals, death, mourning
 rebellion
Eastern
 wealth, health and prosperity
China
 color for young boys
India
 evil, negativity, darkness
 lack of appeal
 anger and apathy
 used to ward off evil
Japan
 color of mystery and the night
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 may be associated with feminine energy -

either evil and a threat or provocative and
alluring
Thailand
 unhappiness
 bad luck, evil
Judaism
 unhappiness
 bad luck, evil
Middle East
 evil
 mystery
Africa
 Age and wisdom
Australian Aborigines
 ceremonial color
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 commonly used in their artworks
Cultural Color Meanings of Brown

Western
 down-to-earth, practical
 comfortable
 stable, dependable
 wholesome
China
 in Chinese horoscopes, brown is the color for
earth
India
 Color of mourning
Nicaragua
 Sign of disapproval
Cultural Color Meanings of Magenta

Western
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 Creative, innovative and artistic
 Imaginative and outrageous
 Loving, compassionate and kind
 Encourages emotional balance
 Spiritual yet practical
 Non-conformist
Spain
 Official color of the Union Progress and
Democracy political party
Netherlands
 Used by the Amsterdam-based Magenta
Foundation in support of anti-racism
So, how does color impact buying behavior? That's

simple. People will tend to shy away or lean toward a
color that has the most appropriate meaning given the
product category. This is why most women choose the
color white for their wedding dress here in the USA.
In this case, the white dress signifies purity. It would
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be rare to see a woman in the United States wearing a

black wedding dress!
In fact, in many cases, a woman will choose a

particular product solely based upon the color of the
packaging. Men, on the other hand, typically do not
care even if the product is wrapped in a brown paper
bag.
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The Next-Generation Consumer

The consumer of tomorrow, driven primarily by the
Millennials of today, will be quite different than the
consumers of yesteryear. The new global consumer
will be:
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More sophisticated
• More technologically advanced

• More interactive in nature when it comes to
buying
• More discerning
• More skeptical
• More worried about privacy
• More demanding of quality
• More urban dwellers
• More influenced by women
• More ethnically diverse
According to Will Galgey, CEO of the Futures

Company, there are six new “faces” of the global
consumer:
The Older Face

Due to improved health care, the Baby Boomer era,
and increased economic pressures, the over-60 crowd
is staying in the workforce much later than ever
before. It will soon be common for 70+-year-olds to
be working way past the previous retirement age. In
short order, 60% of the world's wealth will be
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controlled by people over the age of 50. The lifespan

in the USA has increased more than 30 years over the
past 100 years. Baby Boomers are experiencing longer
lives, more vibrant and active lifestyles, and even
increased sexual activity, more than ever before.
This older demographic will not only place pressure

on the healthcare system, but will also dictate the
need for businesses that cater to the middle-aged.
Mobile-based services should flourish during this
period.
The Female Face

Females will continue to play a crucial role in
global marketing as women become a more integral
part of the global workforce. More and more women
throughout the world will continue to gain
prominence in certain business sectors. As women
gain more social influence such as voting power and
higher pay, their global voices will become even more
important. Marketers all around the world will need
to pay more attention to the female point of view.
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The Connected Face

More than 7 billion people will be connected to the
internet through more than 50 billion devices by
2050. Interactive television, whereby consumers get
to buy instantly while watching a show, will be
commonplace. Social media will converge into only a
few platforms that will include a collapsing of email
into these networks. This highly connected society will
demand more interactivity from all advertising
mediums. The next-generation consumer will demand
instantaneous buying right from their favorite TV
show. Similarly, they will surely expect to buy
immediately on social media after viewing something
on the interest.
Financially Pressured Face

Consumer confidence is still "smarting" from the
economic collapse that crashed the market back in
2007. Although the economy has improved since
then, consumers are still troubled, stressed, and more
guarded when it comes to making purchases.
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Consumers are more bargaining in nature due to

the proliferation of discount sites on the internet. The
impact of this is that many marketers are splitting
brands into the low end and higher-end product
categories.
Resentment and Socially Responsible

Face
There seems to be growing anger, disillusionment,
and even resentment toward big business happening
all over the world.
As Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions theory points

out, some of this is driven by Power Distance; i.e., the
degree of inequality exists in society – and is accepted
– among the people with and without the power. This
separation of classes within society is also somewhat a
result of poor wealth distribution.
The top earners here in the United States make

approximately $400,000 a year, while the average
wage earner grosses about $53,000. This disparity
continues to rise, causing the so-called middle class to
be disheartened. What this means to marketers is that
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
consumers today want more corporate social

responsibility. Sustainability efforts to reduce, recycle,
and reuse waste, and even to donate some proceeds to
charity have become a central theme in consumerism.
Urban Face
Approximately 50% of the U.S. population resides
in urban areas. Within the next 30 years, urban
dwellers will increase to more than 80%. This will
dictate regional type marketing down to the city level
versus the existing region-centric method.
What does this all mean to the field of

marketing?
It means that marketers need to pay more attention

to identifying and understanding their primary and
secondary target markets. In some cases, even the
non-market that ostensibly isn't a buyer. The
consumer of tomorrow will be an eclectic array of
older, female, urban, and connected buyers who will
impatiently demand high-quality products at a
reasonable price.
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Researching Trends as an Imperative

In order to successfully launch any new product or
service, there are three marketing imperatives:
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1. Researching the current and predicted future

trends within your target market and your
product or service category.
2. Conducting an exhaustive amount of research
about your product or service category such
that you become an expert in the field.
3. Researching past successes and failures within
your product or service category to uncover
what has worked and failed.
According to the Pew Research Center, three

significant trends are occurring within the U.S.
population:
• The population is Aging

• The population is becoming more Ethnically
Diverse
• Millennials will continue to show strength
through their buying power
It is estimated that there are nearly 51 million

people over the age of 65 in the U.S. That number will
grow to almost 79 million by 2050. Persons over 55
will approach the 100 million mark at that same time.
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This should tell you that the older generation will

be a significant force as it relates to buying power over
the next few decades. In general, this will cause
certain product and service categories to flourish:
• Anti-aging products
• Dietary supplements such as natural
cholesterol reduction pills
• Healthcare related services
As the accompanying charts reveal, the older

generation blossomed from 1960 to 1990, growing
88% during that timeframe. The rest of the population
grew only 34% over the same span of time. The Baby
Boomer generation will cause explosive growth to
continue. This population of much older people
creates many implications in the areas of health care,
family life, education, and government.
The elderly will most likely stay in the workforce

much later than ever before. The US Census Bureau
estimates that almost 38% of the working population
will be elderly by the year 2030. This will dictate a
need for more products and services that cater to
people older than 65.
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The Importance of Ethnic Shifting

The world has become more of a melting pot of
ethnicity as the speed of travel and
telecommunication increases. This more ethnically
diverse population will have far-reaching implications
in the field of marketing. The US Census Bureau
estimates that as of 2020 there are 215 million
Caucasians, 60 million Hispanics, 40 million African
Americans, and 20 million Asians within the 335
million people in the United States. However, as seen
in the chart on the following page, this ethnic mix of
people will radically change over the coming decades.
Due to the higher growth rates in the Hispanic and
Asian populations, the Caucasian population will
become a minority somewhere around 2045.
So, what does this mean to marketers?
Entrepreneurs who are considering launching a

new product or service must take into account this
ethnic shift in population. Cultural issues such as
brand preferences, color choices, biases, etc. will
impact the types of products that will appeal to the
next generation consumer. The question you should
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
be asking yourself is: What kinds of products and

services will appeal to an urban dwelling, older, and
Hispanic or Asian consumer?
This doesn’t preclude that some universal desires

tend to cut across ethnic and age lines. Therefore,
products that tout weight loss, making money, looking
younger, and feeling better will continue to be well
received by the public at large.
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U.S. Census
Population 2015 2060
projections
Whites 77.4% 68.9%
Non-Hispanic
61.8% 42.6%
Whites
African
13.2% 14.7%
Americans
Asian Americans 5.3% 8.2%
Multiracial
2.6% 6.4%
Americans
Hispanics/Latino
17.8% 30.6%
s(of any race)
Non-
Hispanics/Latino 82.2% 69.4%
s(of any race)
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The Power of Millennials

Millennials, also known as Generation Y, are those
born between 1981 1996, and represent about 62
million people in the U.S.
According to Advertising Age, Millennials are

expected to spend approximately $210 billion in 2020
and $10 trillion over their lifetimes. This clearly
suggests that another area where products and
services will thrive is in the 23-39 age category.
Millennials tend to be extremely brand loyal,

socially conscious, and get their news and information
primarily through social media. Social engagement,
peer reviews and recommendations are also critical to
this crowd.
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Generally speaking, Millennials have these
characteristics:
1. Not influenced by advertising
A recent social media study revealed that 86% of

Millennials distrust advertising. Most only trust peer
recommendations and legitimate product reviews.
For the most part, Millennials believe that all

advertising has a spin to it and that most ads are not
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authentic. This is why they fast forward past

commercials while watching television, despise email
marketing, and abhor infomercials.
2. Prefer renting a home to buying
The majority of Millennials cannot afford to buy a

house. Many have chosen to stay living with their
parents well into their late 20s.
3. Rely on blogs and social media before

making a purchase
Millennials pay attention to the social media

influencers to whom they trust. They research peer
reviews and recommendations and listen to the "buzz"
on social media about new products and services.
4. Want the Truth
Millennials hate when a marketer embellishes

claims about a product and dislike it when a company
uses outlandish, hard-to-believe approaches to
advertising. They simply want the truth and tend to be
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highly skeptical about a product that sounds too good

to be true.
5. Worried about the future
Millennials fear that Social Security will go bust by

the time they retire. They are concerned about our
environment and the future of our planet.

6. Want to be involved with product creation
Millennials thoroughly enjoy it when a marketer

asks for their input on naming a new product or
coming up with a new flavor. Engagement and
interactivity make the Millennial trust the creative
process associated with product development.
7. Extremely brand loyal
Millennials tend to stick with name brands and are

very loyal once they trust a company. They are highly
peer-conscious, therefore creating a buzz about a new
product driven by social media is going to be quite
useful. For instance, creating a video that goes viral
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may help gain their acceptance.
8. Very tech-savvy
Millennials typically have 3-4 mobile devices and

are way more advanced technologically than previous
generations. They are tethered to their phones,
spending up to three hours a day on social media
sites.
9. Expect companies to be socially

responsible
Millennials want companies to donate a percentage

of profits to charity or toward cleaning up the
environment. They prefer doing business with firms
that reuse, recycle, and properly dispose of products
while not hurting the environment.
10. Want to be entertained
Millennials expect product advertising to be

entertaining, fun, and humorous. They also demand
interactivity, driven in part by the video gaming
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industry. What should a marketer do to appeal to

millennials?
Marketers should involve millennials in the

creative process early on in product development.
Products attempting to appeal to this target market
should be of high quality, should use social media as
the advertising platform, should be environmentally
friendly, and should donate a percentage of profits to
charity.
The Bottom Line

Considering all this information about the new
consumerism, what can an entrepreneur do to stay
ahead of the game? The answer is continued research.
So, what kinds of questions need to be answered

before you launch a new product or service?
In her excellent work, Invent it, Sell it, Bank it, Lori
Greiner of the television show "Shark Tank" outlined
the three primary research areas. According to her,
these areas must be addressed:
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 Know as much as you can about the

competitive landscape.
 Research what's going on with the general
economy and consumer spending.
 Uncover whether or not there will be demand
for your product (will consumers like it?).
The other important preliminary research that

should be done is looking at the history of your
product category to determine what has succeeded
and what has failed. You must know which products
were hits and which products ended up at a
liquidator. In another chapter, we discussed various
tools that can be used to conduct serious market
research.
Researching precisely what is going on within the

global marketplace while understanding consumer
trends may be the difference between wallowing in
misery and extreme exuberance. Listening to the
global heartbeat of your target market will ensure that
you have a better than average chance of success. So,
take out that stethoscope!
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Chapter 6
Properly Identifying Your
Target Market
In This Chapter
Learn the 4 Ways to Properly Identify your Target
Market
Understand the WWWWWH of Target Market Defining
Learn the Importance of Target Market Segmentation
A number of years ago, as mentioned in another

chapter, I launched an anti-snoring product that did
really well. Since approximately 40% of adult males
snore while only 24% of adult females “honk” at night,
we assumed the primary target market to be adult
men who snore. When it comes to target marketing,
never, ever assume! In this particular case, the actual
primary target market (67%) ended up being females
who were buying mainly for the men in their lives who
snored. The lesson? Do your homework and make
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100% sure you are going after the people who will
most likely buy your product. This chapter is perhaps
one of the most important ones within this body of
work. The process of identifying a target market is
called market segmentation. Properly segmenting the
market into prospective buyers with similar likes,
hobbies, interests, etc. is of paramount importance
and will be the difference between average and well
above average performance.
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An important aspect of target marketing is identifying the

various potential groups you can go after to create sales. These
include:
The Primary Target Market, or the group most likely to purchase
your product.
The Secondary Target Market, or the group who may also be
buyers (remember the anti-snoring product…females were
primary and males were the secondary market).
The Tertiary Market, or the audience who wants to “wait and
see.” This segment usually waits for the product to be popular.
The Non-Market, or the group who initially believes they do not
need your product. For example, going after people who need a
chainsaw is easy; getting people who may/may-not need one is
a lot harder.
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There are 4 main ways to properly identify your

target market:
1. Demographics
2. Psychographics
3. The 5 W’s and an H
4. Painting a clear picture of the expected target
market such that investors, etc. can visualize
exactly who you are targeting
Demographics
Demographic segmentation is a target market
method that is based upon identifying a number of
variables such as age, gender, income, religion,
occupation, education, etc. The more variables the
better as you want an extremely deep understanding
of your target market. Demographic segmentation
helps you to better understand consumer behavior, or
at least likely behavior based upon similar
characteristics. Demographic attributes play an
important role in marketing research. It helps
businesses stay ahead of the competition.
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A critical aspect of the study of demographic

segmentation is keeping abreast of the ever-changing
trends in the global population. For example, here in
the United States, as mentioned in Chapter 5, the
Baby Boomer population is exploding as well as the
Non-Caucasian sector (particularly Hispanics).
Staying abreast of these changes will make you a
better marketer and should give you pause when
launching new products (meaning, make sure you
keep the changing population trends in mind).
An example of demographic segmentation is shown

below. The chart is based upon the number 100 being
the baseline. For example, HAS KIDS shows 108
which indicates that some of the Costco ® buyers have
children, but not an overwhelming majority. Whereas,
if you look at the category INCOME on the chart,
clearly people who make $125K/year or more are
typical Costco® shoppers.
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Who is shopping at Costco and what are they like?
DEMOGRAPHIC INDEX
Under 24 87
25-34 101
35-44 106
45-54 99
55-64 86
Over 65 112
African American 42
Asian 288
Caucasian 81
Hispanic 126
Under $20k 78
$20k-40k 66
$40k-60k 82
$60k-80k 96
$80k-100k 108
$100k-125k 126
Over $125k 159
No College 70
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College 101
Adv. Degree 128
Has Kids 108
91
No Kids
Source: Numerator Retail Snapshot.
According to the Numerator Info Scout Website,

the average Costco Buyer also purchases at these
levels:
Average days in between shopping: 43.5
Average number of items purchased per trip: 8
Average amount of money spent per trip: $91
These data will provide you with a wealth of

information that can be used to better target buyers.
The more you know about your target market, the
better you can advertise and promote products in such
a way that appeals more to prospective buyers.
Demographic segmentation is usually a great starting
point when attempting to identify a target market.
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Psychographics
Psychographic segmentation is used to better
understand consumer behavior, their lifestyle, and
their stage in life (Millennial or Baby Boomer). It
divides the population into sub-groups based upon
shared psychological characteristics including:
 Beliefs
 Values
 Perceptions
 Motivations
 Priorities
 Attitudes and Opinions
 Interests/Hobbies
 Lifestyle
Psychographic segmentation provides much

greater insight into how a consumer is most likely to
behave based upon these shared ideals. It is used to
uncover what motivates consumers to purchase a
particular product or brand. Ultimately, it helps
improve promotional and advertising campaigns.
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WWWWWH
Although some of the 5 W’s and an H can be
uncovered using other segmentation methods, I have
always found it useful to document this information
separately. The 5 W’s and an H can be an important
ancillary tool when identifying potential buyers.
The 5 W’s and an H answer these questions:
1. Who are the most likely buyers of your

product?
2. What types of products do my target market
buyers usually purchase? Which brands do
they tend to buy?
3. When do they buy? What time of day? Which
days of the week?
4. Where do they buy? Online? Retail?
5. Why do they buy? Desire? Impulse? Need?
6. How do they pay? Credit card? Apple Pay®,
PayPal®?
Painting a Clear Picture

Most investors, licensors, etc. want to know that
you know practically everything about your potential
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target market. They expect you to literally and

figuratively paint a picture of a typical target market
buyer. If you are conveying the target market buyer to
an investor, it is usually best to have pictures of a
typical buyer (men, women, or both) based upon the
demographic and psychographic information you
have gathered.
What is Target Marketing?

Target Marketing is all about identifying specific
market segments within a large population or
audience. The purpose of this targeting is to
eventually showcase your advertising and promotion
to ultimately get a decent return on investment.
To properly target market, you need to do four

things:
1. Segmenting
2. Focus
3. Understand Positioning
4. Conduct Perceptual Mapping
Segmenting
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Segmenting the market is all about dissecting all

the possible target segments into homogenous sub-
sets with similar characteristics. Along with
demographics and psychographics, you can also break
up the population into geographic and pure
behavioral segments. Geographic segmentation is a
strategy used when you are interested in serving a
particular area or region, or when the broader market
audience has different likes, dislikes, or preferences
based upon where they live.
Behavioral segmentation is used when you want to

uncover consumer usage patterns or benefits sought
from your product. The idea here is to gather as much
information as you can about your potential target
market using a variety of these methods. Personally, I
like to use a combination of most of these techniques
to make sure I didn’t miss anything.
Focus
After you have segmented the market into bite-
sized chunks, the next step to focus your attention on
is a specific target market (aka, the primary market).
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The target market that has the greatest long-term

potential and the highest profit impact is usually
chosen first. Another way of saying this is answering
the question, Which set of target customers seem
most attractive to me in the long run? The factors you
should consider are as follows:
 The overall size of the market chosen

 The growth potential
 Product substitution likelihood of the target
market
 Perceived price sensitivity of the target market
 The brand loyalty of the target market
 The 5 W’s and an H of the target market
 How does this target market respond to
advertising and promotional activity?
Positioning
Most marketing textbooks complicate the topic of
product positioning. Positioning of a product is simply
how a company, an inventor, etc. wants a target
market to perceive its brand or product. What is most
important, however, is how a consumer perceives
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your product. When a consumer looks at your

product, what images, thoughts, or perceptions are
conjured in his or her mind? Product positioning is
the marketing process used to determine the best way
to communicate your product’s point of difference.
Proper positioning attempts to connect your product’s
attributes, image, and message to the needs, wants,
and desires of your target market.
The key to product positioning is to create a unique

selling proposition (USP) that appeals to your target
market. In addition, positioning must be viewed as an
ongoing process that attempts to keep a positive
brand image in the mind of a consumer.
To properly position a product in the mind of a

consumer (during the pre-launch phase), there are
five main steps:
1. Research the Competitive Landscape

One of the mistakes many entrepreneurs make
when launching a new product is they assume their
product is 100% unique. Let me be clear…there are
very few completely new products. 95% of new
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products are a derivative of an existing product found

somewhere else in the global marketplace. Make sure
you know exactly what you are up against when
launching a new product. One way to assess the
competitive landscape is to use Perceptual Mapping.
A perceptual map, also known as a brand map, is a
diagrammatic technique used to display the
perceptions of customers or potential customers.
I like to use perceptual mapping during focus

groups as discussed in Chapter 4.
Perceptual Mapping
High Degree
of Quality
Your
Product
Low Price High Price
Low Degree of
Quality
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What you are trying to do with a perceptual map is

compare your product to the competition as perceived
by the target market. You do not need to use price and
quality as the variables. Use whichever variables make
the most sense for your product (i.e., user
friendliness, reliability, problem solving, etc.).
2. Analyze customer needs, wants, and

desires
During your pre-launch research, it is super
important that you use the methods outlined in
Chapter 4 to clearly identify exactly what your target
market needs, wants, and desires. When it comes to
product positioning, the only thing that matters is the
perception that exists in the mind of the consumer. To
that end, when attempting to properly position a
product, you need to start with understanding
precisely what your customers need, want, and desire.
By better understanding your customer, you can
eventually place your product in the right place;
positioned correctly in the mind of the consumer.
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3. Product Attributes Analysis

It’s been said that as a marketer, you need to first
convince yourself that the product you are selling
delivers on its promise. The next step is to convince
the consumer. How do you do that? By developing an
Attributes Matrix that compares your product’s
features and benefits against the competition’s.
Attribute Your Comp Comp Comp

Product A B C
Price
Quality
Durability
Accessibility
Ease of Use
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4. Develop your USP

If you learn anything in this chapter, pay attention
to this step! You must develop a differentiation
strategy that clearly reveals your product’s point of
difference. Your unique selling proposition (USP)
showcases your product’s uniqueness.
5. Create a Marketing Plan that clearly

communicates your point of difference
The final step is to create an overall marketing
plan, including advertising and promotional activity,
that is in alignment with your product’s point of
difference.
Note: Post-launch, you add an additional step of

measuring and evaluating your product’s position.
To simplify the positioning concept, I always ask an

inventor, product developer, or company executive
(brand), the following two questions:
1. In the mind of the consumer, is the product

perceived as belonging in Walmart®, Macy’s®,
or Nordstrom®? The idea here is how does the
customer perceive your product? Low Price,
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Low Quality? Mid-Tier Price, Mid-Level

Quality? High Price, High Quality?
2. Where would a woman say she would find your
product? Why a woman? Because women in
the United States either purchase or influence
the purchase of 67% of all products being
bought. As consumers become more globally
homogenous, this kind of thinking will prevail.
Of course, culturally, there are countries where
this doesn’t hold true.
Don’t complicate the positioning topic. Most

importantly, create a point of difference (Unique
Selling Proposition) and through marketing research,
find out if your perception of where your product
should sell is in sync with your intended target
market.
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In Summary
Make sure your product is One of the most crucial

properly positioned in the parts of the positioning
mind of your target market. concept is the development
When it comes to of your Unique Selling
positioning, be sure to Proposition (USP).
always keep your target Remember to ask your
market’s needs, wants, and Target Market whether they
desires at the forefront of perceive your product to be
everything you do. low price/low quality, mid-
price/mid-quality, or high
price/high quality.
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Part 2
The Post Launch Phase

The Post Launch Phase is equally as important as the pre-launch
phase. The key to the
post-launch phase is driven by five tasks:
1. Constantly attempting to outwit the competition.
2. Testing, testing, and more testing of various price points,
social media promotions, and advertising to see what works.
3. Monitoring of your results and obsessively tweaking
everything to ensure your product is properly priced, properly
positioned, and continuingly competitive.
4. Constantly gathering customer feedback to enhance your
product over time. Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn, once
said, “If you aren’t disappointed in the first version of your
product, you’ve launched too late.”
5. Deciding early on what additional product(s) you may want to
launch sometime after your first invention has entered the
marketplace. You may even want to consider “knocking-yourself-
off” by developing a lower cost version of your preliminary
product to ward off global imitators.
DR. TONY VERCILLO
Chapter 7
Assessing the Competitive
Landscape
Competition, competition, competition. It makes

the world go ‘round. The topic of competition is the
thing I hear the most complaints about from
entrepreneurs, inventors, or product developers. This
chapter will arm you with an arsenal of tools to
combat the competition and deal with the never-
ending saga of global copycats. Although competition
is here to stay and will always cause product
marketers major headaches, you will find in this
chapter numerous ideas that will keep you ahead of
the pack. The key to assessing the competitive
landscape is an obsessive amount of work. By work, I
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mean:
Understanding who is the competition

1. Constantly evaluating the competition
2. Making competitive moves to continually
outmaneuver the competition
For example, about five years ago, I decided to

launch a new energy product. Upon assessing the
competitive landscape, I realized that there were more
than 175 energy-related products on the market.
Although I knew the category was lucrative, I also
understood that trying to compete against 175
products would be a daunting task.
So, did I give up? No, I decided to dig deeper into

the competitive landscape. The first order of business
was understanding who my competition was and what
did they have to offer? I hired two interns from the
university, and we got to work.
I sent the interns out to big-box retailers, gas

stations, convenience stores, and health stores to
purchase every energy product they could find. I
specifically directed them to buy all types of energy
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products, in every size, shape, and color. The next step

was to literally dump the products they had purchased
all over our conference room table. There were 14
brands, six different sizes, an array of packaging
colors, and price points that were all over the place.
The interns then painstakingly put together
spreadsheets that revealed each product’s ingredients,
packaging color, perceived taste, price point (most
importantly, cost per ounce), and unique selling
proposition.
The final step was to create a new energy product

that had the best of everything. Through assessing the
marketplace rivalry, we ended up creating an energy
gum that had the best ingredients, a superior offering,
and a highly competitive price point. Upon launching
the product, we paid strict attention to what the
competition was doing with price points, advertising,
promotions, etc. Two years later, we were in 150 retail
outlets and eventually ended up selling out to a large
competitor.
An example of outwitting the competition is what

my family did after launching a new restaurant in
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New York. Again, we hired interns. This time the

interns were paid-to-go-out-to-eat! Every week we
sent the interns out to restaurants in the surrounding
area to experience dining at another establishment.
The catch? The interns had to come back with weekly
competitive intelligence. Did any of the restaurants
change prices? Did any add a new entree? How were
the restaurants using social media? This information
was used to outsmart the competition each and every
week.
The moral of the story? Keep your eye on the

competition and never take your foot off the gas
pedal.
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Competition can be both a friend and an enemy. It is a

friend in thatcompetition forces you to stay on topof
market conditions. It can be your worst enemy,
however, if you do not strive tooutsmart each
competitor on a weekly basis.
Know exactly how your competition is using social
media and other forms of advertising and promotion.
Watch out for BOGOs (buy one, get one free) and other
price concessions being offered by the competition.
Always be mindful of global competition, as usually
foreign countries can drastically lower the price point of
a product in order to gain market share.
Consider “knocking-yourself-off” by creating a lower
priced version of your original product.
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Steps to Assessing the Competitive

Landscape
To properly assess the competitive landscape, there
are several high-level steps you should take,
including:
1. Setting goals for share of market, sales in units

and dollars, and overall profit. This should be
part of your business and marketing launch
plan. From my perspective, if I cannot make
15% pre-tax on any business venture, I move on
to a different opportunity.
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2. Identify your major (top ten) competitors. To

find out who your competitors are, you can run
a Google® search (including what’s trending on
Google Trends), use SimilarWeb (for website
traffic and metrics), and talk to your focus
group members as outlined in Chapter 4. After
uncovering your competition, segment them
into Primary (direct), Secondary (a competitor
offering either a lower cost version of your
product or who competes in a completely
different target market,) and Tertiary
competitors (companies offering products
related to yours).
3. Review competitive products, including exactly
what is being offered to the customer, how the
competition is presenting themselves to the
target market, the price point, their online
presence, and the perceived brand awareness
(by monitoring social media). It is important
during this step that you capture your
competitor’s entire digital footprint (content,
social media, news mentions, reviews, etc.).
You should also narrow down the competition
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to the top three major products you feel may

impinge on your progress. With these three
competitors, perform a deep-dive look at who
they are as shown in the table below:
Competitive Assessment
Category Comp 1 Comp 2 Comp 3
Year Founded
Annual Sales
# Employees
Estimated # of
Customers
# of Competitive
Products
Price Point
Unique Selling
Feature(s)
4. Research each product’s usability,
functionality, design, and attributes/benefits.
During this step, you should refer to the
previous chapters that cover SWOTT Analysis
and the development of an attributes matrix.
5. Compare your product’s value proposition
(unique selling feature) against the
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competition. You must make 100% sure to

create a point of difference or differentiation
strategy that makes your product stand out.
The whole purpose of conducting this kind of

analysis is to eventually act on the competitive
intelligence you gather to improve your overall
marketing strategy. What you are attempting to do
here is close the competitive gaps that exist between
your complete product offering and those of your
major competitors. It is always important to
remember that globalization has caused hyper-
competition that requires you to create a sustainable
competitive advantage in order to survive.
A Word about Knockoffs and Imitators

Invariably you will face the issue of knockoffs and
imitators (copycats). Ten years ago, it would take 12
months before you would get knocked-off. Due to
social media influence and the internet at large,
knockoffs now occur after just a few months. Keep in
mind that our intellectual property laws do not fully
protect you outside the United States. So, what should
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you do? There are a few ways to ward off imitators,

including:
1. Knock yourself off by introducing a lower-

priced version of your original product a few
months after your initial launch.
2. You can apply for Intellectual Property
protection in a few foreign countries. The
problem with this is twofold; first, it can be
very expensive, and second, they still might
knock you off since suing for infringement is
time-consuming and costly.
3. You can contact US Customs and attempt to
stop incoming copycats at the border by
proving you own the domestic intellectual
property.
4. You can advertise, “Don’t be fooled by
imitators.” This is where you stress the quality
of your product, particularly if it is
manufactured in the USA.
5. You can promote, Made in the USA. Be careful
here as this tactic doesn’t have the cache it did
many years ago.
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In Summary
Spending as much as 25% Brand recognition and
of your time on awareness play an
outsmarting your essential role in why
competition is critical to consumers choose Brand
long-term success. A over Brand B. Rather
Knockoffs are inevitable. than worrying about the
Do not waste any energy competition, create a buzz
stressing over imitators or about your product that
copycats. Spend your time causes consumers to
proving to consumers that gravitate toward your
your product is superior. product.
Remember, competition
can be your best friend or
your worst enemy.
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Chapter 8
Securing Funding
 Learn the Pros and Cons of

using OPM (other people’s money)
 Learn the proper way to pitch

investors
 Learn “where” to FIND the MONEY

YOU NEED
Picture this. I am in New York City in March and

there is a snowstorm brewing. I have a meeting with a
group of Angel Investors about the restaurant my
family is opening. I flew from Los Angeles on a red-
eye and was exhausted and bleary-eyed. We were
trying to raise an additional $500,000.
There I was, all decked out in a suit, anxiously

awaiting our 1 pm meeting. Keep in mind that I spent
two days putting together the presentation, then 5.5
hours on a plane and another two hours to get into
Manhattan. The time finally comes for the meeting
and I am excited, yet nervous. I start the presentation
with my elevator pitch:
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We are looking for $500,000 for a unique

Mexican-Italian fusion restaurant in New York. The
concept is unique, and the exit strategy is to grow the
restaurant to $3 million in sales by year three, then
sell it to a large restaurateur. We are paying 6%
annual interest on the investment plus a 10% equity
stake.
I then started to proceed with the actual

presentation. The most senior investor stops me,
asking the following questions:
1. What makes this restaurant unique?

2. What can you tell me about the management
team?
3. Can you give me any key metrics you will
measure to ensure you hit your sales and profit
plan?
I answered the three questions quite thoroughly

and then waited for a response. Again, the senior
investor pipes up and states, “I have seen enough, Dr.
Vercillo. Get us your bank routing number and
account information and we will wire the money
within 48 hours.”
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Are you kidding? I never even got to go through the

presentation. I was expecting a two-hour meeting, but
instead was only in the meeting room 30 minutes. The
reason? The elevator pitch was right on point and I
had rehearsed the answers to more than 20 questions
just in case (including the three he asked me).
If you want to learn exactly how to pitch any

investor, watch an episode of Shark Tank. Each
entrepreneur starts with a similar elevator pitch,
telling the investors succinctly what they have, what
they want, and what they are offering the investors in
return.
The key to securing funding is having some “skin”

in the game. Investors want to see a working
prototype (not a drawing), a mock website, and
sample social media pages. They also want to see you
have the inventory teed-up and ready to go at a
manufacturer. In addition, they want to see that you
own the intellectual property such as the trademark
and/or patent.
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Steps to Securing Funding

In order to secure funding, there are a number of
steps you need to take to make potential investors feel
comfortable that you have truly thought the project
through from concept to the store shelf. People who
invest their hard-earned money into an unknown and
untested product want to feel confident that the
inventor/entrepreneur has a full command of the
product potential, the target market, the competition,
and the pricing. They also want to know you have very
carefully considered the long-term exit strategy.
In order to secure funding, it’s important to

following this prescription for success:
Develop a Solid Business Plan

The business plan should include:
a. Executive Summary
b. Vision/Mission & Key Objectives/Initiatives
c. Product Description, Key Attributes, & USP
d. Target Market and Positioning
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e. The Competitive Landscape

f. Pricing Strategy
g. Advertising/Promotional Plan & Calendar
h. 3 Year Sales and Profit Outlook (Financials)
i. Start-Up Expenses and Capitalization
j. Operational Plan
k. Risks (Product/Industry/General Risks)
l. Exit Strategy
m. Management Team and Structure
Develop and Perfect your Elevator Pitch

I cannot impress upon you enough the importance
of a sound, less-than-30-second elevator pitch. I have
often said, “If an inventor cannot tell me in 4-5
sentences why I should invest in their project, I will
move onto something else.”
Your elevator pitch needs to be short and to the

point. An example of a good elevator pitch is the one I
used for my consulting services:
“I help companies like yours increase their

marketing ROI by at least 20% while decreasing
supply chain expenses as much as 15% at the same
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time. If I do not do either of these things, do not pay

me.”
Do not be verbose here and absolutely do not try to

tell them everything in a paragraph. Consider the
elevator pitch the teaser. It should whet the investor’s
appetite and cause him or her to yearn for more
information.
Gather Focus and Customer Test Group

information that can be revealed to Potential
Investors
Investors love hearing about what was said during
focus groups and really enjoy hearing testimonials,
great reviews, and mentions from influencers and
existing customers. For example, I once gave out more
than 1000 samples of one of my products and was
able to tell an investor group that 78% of those who
were given samples liked the taste of the product and
67% stated they would buy the product if priced
correctly. On another occasion, I was able to show
potential investors pictures of some well-known
celebrities showcasing my product. Investors love
statistics, so bury them in percentages of great
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reviews, number of influencer mentions, ratings of 4

out of 5, etc.
Have Skin in the Game

As mentioned earlier, investors want to know you
will share in the risk. It is usually best to show
potential investors that you have put a decent amount
of money into the project. When you attempt to raise
money, it goes over really well when you are able to
say, I have already invested $50,000 into this
project. On three of my projects from years ago, here’s
what my initial investment was versus the ultimate
amount of funds that went into each project (the
balance raised through investors or partnership):
My Investment Total Funding

Product
Snore Free Now $75,000 $250,000
Eggstractor $85,000 $350,000
Knockout Hockey $80,000 $150,000
This doesn’t mean that you need to necessarily

invest $75,000-$85,000 in order to successfully
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launch a product. What I am telling you is that most

investors want you to share in the risk and show you
are serious about your project.
If you are willing to go into debt or use your

retirement money, or whatever, for your project, more
investors will take you seriously. I have seen inventors
launch products with $10,000 and some with millions
of dollars. For perspective, it usually takes about
$250,000 to successfully launch a product. On a mass
market product that is going global, the total
investment will surely be in the millions.
Develop a Killer Pitch Deck

An investor pitch deck is not your business plan.
Yes, certain aspects of your business plan will be
embedded within the pitch deck. A pitch deck
capsulizes your business plan and uses sound bites to
summarize your project. A great investor’s pitch deck
will make a world of a difference in whether or not
you can raise money.
Must Have’s in your Pitch Deck:
 Executive Summary & Elevator Pitch
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 Investment and Use of Funds

 Value Proposition and Unique Selling Feature
 Definition of the Problem you are Solving
 Proposed Solution (your product, of course)
 Target Market and Product Positioning
 The Competitive Landscape
 Revenue and Business Model (online/retail)
 Traction (how many sold/expect to sell)
 Marketing Plan
 Management Team
 Financials – three years (Sales/Profit)
 Exit Strategy
Here are two sample pitch deck agendas (from

actual investor presentations) that will show you some
real-world applications of this critical step to securing
funds:
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Every presentation is slightly different as investors

will often tell you exactly what they are looking for in
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a pitch deck. Some investors want gory amounts of

detail while others want a 30,000-foot look at your
project. Don’t hesitate here; ask potential investors
how much they want to see.
Get a Great Attorney

After you get an investor on the hook, it is time to
get yourself a good attorney. Find an attorney who can
assist with the following:
-- Contract Law (to review the investor agreement)
-- Intellectual Property Law
-- Labeling Law
-- E-Commerce Law
This may require two attorneys as you ultimately

want to protect everything about your project.
Investors will expect this for sure. You eventually
want an attorney to review all the wording on your
packaging, website, social media promotions (if a
contest), and all your product claims. For perspective,
you cannot make a medical claim or even an implied
one without FDA oversite.
The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) will also
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watch for embellished claims or false advertising.

Therefore, it is always better to have a professional
look over your shoulder before you go to market.
These steps will ensure you have a pretty good chance
at raising funds for your projects.
Securing funding is the most difficultpart of launching a

product. Just priorto starting a presentation, I had
oneskeptical investor say to me, “Dr. Vercillo,if this is not
a cure for cancer, we are probablynot going to be
interested.”
Investors are looking for sure things -- guarantees,

assurances, and figuratively speaking, your blood.
Ask yourself the question, what would I need to be
shown to convince myself this product is a winner?
What return on investment do you demand from the
stock market, real estate, etc.?208
Whatever that number is,
double it as that’s what investors will want from you.
DR. TONY VERCILLO
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The Best Sources for Funding

There are a variety of sources available to raise
funds. You need to be persistent, willing to accept
rejection, and exude confidence throughout the entire
money-raising process. Investors will see right
through you if you show any sign of weakness or
hesitation.
It is crucial that you anticipate every possible

question an investor might ask you during the funding
presentation. I usually have a list of questions and
answers with me that I anticipated investors might
ask me. I have them at the end of the presentation and
will only show them if I sense there is going to be a lot
of questions or I sense any doubt in the room.
The sources to secure funding include:
Invest Yourself (investors like this)
Family and Friends (be careful)
Credit Cards (usually not a good idea)
Social Media Requests
Angel Investors (apply to local groups)
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DR. TONY VERCILLO
Venture Capital Firms
SBA Loan
Request a Small Business Grant (grants.gov)
Traditional Bank Loan or Line of Credit
Crowdfunding (i.e., Kickstarter®)
Join an Incubator or Accelerator Group
Barter Service or Equity for Funding
Negotiate an Advance from a Strategic Partner
Note: Sometimes retailers and/or transactional

television companies like QVC® invest in small
entrepreneurs who have a great mass-appeal and
unique product.
The Problem with Partners

Eighty percent of the sources to secure funding are
dependent upon people. For example, borrowing
money from friends or family; I want to throw out a
big caution here. Have you ever heard the adage, “Too
many cooks spoil the broth?” When it comes to
launching a product, having too many partners is
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definitely challenging and something that should be

avoided.
The best kind of partner is a silent one. They just

invest in your project and stay out of your way. What
you are trying to avoid is having an investor meddle in
day-to-day stuff. You don’t want to be dealing with,
“My brother’s girlfriend told me that her daughter
said we should color the packaging yellow.” Simply
stated, all of a sudden, they think they know your
business.
Another reason to avoid partners is that 50 percent

end up in divorce. That’s right. Half the partnerships
end up either in a dispute or filing a lawsuit. So be
careful when choosing your investor. Make 100
percent sure you have a formal understanding of who
is responsible for what. The reasons why partnerships
experience problems include:
 Pressure for the agreed-upon return

 They experience hardship and try to exit early
 Operational and creative control disputes
 Personality conflicts
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 Disagreement about the future
In Summary
Securing funding requires Be sure to anticipate the
tenacity, persistence, and questions an investor may
confidence. have and practice
Your elevator pitch is answering them. Investors
essential, so practice it look for someone who is in
repeatedly until it’s perfect. total control of the room and
An excellent pitch deck that fully prepared to answer any
reveals your product’s point question thrown at them.
of difference, uniqueness, Remember, you may
and “gotta-have-it” reasons experience ten rejections
is crucial to success. before you get an investor
to say yes. This is normal.
Many of the best literary
works and movies were
rejected at first.
Compare your
Value Proposition
against the
Competition
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Chapter 9
Designing and Manufacturing
Your Product
IN THIS CHAPTER
 Learn all about product design

and development
 The importance of using a formal
design and development process
 Steps to take to ensure product
design success
 Dealing with overseas suppliers
Once you have analyzed the market, assessed the

competitive landscape, and secured a viable means of
funding, you are ready to transition into the product
design and development phase. The basis of
manufacturing a product stems from market research
that identifies the need for a specific product or solves
a particular problem.
Design lies at the core of innovation. When we talk

about product design, it is not about how aesthetically
appealing or stylish your product is, but instead is an
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all-encompassing concept that considers several facets

of product development. It is a multi-disciplinary
approach that includes all the operational activities
that take place during the physical manufacturing of a
product. You have reached the product design stage
only after thorough research and refinement of your
concept. It is only then that you are ready to establish
a firm footing and carve out a niche for your idea.
A product will only get the label of being “well

designed” if it fulfils all the prerequisites and
demands of the consumer market. Product design is
about taking an idea and meticulously working with
suppliers to design a concept to the exact
specifications as defined by customer needs and
desires.
When designing a new product, different solutions

from various aspects are grouped to embody one
single solution that will meet the needs of the target
market. Product design either involves adopting novel
ideas and working on a completely new product or
suggesting improvements to an existing design
through value addition or refinement. This could be in
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the form of enhancement to the appeal, performance,

or functionality of the product. Product design
primarily deals with introducing changes to concepts
and functions and may not necessarily involve
adopting new technologies to develop a breakthrough
product. Product design and development are
inextricably linked as product development can be
aptly grouped as those activities that are essential for
the conception and commercialization of the product.
It encompasses everything between the time when

market need and opportunity are identified all the
way to where the product is in the client or end-user’s
hands. To be more precise, product development
categorically takes up a market opportunity and
transforms it into a tangible product or intangible
service for sale (Krishnan and Ulrich, 2001).
What is the Product Design Process?

Managing a major product from idea to the
engineering phase is quite difficult for most
entrepreneurs. In today's tech-savvy and socially
conscious world, modern technology is equivalent to a
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complex social enterprise. This is because the process

is not only limited to research and development; it
also transitions into marketing, management,
manufacturing, finance, production, and
maintenance. Since so many stakeholders are
interacting on one front, the processes must be
planned with extreme attention to detail with flawless
communication and organization. If you want your
product design to take the market by storm, careful
thought and planning must be put behind the
execution of a systematic process.
The nature of your product determines the product

design process, whether it is tangible or intangible.
Different procedures are combined in various ways to
spearhead innovative solutions. The engineering
production innovation can be driven by a Demand-
pull innovation (Market-pull) or Invention-push
(Technology-push) innovation.
To breathe life into your product concept, you need

to envision your product in a physical form and make
decisions regarding it. Product design and
development go hand in hand. They can lead to
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developing multiple platforms that can help develop

cost-effective solutions and manage complications
during the product design and manufacturing phase.
Next, we will delve into the steps to the product

design and development process.
The Steps to the Design Process

The steps to the product design process include:
1. Idea development based upon customer needs,

wants, and desires. The trick here is asking
yourself the question, If only there was a
product that would/could __________ (fill
in the blank).
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2. Conduct a Feasibility Study, whereby you use

market research to determine whether your
idea has any merit. Focus groups, in-depth
interviews, mall intercept research, and
functionality testing (providing samples to
consumers to use the product) can be used to
better understand the target market and its
response to your product.
3. Develop a preliminary product concept and
marketing strategy based upon the results of
the feasibility study. The end game here is a
crude drawing or simplistic prototype.
4. Design and development is where you carefully
choose a manufacturer and provide the product
specifications in an attempt to get your
preliminary sample. Upon receiving your
sample/manufacturer’s prototype, be sure to
echo the old adage made famous by the
founder of LinkedIn, Reid Hoffman, “If you
are not embarrassed by the first version of
your product, you probably launched too
late.” Meaning, don’t stress about getting the
preliminary version of your product to the
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marketplace. You are better off having first-

mover advantage than wait too long and have
three other products enter the space. Then, by
using constant customer feedback, you can
revise your product and introduce an enhanced
version.
5. Production and Refinement. After considerable
research and consumer feedback, you are ready
for production. The best way to accomplish this
is to visit the manufacturer’s facility and meet
with the engineers prior to the final design.
This is particularly important when using a
foreign manufacturer. Do not be penny wise
and pound foolish here. Spend the time and
money to meet with your supplier to make sure
they get it right.
6. Product Launch and Commercialization.
Finally, you are ready to take your idea to the
marketplace. Through continuous
improvement and constant customer feedback,
you should never stop improving your product
or adding to your product line. When I
launched Snorefree Now, I started with the
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“street” version which then led to Snorefree

Now Pro, which eventually led to Snorefree On
the Go.
When embarking on the product design and development process,

ask yourself some basic questions that will help you clarify your plan:
What purpose does my product serve?
Will the product I develop be reliable enough?
Will my product be able to withstand consumer wear and tear?
Is it possible to manufacture the product economically?
What is the expected quality of the product? Do I want to be
high-quality and high-priced, middle-tier quality and middle-tier
priced, or low-quality and low-priced?
Which raw material would be most needed and crucial for
the development process?
Should I manufacture in the USA or overseas?

The Design and Development Process
The product design and development phase is a
deliberate business process that involves strategic
decisions that need sound knowledge and proper tools
to be implemented. The product
a development process
is pivotal in determining the success of the product as
much as the product characteristic themselves. This is
also alternatively called “the industrial design,” where
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decisions are taken regarding:
 Relative priority of development objectives

 Timing and sequence of development
objectives
 Project milestones and prototypes
 Coordination mechanism amongst team
members
 Methods to monitor and control the project
The decision-making process doesn't end with a

single decision, but is an iterative one that involves
optimally converting resources into a finished product
that meets organizational objectives. It is an
engineering process that consists of a series of steps,
starting from product conceptualization to
distribution. The product design and development
steps stretch across the continuum and vary
drastically from one business to another, depending
on its nature and size.
Analysis of Market and Customer Needs

Customer satisfaction is the end goal of every
product. Making customers happy is only possible
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when you have effectively captured, analyzed, and

understood the customer's true requirements. When
designing a product, it is of utmost importance that
customer requirements are placed at the core of the
product design and development process as it is the
ultimate determinant of success. Customers indirectly
dictate the design process in that the final goal is to
meet their needs. These can be multiple as well as
complex in nature and, at times, quite specific as well.
Market trends and customers will set the trajectory of
your product, so to be successful, you will need to stay
abreast of trends throughout your product’s life.
The concept of the 'market-led' process operates on

the fundamental understanding that customer needs
are inevitably transformed into a product that can be
sold in the market to make a profit. Customer needs
vary based upon differed factors, including:
 Environmental conditions
 Geographical boundaries
 Financial strength
 Lifestyle, culture, and the availability of
resources
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The concept and design team ensure that proper

market research is done to analyze and collect
information about the existing market and relevant
products. What need will you fulfill, or problem will
you solve with your new product?
Generation of Product Concept

Before you delve into the product design and
development, you need to test your concept for
commercial viability, salability, and sustainability.
When we talk about an idea or a concept, we are
standing at the early stages of a product in its infancy
stage.
If an idea passes all the tests, it is ready to be

developed into a full-fledged product. The idea or
concept that fulfils the maximum number of
requirements in a well-rounded manner is selected
when the idea goes through concept generation.
Concept development is an embodiment of various
product features and characteristics.
Why do marketing experts recommend concept

generation and selection as the bedrock for a
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product’s success? When you have gone through these

two stages, you can process it into a final developed
product faster and cheaper, and any changes can be
incorporated. Furthermore, if you are working on a
large-scale product, there are large costs associated
with the designing stage and returning to the concept
stage for any reason whatsoever is just going to be a
waste of resources and is something which is not
desired at all.
Product Design Specifications

The planning phase or the initial phase of the
design process is when the product design
specification document is drafted. It is to be noted
that this document draws from customer needs as
they are the ones leading the design. The document
elaborates on salient product features and customer
needs that the product will address or the problems
that it will solve.
The 'product design specification' document

records and keeps track of all the information that the
design team needs to develop the product. The
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specifications also outline or consider technical

parameters and marketing-related attributes.
The marketing parameters include:
- Potential customer base

- Market constraints on the product
- Anticipated product competition
- The target cost of the product
- Target production volume
- Market share expectations
- The expected product distribution channels
Technical parameters include:

- Expected product quality standards and
requirements
- Product size and weight (be sure to meet with
retailers before finalizing this; in addition,
consider the global marketplace as other
countries may have a different set of
requirements)
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- Product aesthetics and ergonomics

requirements
- Product performance requirements (product
life, service life, power requirements)
- Material requirements
- Expected product reliability
- Product safety requirements
- Product service environment requirements
- Manufacturing process requirements and
limitations
- Maintenance requirements
- Product recycling potential
- Expected disposal
When in the design phase, a company is exposed to

a multitude of risks. The firm should have the capacity
to place these risks under specific categories to tackle
them properly, such as schedule, budget, or market.
Technical risks are related to the uncertainty of
whether the product will meet its design and
functional specifications.
However, market risks include gauging whether the
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product specifications are in line with customer needs

or desires. This follows that a technically sound
product can fail in the marketplace if it does not
address customer needs head-on. Hence, the product
design specification document sets the parameters in
black and white against which the product is to be
designed. In no way does this impact the design
solution. The product design specification document
highlights all the parameters along which the product
needs to be developed. Since the design process is an
ever-evolving one, the document also keeps getting
updated as more information is acquired regarding
the product or service, whichever is being offered.
A final note about this -- in my 30 years of

marketing products, I have seen many good products
fail and many lousy products succeed. Make sure you
do not spend all your money on product design and
development, leaving yourself short on funds for
marketing and promotion.
Design for Manufacturing

All the effort and energy invested in ideation and
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concept development would be meaningless if you

cannot arrange for the means to produce it. An
understanding of the design, raw materials, and
budget is essential to get down to manufacturing your
product. For the majority of businesses, turning a
virtual idea or a prototype into something tangible
requires a proper infrastructure or a framework to
implement the idea. The ultimate goal is to design a
product that is economically produced. But, when
attempting to reduce costs, it should also be kept in
mind that the product is of optimum quality and has
the least environmental impact during the production
process.
Dealing with China and other Foreign

Suppliers
If you decide to go overseas with your
manufacturing, be super careful and do a thorough
analysis of the pros and cons of such a move. Sure, by
manufacturing in China, you will likely reduce the
overall cost associated with producing your product.
That being said, it is important to also include in your
decision the following factors:
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 The difference in quality, as measured by

defects per thousand units
 The minimum order quantity difference /
requirement between countries
 The impact that lead time has on inventory
levels (may take six weeks to get your product
delivered from a foreign country, therefore
more inventory must be ordered).
 The down payment required and overall
payment terms
 The cost of samples
 The cost of design changes
 The foreign exchange rate
Concept and Prototype Development

As mentioned earlier in this chapter, before your
product design can be tested and sent out into the
market, you need to develop a sound prototype. It
should be kept in mind that the prototype should
meet the product design specifications laid out in the
previous steps.
To deliver higher on the user experience, you must
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ensure your design process includes prototyping. It is

common knowledge that a prototype is an
experimental model that lays out an idea in a
digestible manner and helps you to test it in the
market before turning it into a full-fledged product. A
prototype always starts with an experimental way of
building the core part of your product. It can be
developed vertically or broadened across the spectrum
as per the results of the prototype tests. Only when the
prototype is finalized can your concept be sent
forward for development. Efficiency dominates the
landscape when it comes to prototyping.
As a key player in your industry, you need to make

sure that you implement 'rapid prototyping.' This
involves prototyping, followed by reviewing, which
involves taking feedback from stakeholders and users
that help develop an in-depth understanding of how
the prototype works.
This is finally followed by refining – which

identifies any areas that need clarification or
refinement. The list of refinements will become a part
of the project scope for your next design iteration. In-
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person focus groups are an excellent way to get

instant feedback from potential customers.
While many people think that the design process

aims to create something awe-inspiring that appeals
to the general public, visual appeal is only the tip of
the iceberg and is much more than what meets the
eye. It's about developing an in-depth understanding
of people's pain points and creating a problem in
tandem with that problem to propose real-life
solutions. Here’s what we have been learning up until
now:
- Understand customer needs, wants, and

desires
- Share the findings with the design team
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- Brainstorm viable solutions

- Test and modify
The product design process is all about leveraging

your most sustainable competencies and capitalizing
on your product's uniqueness.
Apple is an example of one of the most innovative leaders in the technology industry. How
do you think they come up with such legendary and flawless pieces of production that
never fail to awe the customers? Year after year, Apple has managed to send out its
unique prototypes in the market with premium designs that greatly appeal to the end-user.
With its innovative approach and intensive and robust prototype development, Apple has
revolutionized the cell phone market.
"Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works." -- Steve Jobs,
co-founder of Apple, Inc.
A prototype helps you see how practical your idea is

in terms of development and performance and how
the public will welcome it. It demonstrates your
product's position in the PLC (Product Life Cycle) and
makes sure it meets industry standards.
Evaluation and Review

Design evaluation is an iterative process that is
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carried out at intervals along the various stages of the

design process. Its sole purpose is to reevaluate and
tally whether the design solution proposed is in
alignment with the original design objectives. When
evaluating your product development process, you
need to develop a list of customer acceptance criteria.
Design evaluation can help identify both the loopholes
that are like clogs in the system while also bringing
the positive aspects to light where a particular strategy
helped improve the quality of the product drastically.
This stage also involves testing the prototypes with

several iterations to eliminate any operational
inefficiencies or bugs that would undermine the
customer experience. A pilot run of the manufacturing
process is also carried out, and any desirable tweaks
to the original product are made before the product is
finalized.
Besides running the product for performance,

market testing is also carried out to gauge the reaction
and acceptance level of the product by the target
market. Having an idea of the acceptability of the
product in the market helps plan when to launch the
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product and how to test its efficacy. Conclusions can

be logically drawn and should be timely implemented,
and the final product should be made accordingly.
The review process can kick-start anytime the

manufacturers feel there is a gap between the design
and the requirements. Not until the product reaches
its desired and optimum level of functioning can it be
tested and reevaluated. Nevertheless, the last
reassurance should be made just before launching the
product, and all checks should be done beforehand to
ensure the right product is developed and sent
forward.
Launching Your Product

The last stage in the product design and
development process is developing a strategy for a
product launch. In order to successfully set foot in the
market and sustain the product, the customer's voice
needs to be taken into consideration. Customer wants,
needs, and desires should be driving your decision to
launch.
By “listening” to potential customers, you will be in
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a better position to strategically decide what, where,

when, and why to launch. When you have carved out a
clear strategy, a successful launch becomes much
easier, and the product can be managed in the early
stages of its life-cycle. In order to pull off a successful
launch, it is important that all the internal functions
of the business are aligned on one page along with the
external factors. This includes everything from
branding, positioning, quality control, packaging, and
pricing/promotion, to supply chain and distribution.
Having a radically new or novel idea is not enough

to bring and launch the product successfully into the
market. You need to go the extra mile to develop and
polish a product design and development strategy
which takes into account very specific needs.
Designing and manufacturing a product is not a
linear, overnight process but, in fact, is a series of
complex steps intertwined to form a robust design
that is destined to succeed.
Entrepreneurs and companies need to stay ahead

of the curve by making continuous improvements in
design and development and incorporate any changes
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in consumer taste, technology, marketplace trends,

and competition.
A Word about International Product

Life Cycle
Most marketing textbooks tell you that product life
cycle looks like this:
While this still holds true with recognizable

branded products, it is important to know that due to
global competition, knockoffs, and the speed of
technology and information, for new products that are
not easily recognizable, the product life cycle looks
more like this:
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Eighty percent of new products fail, usually in the

first two years. The new PLC (product life cycle) is
shorter and tends to decline more quickly as foreign
competitors enter the market. Social media has
exacerbated this situation such that imitators tend to
come to life within a few months of your product
In Summary
launch. You need to be bigger, better, and faster than
the competition to stay alive in today’s fast-moving
It is important
globalized to understand When designing your product,
marketplace.
what it takes to design a be sure to make your
product properly packaging “pop.” Women often
buy a product based upon how
the packaging looks.
Appreciate the fact that the
business environment is very Be sure to plan your global
competitive, and you need to launch early in the process. It is
stand out from the crowd better to design the product
using a unique product design for the global marketplace
and development strategy. right from the beginning.
Producing your product

Customers’ needs, wants, and overseas isn’t always the best
desires are at the core of the strategy as you must consider
product development many factors before making
process. this crucial decision.
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Chapter 10
Taking Your Product to
Market
IN THIS CHAPTER
 The importance of test marketing
 The criticality of observing the product

in a real-world setting
 The proper way to time your product

launch
 The who, what, when, where, why, and

how of commercialization
The journey from ideation and conception of the

product until the time it is ready to be launched into
the market is a detailed and comprehensive process. It
requires an eye for detail and extensive market
research. The marketer taps into the minds of the
consumers and senses the market dynamics,
alongside keeping a tab on competitors and recent
technological advancements, before taking the
product to the market. Once the product passes the
consumer and functional tests, the next logical step is
'test marketing.'
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Definition
Test-marketing is the stage when the final product

and the marketing program are introduced into
more practical market settings to see results in
real-time.
Test marketing is what equips the marketer with

relevant research and gives them a fair idea of how
their product will be received, handled, used, and
repurchased by the target market. Everything from
positioning through advertisement, pricing, place,
distribution, and budget levels can be tested in a
comprehensive market scenario.
Equipped with insight into how well the product

will be welcomed, marketers can make more precise
sales and profit forecasts. Hence, a good test market
can be a reliable way to get information about the
likelihood of the product succeeding in the market. In
addition, as you learned in Chapter 1, running your
product through the Product Success Filter also helps
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to provide an initial screening of product acceptance.

Every product has a unique product life cycle, and the
amount of test marketing that is required also
depends on the nature of the product and the market.
Test marketing comes with its fair share of costs

and can also be time-consuming, which may give
competitors the upper hand in making their entry into
the market. There are three major scenarios when
most entrepreneurs decide to forego test marketing,
including:
 The cost of developing and reintroducing the

product is quite low.
 The entrepreneur is confident that the product
is bound to do well due to its unique features
and qualities.
 The new product falls under one of the
following categories: minor modifications, line
extensions, or a copy of an already successfully
running product of its competitors.
However, test marketing becomes a lifesaver in

cases where the inventor has doubts about the
reaction on the receiving end, or a large investment is
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made that may lead to substantial financial losses in

case the product fails to engage the audience. Whether
the management decides to go ahead with test
marketing or not is a multi-faceted decision and
requires you to consider factors like the risk and cost
associated with introducing the product in the market
versus the time pressures and testing costs. However,
every company should weigh the pros and cons of
opting for test marketing versus the costs of
committing major marketing blunders.
Test-marketing falls into three broad categories:
1. Standard test markets

2. Controlled test markets
3. Simulated test markets
Standard Test Markets

Under the standard test markets, the company
selects test cities and singles out a small number of
representatives to test their marketing campaigns in
full swing. The feedback is documented through the
distributor and consumer surveys, store audits, and
other product performance measures. The results are
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then used to forecast sales and profits on a national

level. It also helps to categorically identify potential
product problems so that amendments in the
marketing program are made accordingly. However,
standard test markets have a few drawbacks as they
can incur a huge upfront cost and also require
substantial time to be executed and implemented.
The company may also face losses if the testing

proves to be unnecessary. Besides, competitors are
notorious for interfering with the test markets as they
can tamper with the results by unethically cutting
prices in the test location. They also use other unfair
methods, such as using vigorous marketing methods
or buying the test product in bulk.
Furthermore, when the company launches its test

product before going live nationally, competitors get a
sneak peek into what they are about to launch and
devise defensive strategies well beforehand to tackle
the competition. This can, in turn, sabotage the entire
purpose of conducting a standard test market. Despite
these loopholes, the standard test market method is
one of the most commonly used and accepted
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standards for carrying out a market census. With

evolving times, companies are making the shift
towards simulated test marketing methods that have a
quicker turnaround time as well as being cheaper to
conduct.
Controlled Test Markets

Under this framework, research or distribution
firms are hired to keep a list of all the stores that
house new products on their shelves for a set fee. The
company has the discretion to decide the geographical
locations and the number of stores where it desires to
place their products.
The participating stores receive the products from

the research firms, then shelf location, displays, shelf
space, and point-of-purchase promotions are all
specified and pre-decided beforehand. The impact of
these factors is then evaluated on demand from the
sales result derived. As compared to 'standard test
markets,' controlled test markets take far less time
(six months to a year). The primary concern that
companies harbor is that it takes into account only a
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small portion of the population that is not an accurate

representation of the target market or the product's
market. As aforementioned, these test markets expose
the company to a host of risks that render useless the
company's efforts in carrying out a census.
Simulated Test Markets

As the name suggests, 'simulated' shopping
environments are arranged explicitly to carry out a
specific test on a product. A sample of consumers is
selected, and the research firm on behalf of the
company undertakes responsibility. Consumers are
exposed to promotional materials and ads for a range
of products, including the new product under study.
The consumers are also given some money to either

use it to buy those products or keep them for personal
use. It is basically to motivate them to be a part of the
simulation and take part in it wholeheartedly so that
the results are as natural and close to the real markets
as possible. This experiment is either carried out in a
laboratory or an actual store, wherever the setup is
possible.
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The researchers keep a tab on consumer behavior

and their preferences for the new brand and the
competitor's brands as well. The simulation also sheds
some light on how effective the advertising efforts
have been in bringing the new product to limelight
compared to competitor brands that may already have
an established presence in the market.
The researchers shoulder the responsibility of

surveying the customers regarding the factors that
influenced their purchase decisions. Reasons to
choose a specific brand over another are also noted to
draw a comparative analysis.
They are even expected to make a follow-up call to

inquire about customer satisfaction in terms of
product attributes, usage, and whether they have any
intention to repurchase that product. Sophisticated
analytical tools and computer models are used to
project national sales from the data collected.
Simulated test market research has great scope and
can leverage virtual reality to paint a picture, which is
as close to reality and thus eases the marketing
journey for the customer and the marketer. Simulated
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test markets eliminate the loopholes that are present

in the other two models of test markets. They require
a far lesser financial cost, can be successfully run in a
few weeks, and don't expose the product to
competitors. However, the fact that it is carried out in
a simulated environment is not a very fair
representation of the real market and can be
questioned for reliability.
The sample size is extremely small, leading to

compromised results, and hence is often only used as
'pretest' markets. This is a highly inexpensive and fast
method and can be conveniently deployed to assess
the market for a new product quickly. If the 'pretest'
results are extraordinarily positive and strong, you
can consider launching the product directly into the
market without further testing. On the other hand, if
the test results suggest otherwise, the product
development
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team can take charge and either tweak the product

or redesign it, then retest it prior to launching it.
Sales-Wave Research
Another research method to consider is what is
called Sales-Wave Research. The target audience for
this approach is given the product for free and told to
try it. They are then reoffered the product, or the
competitor's product, at slightly reduced prices.
The reoffering is often made several times (referred

to as sales waves), usually three to five times, in an
attempt to observe the consumer psyche and their
preferences when choosing a specific brand over
another. Sales-wave research also attempts to monitor
the influence of certain brand advertisements over
others and the corresponding effect on repeat
purchases.
The biggest plus point of carrying out sales-wave

research is the quick turnaround time and the level of
security attached to this method. You also do not need
to package your product in final form or even
advertise it. In such cases, consumers are preselected,
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thereby making this limited approach safe by keeping

your product “under-the-radar,” thus making this
research easy to control. The sales-wave method is
generally used for “consumer-oriented products.”
Industrial-type products employ a different set of
testing methodologies and tools such as trade shows,
dealer/distributor display rooms, and controlled or
standard test markets that are more effective on a
larger scale.
Commercialization
Before moving forward with commercializing a
product, it is important to make sure you have
completed the following:
1. Run the product through the Product Success

Filter to determine the likelihood that the
product will be accepted.
2. Conduct a few focus groups, both online and
in-person to get some initial reactions to your
product from people who have no emotional
attachment to the outcome.
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3. Meet with some end users, such as retailers, to

determine the product’s package footprint
(size, shape, etc.).
4. Perform a competitive assessment of price to
make sure you are positioning the product
correctly in the mind of the consumer.
5. Send out a bunch of samples of your new
product to influencers to get some additional
feedback.
6. Secure the appropriate intellectual property
such as a trademark, patent, and copyright (of
your website, app, and packaging verbiage).
7. Put up an initial “splash-page” or website and
some preliminary social media pages as
investors like to see that you have invested time
and energy into the project.
8. Develop sales and promotional materials such
as a product sales sheet, an investor pitch deck,
product display, etc.
9. Secure money for advertising and promotion.
Do not make the mistake of spending all the
project funds on the development of the idea.
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10. Research fulfilment, customer service,

merchant accounts, order entry, and the other
supply chain activities to make sure you have
everything covered. You may want to outsource
these functions once the product develops
some traction in the marketplace.
Important
Commercialization is the name of the process that

brings new products and services to the market. If
we are to look at commercialization from a broader
perspective, it entails:
 Production
 Distribution
 Fulfillment
 Marketing and Sales
The decision of 'commercialization' -- that is,

introducing the new product into the market -- is not
a small one. An entrepreneur or a company need to be
aware of the upfront costs and overall funding
required for the product launch. This primarily
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includes having sufficient inventory to accommodate

a successful launch. In addition, as discussed earlier,
set aside enough funds for advertising and marketing.
The production should never lag with demand as a
failure to meet the newly-created demand will leave a
gap, which can be easily filled by an alternate product
from the competitor.
This is especially true when going offshore for your

manufacturing. The inventory requirements must
consider the lead time to get product from the foreign
country, including the time it may sit in US Customs.
Advertising and sales promotion takes a major

chunk of the expenditure associated with the new
product launch. It can serve a revolutionary role in the
success of the product in its initial phase. I had a
Marketing Professor once say to me, “Given enough
advertising and promotional dollars, I could sell
anything.”
When commercializing a product, there are four

major factors to consider when it comes to taking the
product to the market:
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1. Timing – When?
Have you ever paid attention to when new movies
get introduced? Typically, movies headed for theatres
are released surrounding some related event or
holiday season. Products should be launched a similar
way. Weight loss products get launched in January
and then again around May to help consumers “get
their beach body on.” Timing obviously matters the
most when the product is first introduced. The current
economic conditions also need to be kept in mind to
make a successful product launch.
Furthermore, staying on top of your competitor's

launch plans is equally as important so that you can
plan your launch accordingly. In such a situation, you
have three choices:
First Entry: If you are confident enough to make

the first entry before your competitor's product makes
it to the market, you will have "first-mover
advantage." This entails having the upper hand to
select the premium and key distributors and
customers, inevitably benefiting from reputational
leadership. However, the decision of a product launch
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should be run through the mandatory tests to ensure

that they do not fail in the market. This could lead to
tarnishing the product’s reputation in the
marketplace.
Parallel Entry: You can’t always be the bystander

and let the competitor beat you to the punch. That is
when you time your entry into the market in
synchronization with the competitor’s so that you can
gather more market share in the competitive spirit
and get the attention of the relevant audience.
Late Entry: Sometimes, you need to time your
launch strategically to benefit your product and
company in the long run. Letting your competitor
launch first sets the stage for you to launch in an
environment that is already educated by your
competitors. Any fallback or backlash can be
compensated for, since you will be aware of the
market reaction and dynamics beforehand. This
laggard approach is considered risky, so when in
doubt, strive for first-mover advantage whenever you
can.
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2. Place – Where?
Consumers today demand accessibility. They want
to easily find your product no matter how or where
they shop. This dynamic will dictate an early decision
as to precisely where you will distribute your product.
Is your product going to be purchased mainly online?
Will it be in retail and/or convenience stores? And in
which foreign countries will your product be
distributed?
It goes without saying that the place where the

product is launched can make or break the deal. You
must carefully plan the locality, region, and national
or international points where it needs to be launched.
Aiming for domestic or international distribution is
not possible for every product as it requires proper
resources, capital, capacity, and connections to make
such a launch. A properly planned roll-out scheme
needs to be developed early on in the launch phase to
make sure you have done the proper paperwork and
contacted the right foreign authorities to gain access
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to the global marketplace.
Pampers®, a leading disposable diaper brand by P&G, took the

challenge of global expansion very seriously. Previously, whenever
P&G introduced a new product in the U.S. market, it wouldn't be
long before overseas competition would build copycat products and
launch them in their respective local markets before P&G could
take the lead in the global expansion.
3. To Whom?
To get the best response when entering the market,
it is important to target promotional activities and
distribution to groups of customers who are ideally
the 'best prospects.' These prime prospects mainly
consist of people who have previously shown an
interest in the company's product or have been made
a part of earlier research and test marketing. Firms
need to have a stronghold of customer data and
categorically identify first the innovators, followed by
early adopters and then heavy users and opinion
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leaders. Segmenting your population and then

targeting specific groups of people is crucial in getting
the necessary traction and sales. Opinion leaders can
be the source of quality leads as they can spread the
word via 'word-of-mouth' marketing through their
brand advocacy. The ultimate goal is to generate an
active sales pipeline in as little time as possible so that
the sales force is motivated to keep going and attract
more prospects. Creating product demand requires
filling the top of the marketing funnel with Suspects,
Prospects, Buyers, then Customers.
The Marketing Funnel
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4. How?
Without an action plan, a company stands
nowhere! For the new product to perform well in the
chosen markets, it is imperative that the company has
a roll-out plan devised beforehand. This includes
assigning a proper marketing budget for the
marketing mix and other related activities. First
launched in 1998, the premium iMac ® made a re-entry
into the computer PC business after 14 years. It was a
memorable year for Apple computers as the company
staged a glamorous marketing blitz on the launch of
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the new iMac®.
Slogans like "I think, therefore iMac" and "Mental

Floss" started to circulate and gain the audience's
attention. All companies want their product to reach
the market as soon as possible. Hence, many
businesses resort to flexible product development
approaches. The new dynamic framework
incorporates a more tightly knitted approach with
company departments working in close coordination,
bypassing certain stages in the product development
process to save time and make the process as effective
and efficient as possible.
All in all, for a product to be truly viable and able to

make it to the market (commercialization), research
and development (R &D) should vouch for its value-
adding potential, which would mean higher
profitability for the company. Commercialization is
successful when the company can satisfy not only the
customers, but stakeholder needs as well.
Selling new products in the marketplace is not a

piece of cake. A lot of legalities, SOP's (standard
operating procedures) and rules need to be followed
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before the product can earn a strong and reliable

reputation. Trademark registrations, patents, and
other legal measures need to be duly implemented to
protect the business' intellectual rights before the
product actually steps into the market. Manufacturing
is either done in-house or is sub-contracted to third
party vendors, which also forms a crucial part of the
selling process. Retaining your core competencies will
make things better. Promotional efforts are only
natural once the product line is complete and needs to
be launched. The target market needs to be aware of
the product for them to reach out to it.
Gaining product awareness requires some

pre-launch publicity to create a “buzz” about your
product. Online press releases, sample give-aways,
podcasts, online videos, blogs, and social media posts
should do the trick. After your product gets noticed,
you add additional awareness through accessibility in
numerous distribution channels and partnerships
with retailers.
For you to consistently outperform the competition

and make the product launch a huge success, it is
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essential that a clear strategy and an intense amount

of up-front planning be performed. Remember,
“Those who fail to plan, plan to fail.” Successful
product commercialization requires a well-thought-
out plan, a positioning strategy, intense pre-launch
research, and considerable thought about product
accessibility.
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In Summary
When a product passes The purpose of the product

several screening stages of launch phase is to ensure
new-product development, it whether or not the product is
then progresses to the 'test completely ready to be
marketing” phase launched into the global
marketplace.
Test marketing is essential to
gauge the product’s market Commercialization of the
acceptance. product is a big decision; so
putting your best foot
Product commercialization forward is crucial, Remember,
should only be executed after you only have one chance to
doing the requisite research, make a great “first
testing, meeting with end impression.”
users, and gaining some initial
feedback from the target The timing of your product
market launch could be the
difference between success
and failure, therefore,
carefully plan the best time to
enter the market.
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Chapter 11
Advertising and Promoting
your Product
IN THIS CHAPTER
 Learn the four main promotional tools that

create buyer impulse
 Understand the importance of advertising as a
fundamental marketing weapon
 Learn about the nature of social media
advertising and how to make it work.
 Understand the factors that determine the
promotional mix
 Tips for making your content relevant and
interesting
“Promise, large promise, is the soul of an

advertisement.”
-Dr. Johnson (Writer and Lexicographer)
Contemporary marketing is much more than

designing and developing a well-researched product,
pricing it effectively, and making sure it is available to
the right target audience. Communication is the key
for marketers to keep all major stakeholders satisfied.
Effective lines of communication must be established
so that nothing is left to chance. Advertising agencies
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play a pivotal role in developing material such as ads

and campaigns, therefore be sure you hire the right
resource. Direct-marketing specialists develop
databases and keep customers abreast of the recent
developments through telephone, e-mail, and social
media posts.
Likewise, Public Relations firms are used to ensure

you and your company's corporate image is consistent
and uniform across all platforms. As an entrepreneur
and marketer, there are no second thoughts on
whether you should communicate or not, but instead,
it is essential to figure out 'how much' and 'where' to
spend your advertising dollars. Directing your
advertising efforts in the right direction is key to
getting your product or service into the limelight.
In today’s competitive market, a complex

marketing communication system should be
established to stay on top of the tactics and
promotional activities needed to succeed. Not only do
you need to communicate with your consumers, but
also the intermediaries who, in turn, pass on the
message to their consumers and the public. Word-of-
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mouth marketing is the most prominent form of

communication here as consumers tend to discuss
products amongst each other and other public bodies.
In particular, when dealing with a younger audience,
word of mouth, social media, and the use of
influencers are keys to advertising success. A feedback
loop is established, which helps to link all the players
in the market.
The promotion mix, also known as the marketing

communications mix, is an essential part of the
advertising and promotion of your product. It
encapsulates a unique blend of advertising efforts,
personal selling, sales promotion, and public relations
tools to achieve your advertising and marketing
objectives. There are four main promotional tools,
including:
 Advertising: The promotion of one's ideas,

product, or service by an established sponsor in any
paid form of non-personal presentation. Wikipedia
defines advertising as:
“ A marketing communication that employs an

openly sponsored, non-personal message to promote
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or sell a product, service or idea. Sponsors of

advertising are typically businesses wishing to
promote their products or services.”
There are many forms of advertising and today’s

smart marketer tests, tests, and tests again until he or
she gets it to work. In the old days, television and
radio were in vogue. Not anymore. With the failure of
infomercials and two-minute “spot” commercials in
direct marketing, most advertisers have found
themselves delving primarily into social media and
influencer marketing.
In addition, when used in conjunction with social

media, trade shows, billboards, and many other forms
of advertising can be effective. The trick is to test a
variety of advertising platforms and approaches in
order to determine what works for your specific
product. Sometimes just a word change, a small price
change, or an added incentive like a BOGO (buy one,
get one free) can be the difference between failure and
success.
 Personal Selling: Years ago, it was door-to-

door selling. Today it’s about forging a meaningful
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relationship with customers by using category

influencers, product reviews, and celebrity
endorsement to “personally” sell your product. You
need to create a buzz surrounding your product such
that the target market is tweeting, posting, and
blogging about your exciting new product.
 Sales Promotion: This is all about creating a

short-term incentive to cause the consumer to either
sign up for a risk-free trial or an actual purchase.
Sales promotions consists of things such as:
Discount off the base price
Free sample
BOGO’s
Free shipping
Risk free, no hassle returns
Limited time offer

Volume discounts
Loyalty points
Coupon giveaway (discount off next purchase)
Refer a friend rebate
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Contests and giveaways
Price match guarantee
Creating a competition (i.e., name our next

product)
Holiday promotions
I once marketed a product called Classic Fishing

Frontiers, which was a VHS/DVD series of the best
fishing from around the world. To promote the
product, we created a lot of buzz by setting a contest
to “Win a free trip for two to Australia,” with no
purchase necessary, just give us your email address to
enter. Of course, we generated thousands and
thousands of leads directly attributable to this
promotion. When using contests or giveaways, be sure
to get some legal counsel in your respective state as
there are laws you need to abide by in order to make
the contest valid.
 Public relations (PR): PR is the glue that

binds all the elements of the promotional mix as it
entails building long-term, fruitful relationships with
both internal and external stakeholders. This is
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mainly done to garner attention and positive

publicity, build and maintain a credible “corporate
image” and keep any negative associations with the
brand at bay.
A few things to remember when using public

relations:
1. Start early. In fact, start six months prior to

your launch date.
2. Use teasers, such as “coming soon.”
3. Send out digital press releases monthly.
4. Sample, sample, sample.
5. Use a mix of videos, podcasts, blogs, slide show
presentations, etc.
The key here is to bombard the internet with free

content, starting six months prior to the launch, then
on a continuing basis post-launch. Make sure the
content doesn’t hard sell; just use “for more
information, click here.” The content must be ever
changing and relevant in order for this strategy to
work. A PR firm can also be hired to do all the work
for you, but my experience has been, do it yourself.
Hire a master’s degree-level intern to use as arms and
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legs to get the tedious work done -- there is nothing

better than a fired-up entrepreneur lighting up the
internet with excellent content. This doesn’t mean you
should never use a PR firm as I have used a few quite
successfully.
Direct Marketing
Definition
Direct marketing is a means of marketing that

targets consumers directly through various
advertising media, with the intent to solicit a direct
response from the customer.
With the traditional marketing techniques being

rapidly replaced by modern marketing methods, the
last decade has seen a rapid transformation in the way
business owners and entrepreneurs choose to market
their products.
Communication is now more targeted and

audience-specific, as business owners want instant
validation. Today, it is even more important than ever
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to interact with your customers in real-time. An

immediate response helps to understand the human
psyche, consumer behavior, and their buying
decisions in order to better customize future
marketing campaigns. The traditional sales approach,
with door-to-door marketing or in-person marketing,
has been replaced by online means of reaching out to
consumers using social media, telephone, and e-mail.
This is known as direct marketing.
With the deterioration of infomercials and direct

response commercials (personally, I was happy to see
these go by the wayside as 80% of these products were
a joke and didn’t truly deliver on the marketing
promise), direct response marketing took a huge hit
the past 10 years.
However, direct response marketing is now

regaining momentum, as modern marketers have
justifiably called it the fifth element in the
communication mix. As a business owner, you should
know how to capitalize on your personal network and
the power of direct selling. Irrespective of whichever
industry you are operating in -- be it software,
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financial, computers, household appliances, or

clothing -- online forms of direct selling have fast
made it to the market. As a business owner, you need
to be able to match your communication strategy and
marketing offers with the needs of specific, targeted
segments or even individual buyers. This form of
marketing goes beyond the traditional brand and
image building and usually looks for instant
gratification and measurable customer response.
Dell is an apt example of direct marketing. It makes

efforts to establish lines of communication with
consumers through telephone and online. Buyers can
order customized products directly from Dell, which
in turn makes sure that the tailored product reaches
their doorstep.
Nowadays, database technologies and newly found

media channels have enabled the establishment of a
much more sophisticated direct marketing system.
Direct marketers do not only intend to sell their
product or service, but also build long-term customer
relationships to earn their loyalty and get repeat
purchase orders. A successful marketer is one who
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does not only convert his prospect into a consumer,

but also earns their loyalty by making them feel a part
of a greater whole. The whole idea behind direct
marketing is to create an impulse or sense of urgency
in the mind of the consumer so they quickly travel
down the Marketing Funnel using the tried and
proven AIDA (with a twist) Formula:
AIDA =Get their

attentionCreate
ATTENTION interest and
INTERESTD intrigueDevelop
ESIRE
ACTION intense
EVALUATION desireCause action
PURCHASE
Some of the benefits of direct marketing include:
 Online shopping from the comforts of your

home can be highly convenient and hassle-free.
Not only is it timesaving, but it also introduces
serious buyers to a plethora of options. Google
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Adwords®, Facebook®, Instagram®, etc. are

forms of online advertising.
 It helps buyers to make purchase decisions via

comparative analysis and browse through
reviews by previous online shoppers, as well as
online catalogs and portfolios, to make a well-
informed decision.
 Industrial customers and the likes of pharma

reps do not have to schedule time-consuming
meetings with salespeople. They can get real-
time updates on the new products and services
of their interest in the market.
 It’s a win-win situation for direct marketers as

well. Their mailing lists can be very diverse --
from corporate giants to newlywed couples,
new parents, and students. This can help them
customize their marketing messages.
 Individualized communications can help

increase conversions as technology can be
leveraged to gain an insight into consumer
wants, needs, and psyche.
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 Personalized and consistent relationship

building leads to long-term benefits.
Nestle® makes an additional effort to go above and

beyond their marketing message and take their
customers on a personalized journey. Their baby food
division maintains a database of new parents and
consistently sends them tips and actionable advice to
follow for their kids in different life stages. They even
send them six different personalized packages as gifts.
These timed direct marketing efforts bear fruit almost
instantly as they are meant to be availed in that
specific moment, such as on auspicious occasions and
celebrations. Undoubtedly in these times, direct
marketing receives a higher viewership and response
rate. Last, but not least, direct marketing helps
maintain privacy, as competitors do not get to see
your strategy and offers.
 Since direct marketing is customized and

immediate, the messages can be formulated in
the least possible time and also molded as per
the target audience.
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 There's no form of marketing that is more

interactive than direct marketing as it
encourages dialogues between the consumer
and the seller, and messages can be made
consumer-centric.
 Direct marketing is highly non-public, so only

the specific person can derive benefits from it.
One more note about direct marketing is that even

though traditional forms of advertising such as
television and radio are now primarily for heavily
branded products, the likes of Hulu, Netflix, Spotify,
and Pandora are making their advertising marks in
the small-to-mid size range company. In the future, as
television becomes even more interactive and we can
order while watching our favorite show, direct
marketing will take a quantum leap forward in
effectiveness.
The Importance of Social Media

Most marketers use social media as a brand
awareness tool and to embed their product into the
mind of the consumer. As an entrepreneur, it is
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important you don’t get frustrated with the lousy

return on investment that normally accompanies
social media advertising. When using social media as
an advertising tool, be sure to:
 Use a common color scheme across all

platforms (should match website/packaging)
 Post often (three times per day and at least
three times per week)
 Post at the appropriate times (typically 7am,
3pm, and 7pm)
 Post across at least 2-3 platforms
 Develop a slogan that becomes your signature
sign-off (when I owned Styles Make Fights
Apparel®, I used, “What’s your Style?” at the
end of every post)
 Use a social media scheduling platform to ease
the administrative burden
 Track relevant social media statistics such as
followers, re-tweets, views, etc.)
Back to Advertising
Advertising is all about telling a story. It is not
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about embellishing the truth or making false or

misleading statements. That’s what got the
infomercial business into trouble. The main objective
of your advertising needs to be to elicit an emotional
response from the viewing audience. The purpose of
any ad should be to create an impulse in the
consumer, which in turn creates another action such
as logging onto your website to buy your product.
There’s an old saying in advertising that states, “when
in doubt, use a talking animal, a dancing baby, or an
attractive person when creating an ad.”
As mentioned earlier, a single word change, a

different tagline, or an improved image can make a
big difference in response rate. Take these two
sauerkraut ads:
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Source: Go Marketing – S. Bertram Sauerkraut Ad

Version 1
I didn’t like this ad as the tagline, Sides Matter,

didn’t work for me nor did the picture, which
highlighted hot dogs and not sauerkraut. In testing,
the ad would pull very little, and chances are very high
you wouldn’t get a decent return on investment.
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Source: Go Marketing – S. Bertram Sauerkraut Ad

Version 2
The “tweaked” ad highlights the sauerkraut and has
an enticing tagline which highlights the brand. This ad
will pull at three times the rate as ad 1.
Notice how much more enticing the second ad is as

the focus shifted from hot dogs to the actual product
(sauerkraut). The tagline is much improved, and the
imagery is also. The second ad got a significantly
better response than the first ad.
Steps to Advertising and Promotion

The average consumer is exposed to approximately
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7500 ad impressions every day (between 5,000-

10,000). This is a direct result of advertisers looking
for alternative sources of advertising since the
Millennial Generation made it clear they weren’t
going to watch traditional television, listen to
traditional radio, shop from catalogs, or read hard-
copy newspapers. This caused advertisers to seek
other forms of advertising including:
 Video game ads

 Text ads (cell phones)
 Ads before movies and streaming
 Interactive kiosks
 Shopping cart ads
 Hotel and elevator floor ads
To create a sound advertising and promotional

strategy, you will need to follow these important
steps:
1. Develop your products USP (unique selling

proposition) and POD (point of difference).
What is it about your product that makes it
uniquely valuable to your customers? What are
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the major benefits associated with your

product?
2. Clearly identify and segment the target market.
The more narrowly you define the market, the
easier it will be for you to get them to buy
(through more targeted advertising).
3. Develop and carefully define advertising
objectives (market share capture, sales increase,
return on advertising dollars). You should
include a timeframe as part of your objectives.
4. Create your overall advertising image, message,
and approach. How do you want your product to
be perceived by the consumer?
5. Develop your advertising budget – there are
generally three approaches to this; the
affordable method, the competitive method, and
the percentage of sales method. The weakest
method of the three is the affordability method.
This is based solely upon funds available for
advertising. I have seen many products fail due
to the lack of advertising and promotion. Many
entrepreneurs make the mistake of spending all
of their money on product development and
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initial inventory, leaving very little left for

advertising. I have often stated, I can sell
anything to anybody, given enough
advertising money. The competitive method
sets the budget based upon spending
approximately the same amount as your
competition. The percentage of sales method
allocates spending based upon dollars of sales.
Unfortunately, this ranges widely depending
upon the product category (from 6-10%, with a
generally accepted spend of about 7% of
revenue). Service-based companies generally
spend a higher amount, more like 15% of
revenue.
6. Decide on advertising approach and platforms
(Social Media, TV, Radio, Retail, eCommerce).
Approaches include:
- Informative advertising, used to educate
consumers about the attributes and benefits of
a product. This approach is normally used to
announce a new product.
- Persuasive advertising (impulse, sense of
urgency) tries to convince customers that your
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product is the best. It attempts to alter a

consumer’s perception of your product to
ultimately create an impulse to buy.
- Reminder advertising is used to create repeat

business and reminds consumers about the need for
your product. All three advertising approaches are
important and can be used throughout a product’s life
cycle.
7. Develop multiple advertising campaigns and

execute the message. Remember, advertising is
about testing, testing, and more testing. Your ad
campaign should deliver the message you
intended, be consistent with your company
image, and correctly portray your product’s
positioning (cheap, mid-tier, premium priced).
8. Develop key performance metrics to determine
Advertising Return On Investment, which in the
industry is known as the Advertising to Sales
Ratio, or A:S. You should include social media
metrics, too, by tracking the trends in your
views, followers, re-tweets, etc.
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9. Test ad campaigns and tweak the ads

accordingly. Run your ads and keep track of the
results. What did you spend and how much was
created in sales? Be sure to use a coding system
wherever you can (e.g., use code buynow) to
track performance. By tweaking the ad, I mean
making slight changes in an attempt to improve
response. Change the price or the overall offer.
Be sure to change only one variable at a time so
you can realize which change made the
difference.
10. Evaluate ad effectiveness – Here’s where you
keep track of sales, social media impact, etc. by
constantly monitoring your return on
advertising dollars.
11. Develop overall Media Plan – timing, reach,
frequency. As part of your strategy, pay
attention to when you place the ads, the number
of “eyeballs” or reach you can expect, and how
often you are advertising. Keep in mind that
advertising takes repetition. Consumers want to
know you are real and will typically wait for
some time before they commit to buy
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something. For example, radio can often take

10-16 weeks to get a solid ROI.
12.Develop your Media Calendar. A media calendar
lays out all your advertising and promotional
activity for the following 12 months.
Nature of Promotional Tools

Each of the marketing methods uses specific tools
that enable the dissemination of information
practically and cost-effectively. Personal selling makes
use of trade shows and fairs, incentive programs, and
sales presentations to pitch their product or service.
Direct marketing is an amalgamation of
telemarketing, internet, catalogs, and much more.
Sales promotion is done via coupons, discounts,

premiums, point-of-purchase displays, specialty
advertising, and competitions. The marketing and
advertising field is huge and multi-dimensional,
forcing you to decide which strategy and form of
marketing will fit your product or service.
Technological breakthroughs and the rising
popularity of social media has revolutionized the
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marketing landscape. The shift has been mainly

observed from mass communication to a more
focused and targeted form of communication.
Marketers try to indulge in dialogue and create an
immersive, engaging experience.
As a business owner or entrepreneur, you need to

understand the key characteristics that each tool
possesses and how it can be leveraged for the benefit
of both the customer and the seller. Based on their
uniqueness, you can decide which promotion tool to
include in your promotion mix.
Advertising
Since advertising comes in so many forms, it
becomes an uphill battle to generalize the overall
nature of it. However, some of the salient features
include:
 Advertising methods can be used to reach

geographically distant buyers at a cost-effective
rate.
 Advertising is public in nature; hence,

consumers can place their trust and accept the
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product or service. But keep in mind that

younger buyers distrust advertising big-time!
In fact, studies show that 85% of Millennials
and Generation X distrust advertising.
 Advertising makes it possible to reinforce a

brand message and helps it to stand out from
the competition.
 The more effective the advertising method, the

higher the credibility regarding the seller’s
popularity and success.
 Advertising is an art and a science that allows

the business owner to present their product or
service in the best possible light.
 Advertising is an effective way to build a

product image over a long period of time
Similarly, advertising can help increase your
return on investment in the form of quick sales.
Personal Selling
At certain stages of the buying process, personal
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selling is one of the most effective tools. This form of

promotion is most effective in building the
preferences, convictions, and actions of buyers.
Personal selling has quite a few unique features that
differentiate it from advertising, such as:
 Personal interaction between people allows

needs and characteristics to be observed, and
then quick adjustments can be made.
 Personal selling allows a range of relationships

to be established from formal business
relationships to deep, long-term ones that keep
both parties in mind.
 Since personal selling involves customized

marketing messages, the buyer is more
involved even if he/she doesn't intend to buy at
the moment.
However, nothing comes without a price tag. You

need to invest in your sales force to aid your
marketing and personal selling efforts compared to
advertising that addresses the masses. Building a sales
force is a longer-term commitment than advertising
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and can be a substantial financial drain on your

marketing budget. Hence, personal selling is often
resorted to when you do not have a lot of resources.
Sales Promotion
As the name suggests, sales promotions are
exclusive offers and price reductions. This includes
the effective use of tools such as contests, coupons,
and free goods to stand out from the crowd and gain a
competitive edge by displaying some unique
characteristics.
 Sales promotions are attention-seeking magnets

that provide the necessary information to the
customers to mature into a purchase.
 Their primary purpose is to add value to the

customer life cycle by providing incentives to
purchase by giving freebies or other
inducements.
 Sales promotions usually have a timeframe

along with it that creates a sense of urgency.
Unlike the traditional marketing method that
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advertises “buy our product” sales promotions

make the message about “buy it now.”
Sales promotions urge the buyers to give a quick

response and are an effective way to give sagging sales
a boost. They are usually effective for the time being
and do not ask for a long-term commitment from the
buyer. To provide genuine value, you need to polish
your product offering and pair it with a sales
promotion strategy.
Public Relations
The power of public relations cannot be
underestimated as it provides many unique benefits.
It is one of the most effective ways to forge direct
relationships with the target audience and keep
communication open.
 PR helps publicize the product in a real-time

setting as PR events and collaborations are
believable and can convince the reader to buy-
in for the product offering.
 Most people are anti-sales or

anti- advertisements and often avoid highly
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“sales-like” communication. Instead, the PR

message is camouflaged as 'news' rather than a
communication done primarily for the intent of
a sale.
 PR can showcase the product in a highly

dramatic manner -- the same way advertising
does. One such example is The Body Shop®
which uses public relations as a sure-fire way to
get the message across to the masses compared
to traditional forms of advertising.
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To stay on top of your marketing efforts, you need

to equip yourself with the latest technologies and
understand that you need to explore new
communication styles and avenues for reaching a
micro-segment of the population with a more tailored
approach. This shift from mass marketing to
segmented marketing has turned the world of
marketing communications upside down. The recent
trend of one-to-one-marketing is set to spawn a new
generation of highly specialized and micro-targeted
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communication efforts. With the dynamics of the

communication environment changing by leaps and
bounds, it is necessary to rethink the various media
and promotion-mix tools.
Factors That Determine the

Promotional Mix
Marketing and promotional efforts are the lifeblood

of your organization and breathe life into your
product or service. A well-selected promotional mix
includes the following:
 The type of product/market
 Push versus Pull Strategy
 The buyer readiness stage
 Product life cycle
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Type of Product/Market
The effectiveness and importance of different
promotional tools depends on whether the product is
B2B (business to business) or B2C (business to
consumer). If you are a business owner who deals in
consumer goods, expert marketers recommend that
your marketing budget should be in the order of
advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, and
then public relations. Whereas, if you're an industrial
goods dealer, personal selling is most effective,
followed by sales promotion, advertising, and public
relations.
Why is advertising the most effective in consumer

markets? The reason behind it is that many buyers are
available in this market, and the purchases are not
one-time or unique; they are repetitive ones that face
tough competition from similar brands. The decisions
are more emotion-based and influence the purchase-
decision more directly. In the industrial goods market,
however, personal selling reigns supreme as the
market is dominated by a few large sellers and
involves risky and expensive goods. Advertising plays
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an overall important role as it helps build product

awareness, educates the consumers, taps into
lucrative sales leads, and reassures buyers of the
credibility of the seller.
Push versus Pull Strategy

Depending on the nature of your product or service,
you get to decide whether you prefer the ‘push’ or the
‘pull’ strategy. As the name suggests, the push strategy
involves ‘pushing’ the product towards the final
consumer via appropriate distributions channels.
Marketing activities become the responsibility of the
channel members, who carry the product and deliver
it to the final consumers in the most presentable and
palatable way.
The most common types of marketing when using

the push strategy are personal selling and trade
promotion. However, when employing the pull
strategy, the approach is entirely the opposite. Here,
the marketing activities, which are primarily
advertising and consumer promotions, are directed
towards the consumers to convince them to buy the
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product. It’s all about trying to attract the consumer to

your product by publicizing its most salient features
and benefits. It is selling the sizzle, not the steak! If
the pull strategy works, the demand is generated and
the consumer himself takes the initiative to reach out
to channel members to buy the product or service.
Well-established companies make use of a
combination of both to get to their desired sales level.
Lever Brothers® is known to make use of mass-media
advertising to attract consumers towards its products.
They also use trade promotions and a large sales force
to generate sales throughout the marketing channels.
Although sometimes push strategies boost sales,

especially in the packaged-goods industry, companies
that learn to strike a balance between the two kinds of
strategies prove to be the winners. Advertising builds
brand value in the long-run and formulates consumer
preferences. But, sales promotions help to garner
short-run trade support and excite consumers. This,
in turn, gets support and loyalty for satisfied
customers.
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Buyer Readiness Stage

As an entrepreneur or business owner, you must
gauge where your customer lies in the buyer-readiness
stage. While salespeople opt for 'cold calls,'
advertising (coupled with public relations) plays a
leading role in spreading knowledge and awareness
regarding your product or services. Personal selling
affects customer likes and preferences the most,
which in turn is followed by advertising.
Sales promotions and sales calls are most effective

when closing the deal. Advertising and public
relations are the most cost-effective when you need to
get the buyer on your side during the early stages of
the buyer decision process. Since personal selling
comes with its fair share of premium costs, it is best to
keep it for the later stages of the customer buying
process, when the customer is mature enough and on
the final level of the marketing funnel.
Product Life Cycle Stage
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The stage of the product in its life cycle is also of

utmost importance. When the product is in its
introduction stage, advertising and public relations
are the best tools to spread awareness as much as
possible. With added support from sales promotions,
you can get people in for an early trial. Nothing beats
personal selling efforts in persuading the channel
members/trade to carry the product forward.
When considering the growth stage, advertising and

public relations continue to be the most influential as
the product is expected to peak in this stage of the
PLC. Since the product is in high demand at this
point, sales promotion efforts are not needed as much
in this stage. Customers are already motivated to buy
the product and are not waiting for any external
incentives.
When the product reaches the maturity stage, sales

promotions again become more effective than
advertising, because consumers do not need
awareness at this stage. Maturity is the stage where
product demand is flattening. Hence you need to keep
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the customers interested and remind them of your

presence.
The decline stage is the final stage, when advertising

is only done at a bare minimum level to keep a
reminder. Public relations is unnecessary at this stage,
and salespeople prefer to give only a measly amount
of attention. However, sales promotion is one area
where a high amount of attention is required to keep
the customers enticed to buy more.
As a modern and tech-savvy business owner, you

need to learn to move with the times and build an
integrated marketing strategy that takes into account
all the facets and players in the market. As marketers
adopt more fragmented media and promotional mixes
to spread their roots into more diverse markets, you
must stay abreast of all the recent changes in the
marketing world. The growth of online marketing in
the eCommerce space is bound to present a plethora
of challenges and opportunities that the modern-day
entrepreneur and marketers need to be well-prepared
to adopt in order to succeed!
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In Summary
This chapter defines the Direct marketing creates a win-

promotional mix as a blend of win situation for both the
advertising, personal selling, consumer and the business
sales promotions, public owner, including the ease,
relations, and direct marketing convenience, and time-saving
tools. nature of online shopping and
building a customer database
to forge long-term business
These tools in the promotion relationships.
mix are leveraged by business
owners and entrepreneurs to
pursue their advertising and
Certain factors need to be
marketing objectives.
considered in a dynamic
Advertising is both an art and a setting to select the right
science and is all about testing, promotional mix for your
testing, and more testing. product or service. These
include:
The Type of Product/Market
Push vs. Pull Strategy
The Buyer Readiness Stage
Product Life Cycle Stage
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Chapter 12
Marketing Analytics: The Key
to Continued Success
IN THIS CHAPTER
o Learn the definition of marketing analytics

o The dire need for marketing analysis in the
world of social media
o 3 Essential Elements of Marketing Analytics
o Use of Marketing Analytics to Drive Superior

Growth
o 4 Biggest Benefits of Marketing Analytics
o Top 10 Marketing Metrics to Monitor
I often start the first day of my marketing classes

with the saying, “It has never, ever been easier than it
is today to ‘find’ the consumer, but at the same time, it
has also never been more difficult than it is today to
get them to buy something.”
Millennials and Generation X distrust advertising

and marketing so much that they destroyed the
infomercial industry by not buying what was
considered inferior products. They despise all the
hype and advertising embellishments. Today’s
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younger generations don’t watch traditional

television; they stream. They do not listen to
traditional radio; they develop a playlist and listen to
leading music and podcast discovery platforms such
as Pandora®.
They do not shop from catalogs, they do not open

direct mail pieces, and they do not read newspapers
the old-fashioned way. This has forever changed the
course of the field of marketing.
In the contemporary business world, marketing

analytics is one of the buzzwords circulating within
the industry. Marketing analytics is estimated to grow
by approximately 15% by 2022, according to the
Transparency Market Research. Such considerable
growth is expected mainly due to its profound impact
on the activities of marketing organizations.
To further understand the role, scope, and

advantages of marketing analytics, it is vital that we
first establish a strong foundation of this concept.
Defining Marketing Analytics

The strategy, tools, and techniques used to
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measure, manage, and analyze marketing

performance is known as marketing analytics. This is
to maximize the effectiveness of marketing campaigns
and the return on investment (ROI) on advertising
and promotion. When marketers understand
marketing analytics, it helps them realize higher
efficiency, resulting in a reduction in wasted efforts.
The most apparent and immediate outcome of

deploying marketing analytics is the increase in sales
and lead generation, followed by an enlightening
insight into consumer preferences and trends.
Traditional marketing models were all about
spreading awareness to the masses, and the concept of
attribution was not well-known. There was no system
to track down when a particular customer was
attracted to the brand and the origin of that lead.
Whether the customer was obtained through TV or

radio ad, in-store marketing, or word-of-mouth
marketing, the details were often challenging to
record. It was like taking a shot in the dark, and you
would never know the intricacies of the performance
of different marketing channels.
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However, with digital marketing on the rise and it

fast gaining momentum, the go-to source for value-
added information and leads can now be tracked
down and nurtured. You can now gather the
information needed through marketing analytics tools
and find suitable leads to create a foundation for
growing your business. Marketing analytics was a
basic concept in its infant stages until it went on to
encompass the process of gathering data from
multiple resources and evaluating your marketing
efforts through various processes and technologies.
It looked at marketing efforts through a bird’s eye

view, primarily using key business metrics. Whether
your marketing efforts are online or offline, you must
be able to quantify them, and that is what marketing
analytics is all about.
Marketing analytics is all about categorically

breaking down the data, discerning the facts from
opinion, and leveraging more and more data through
various marketing campaigns. This helps bring
specific marketing patterns to the forefront, such as
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the number of conversions after a successful

campaign, regional preferences, consumer behavior,
and creative preferences, to name a few. These
findings and patterns are then utilized to optimize
future campaigns and not repeat the same mistakes.
Definition
Marketing Analytics is the use of various metrics to
categorically measure the performance of marketing
initiatives. Data gathered from different channels and
resources are put together into one holistic view.
Marketing teams use the gathered data to gauge the

effectiveness of their marketing initiatives, identify
the loopholes, and capitalize on opportunities for
improvement.
Marketing analytics creates a win-win situation for

both consumers and marketers. They can leverage the
results of the analyzed data to further their agendas.
Marketers can make use of data to increase their
bottom lines and strike a higher ROI. This is possible
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by analyzing what works for their business and

focusing on enhancing it further. Analytics also allows
marketers to create personalized and customized ads
to specific consumers as per their interests and needs.
Gone are the days when a ‘one-size-fits-all’ strategy
would appeal to the masses and get the necessary
results.
Marketers must narrow down the Key Performance

Indicators (KPI’s) that need to be measured by
studying a certain set of data before analyzing it by
applying various methods and models. For instance,
data used to measure brand awareness would be
considerably different from data that analyzes lead
conversions. Some examples of popular analytics
methods and models include:
 Multi-Touch Attribution (MTA): The use

of attribution models to derive personal level
data from the buyer’s journey.
 Media Mix Models (MMM): Attribution
models are leveraged to take a close look at
aggregate data over a considerable period.
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 Unified Marketing Measurement

(UMM): The amalgamation of various
attribution models to measure the integrated
value of these models. It includes MTA, as well
as paints a more comprehensive engagement
metric picture.
 Artificial Intelligence (AI): The use of
customer data, machine learning and other
computer-driven data to predict a consumer’s
action or inaction. AI will help marketers create
highly customized content for their customers.
The Need for Marketing Analytics

The modern marketing landscape presents a
plethora of challenges that only accurate analytics can
solve. Consumers have a range of options to choose
from, which makes them really picky in their product
and service selections. To garner the ideal buyer’s
attention, marketers must increase their reliance on
the in-depth analysis that marketing analytics
provides.
Targeted personal ads based on specific interests
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further help in delving into the consumer psyche and

studying their patterns and behaviors. It is essential
that marketing teams know how to personalize their
market offerings to nurture leads and move customers
further down the sales funnel. The data gathered from
marketing analytics equips your business with the
right knowledge and insight to make well-informed
decisions regarding product developments, recent
technological breakthroughs, branding, and other
overarching marketing concepts. You should gather
data from both offline and online sources and use this
data to the best of your interests to attain a
fragmented view.
Gone are the days when marketers could solely rely

on intuition to aid their marketing efforts and come
up with the perfect marketing campaign in line with
their initiatives. The approach that marketing
analytics takes is to retain customers for the long haul
and consistently drive revenue. Your customers must
look through your marketing initiatives, and nothing
can do that better than numbers obtained through
analytics.
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When your campaigns can be closely monitored,

and the results measured are displayed and
demonstrated through graphs, your stakeholders and
executives can perform better decision-making.
Storytelling is not enough to get executive-level
decision makers to fall for your marketing gimmicks.
You must show them the numbers to keep them
interested and committed. With the ever-increasing
competition, one of the most viable ways to stand out
from the crowd is to show the value of your work
through real-time data and analytics.
Marketing analytics programs that boast of

superior results benefit you in other ways, allowing
you to observe the following:
 The most recent marketing trends

 Monitor campaigns and trends for a certain
period to predict future results
 Gauge the viability of programs and know the
reason behind their success
 Predict and forecast results
 Understand the ROI that each marketing
campaign offers
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The power of marketing analytics in helping

organizations make stronger and relevant decisions
cannot be denied. Engaging modern-day customers is
a challenging task as it requires a multi-faceted,
holistic approach to get them on the bandwagon.
According to McKinsey & Co., leveraging marketing
analytics helps you in real-time as it “measures
proposals based on strategic return, economic value,
and payback windows.” Marketing analytics helps you
measure your marketing initiatives, then draw out a
comparative analysis to gauge the effectiveness of
your efforts. With the help of analytics, organizations
and business owners can get in the lead to make data-
driven decisions. It allows them to eliminate
operational inefficiencies, and consequently, firms can
save both time and money.
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5 Best Practices to Utilize Marketing Analytics

Ensure high-quality data – The more refined the data, the
more accurate are the results of the analysis. Tools that dig
into both structured and unstructured data is required.
Perfect your dashboard – Concentrate on metrics that do

justice to your goals and measure only those results that are
most important for you.
Get real-time insights – Make sure the information that

you are mining is not out of date and delivers real-time
insights.
Opt for the right analytics visualization – Choose the

most appropriate data visualizations to derive patterns and
data interpretations.
Leverage AI and machine learning to predict and

prescribe – The whole purpose of marketing analytics is to
make accurate predictions, analyze data, and make well-
informed data-driven decisions to facilitate the customer
journey.
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Three Important Elements of

Marketing Analytics
Finding the ‘right’ strategy to implement your
marketing analytics is easier said than done. You
might have invested in a sophisticated dashboard
program, gotten some extraordinary smart analysts
on board, or started working diligently on gathering
piles of data – but to cement it all together, you need
‘meaning.’ Until you can interpret the results and
apply them in real-time, the whole purpose of
implementing marketing analytics may backfire. Any
successful marketing analytics program has three
typical phases:
1) Strategy
2) Analytics
3) Meaning
When we talk about strategy, it primarily concerns

the ideation phase, which is owed to the creative
department and the marketing managers of the
company. The ideas need to be dynamic, disruptive,
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and able to engage customers on a deeper level.
The analytics department consists of all the brains

and data scientists skilled in the art of data mining
and extracting relevant data for analysis. Marketing
tactics and strategies are implemented at this stage to
extract the relevant data for analysis.
That is followed by the process of deriving

meaning, which is the uphill battle in the entire
process. You must have a team that deciphers the
meanings and interprets data as per business needs.
Furthermore, your team should have a futuristic and
predictive approach to suggest the steps that can help
the business establish a firm footing. If the right
meaning is not derived at the right time, the analytical
efforts will be in vain.
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Image source:
http://www.thedata.co/3-important-elements-marketing-
analytics-success/
Use of Marketing Analytics to Drive

Superior Growth
With so many analytical options to choose from,
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companies can feel overwrought and end up

exhausting only one tool. Marketers must realize that
an integrated marketing analytics approach is
fundamental to driving maximum growth.
With the proliferation of digital media and

technological advancements in recent years, business
leaders have better access to analytical tools and
approaches. This has equipped them with headstrong
decision-making power. Advanced analytics have the
viability of ensuring year-after-year growth and
increased marketing return on investment (MROI).
The performance management approach is the

most commonly used method. However, with time,
marketers have realized that a more sophisticated
approach is indeed required. An integrated analytic
approach is expected to free up to 15 to 20% of the
marketing budget.
The Inextricable Link between

Marketing Analytics and Strategy
A strategy anchor is essential for a company to
ground its choice of analytical options. This helps
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businesses avoid wasting their marketing dollars,

based on past campaigns or how a specific product
line previously fared. A more lucrative approach
would be to measure proposals based on their
economic value, strategic return, and payback
window. When you evaluate your options using these
metrics, comparison becomes more meaningful.
Another prerequisite to garner an effective MROI

portfolio is to intricately understand the target
consumer’s buying behavior. With time, consumers
have started taking a different approach to the buying
process. It has rendered the traditional methods of
evaluating consumers redundant. While the funnel
approach previously concentrated on spreading
maximum brand awareness, the recent consumer
decision journey recognizes this process to be far
more dynamic.
Another reason why analytics need to link to

overall company strategy is the impact it will have on
the future, which in turn affects long-term marketing.
Analytics will be used for all kinds of things,
including:
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 Predicting the future of the economy

 Analytics will help to program Artificial
Intelligence
 Organizational Structure will include a Vice
President of Analytics
 Universities will include advanced courses in
Analytics
 Stock portfolios will be data-driven
 Analytics will drive the Global Market,
including currency exchange
 DNA Analytics will make medicine more of a
science than a “practice.”
These factors should put the exclamation point on

the topic of Analytics. Be prepared, as it’s coming fast!
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Example of Using Analytics

A home-appliance company distributed its marketing
budget between display advertising, print, and television
to gain a spot amongst its target consumers in their
consideration set. However, when the consumer
decision journey was analyzed, it was found that:
People looking for home appliances browsed retailer’s
websites
Fewer than 9% visited the manufacturer’s own site
Attention to distributor website content resulted in a 21%
increase in e-commerce sales
Businesses looking to leverage the power of

marketing analytics must realize that consumers no
longer restrict themselves to the one-track, linear
approach when buying products and services.
Consumers perform thorough market research and
comparative analysis before considering anything.
They rely on customer reviews on social media
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platforms, browse various websites, and have

personal reasons behind a purchase. The advent and
growth of social media greatly impacts the modern-
day marketing funnel. Social media has infiltrated all
walks of life. Marketers must embrace this paradigm
shift and target and nurture their potential clients
across these marketing channels that are more
lucrative and use the full-funnel approach to
marketing.
The cross-channel strength is also quite effective

these days, as people are connected in a multi-
pronged way like the spokes of a wheel. One shopping
decision can be tallied across various platforms,
including websites, social media platforms, email, and
social media pins. Managing all these customer
touchpoints is a cumbersome task and requires a
robust, thorough, and sophisticated marketing
analytics system that derives data from all these
points along the purchase journey.
Leveraging marketing analytics the right way at the

right time, enables brands to streamline user
experience and make it as friendly and effective as
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possible. This uniformity of interaction between the

customer and the brand helps develop brand equity
and credibility. Furthermore, data can helps save a lot
of time for tech-savvy marketers, as they can track
customers from the initial discovery phase to the
conversion phase in a hassle-free manner. Insights
can be garnered from click-through rate (CTR) to
website cookies and many other such tools to analyze
what is working for a business and what is not.
An excellent long-term business strategy is one that

ensures that the costs are less than the returns, and
marketing analytics helps you do just that.
Four Biggest Benefits of Marketing

Analytics
Today, business owners need to be tech-savvy,
competitive as marketers, and even great financers. If
you want your business to prosper, you must be able
to analyze the financial impact of your marketing
efforts, as well as everything from your product to
sales and everything in between. Marketing analytics
is an overarching field with many sub-categories
nestled inside of it. Certain metrics need to be
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identified to pair with the objectives that need to be

met. Objectives such as monitoring a trend over time,
increasing ROI, determining the effectiveness of
campaigns, and forecasting future results all work
together. For perspective, the top marketing metrics,
aka Key Performance indicators (KPI’s) that most
companies should monitor include:
 Qualified Leads
 Sales Conversion Rates
 Online Advertising Click Through Rate
 Social Media Engagement (the trends in
followers, retweets, etc.)
 Lifetime Value of a Customer (even if
estimated)
 Return on Advertising Spending (A:S)
 Customer Retention %
 Average Advertising and Promotional Spend
per Customer
 Cost per Order and Cost per Click (for online)
 Customer Acquisition Cost**
** Let’s say you are using online advertising. The ad
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you placed gets 10,000 impressions and has a click-

through rate of 3% (meaning, 3% of those impressions
ended up with someone who clicked through to your
website). Therefore, 300 people went to your website.
But, only 15 people actually bought something,
resulting in a conversion rate of 5%. This indicates it
took 20 clicks to get an order. If your cost per click
was $1, it is costing you $20 in advertising to get one
order.
The four main benefits of effectively implementing

marketing analytics include:
Learn from the Past

As we all know, marketing analytics is a game of
numbers and trends. Marketers study trends over
several years. They can gain insight into what
happened a few years ago, and what measures must
be taken to avoid previously monitored failures. Tools
like descriptive analysis and the incorporation of
customer relationship management modules, coupled
with marketing automation platforms, can help boost
the effect of analytics. Together, they can answer
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critical questions and provide guidance for the future.

Performance metrics can be studied in detail, and
their influence and impact on sales and overall
profitability of the product can also be determined to
find key takeaways. This can be applied for future
products so that profits can be maximized through
well-informed, data-driven decisions.
Stay Abreast of Recent Trends

One significant part of marketing analytics we
cannot ignore is that it helps us gauge the present
market to devise our near-term and long-term
strategies. Your marketing efforts cannot operate
solely in a highly competitive business scenario. You
must adopt a multi-faceted approach that takes into
account other technological breakthroughs and
competitor performance. Staying on top of the recent
market trends helps businesses tweak their approach
as and when needed and not lag behind any major
disruptive wave of change. Sophisticated dashboards
can displace current engagements, track the status of
emails, and record new leads, so you can have real-
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time updates on your marketing efforts’ effectiveness.
Predict the Future

It shouldn’t come as a surprise if you were told that
marketing analytics could help you paint a likely
picture of the future market scenarios. Most business
owners and marketers will agree that the predictive
part of marketing analytics is probably its most viable
part. This is because marketing analytics uses robust
and comprehensive techniques, such as clustering,
regression analysis, predictive modeling, propensity
models, and collaborative filtering to analyze and
predict future consumer behavior.
With so many tools and techniques available at the

disposable of the modern marketer, the reliability of
these models is bound to increase over time. Web
analytics tracking is another such tool that helps
predict what the customer will do next – whether they
will stay or leave the site.
This, in turn, equips marketers to adjust their
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marketing strategy by employing different marketing

tactics to lure customers and retain them. The
assessment of the lead management process through
data and marketing analytics also helps prioritize
leads that are more likely to convert and have a higher
propensity to buy. The expected future of marketing
analytics is to make a transition from the rear-view
strategy to a futuristic one. The surety of predicting
future outcomes is likely to increase through the
influx of data, improved statistical algorithms, and
machine learning, including artificial intelligence.
Optimize Your Efforts

To give purpose and direction to your efforts and
cement it all together, you must combine your market
research objective with your analytics. You should be
able to do it well to feel the most significant impact.
Your market research and marketing analytics efforts
should go hand in hand. Otherwise, you can miss out
on a lot of lucrative opportunities to scale your
marketing efforts. Still, customer feedback is the real
deal when it comes to conducting marketing analytics.
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The incorporation of this activity bridges the gap

between marketing strategy, analytics insight, and
activation.
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In Summary
The consumer buying process has

As a successful marketer, you
undergone drastic transformation due
need to understand that in
to digitalization. The data gathered
today’s contemporary
from marketing analytics equips your
marketing world, you need to
business with the right knowledge
know the viability of marketing
and insight to make well-informed
analytics.
decisions.
Marketing analytics is the use
of various metrics to
The success of marketing analytics is
categorically measure the
heavily dependent on the ability to
performance of marketing
interpret data and get real-time value
initiatives. Data gathered from
and analysis of the viability of your
different channels and
marketing efforts.
resources are put together into
one holistic view.
The advantages of having a
Artificial intelligence will create
sophisticated analytics system
all kinds of future opportunities
enables learning from the past, helps
to predict consumer behavior
to stay on top of trends, and assists
with an extremely high degree
with predicting the future.
of accuracy.
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Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed the journey. The world of
marketing has changed drastically over the past 10
years and will continue to evolve a great deal in the
next decade. Artificial intelligence and machine
learning will widen the marketing footprint and make
data collection and analytics an art and a science. I
want to leave you with a few final thoughts:
- Remember, marketing is about testing, testing,

and more testing
- One minor change to a particular ad or
promotional campaign can be the difference
between failure and success.
- Global consumerism is dictating that we are all
becoming more and more alike. However, this
doesn’t mean that your marketing efforts
should ignore minor cultural differences.
- The world of marketing will eventually become
highly predictive in nature and will require
analyzing massive amounts of data.
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Epilogue
In this crazy, uncertain world of a global pandemic,
marketers need to use every tool in their toolkit to
entice fearful consumers to buy. During times of
extreme crisis, people tend to “hunker down” and
withhold from making any nice-to-have type
purchases. So, does the gloom and doom associated
with the worldwide spread of Covid-19 mean you
should not launch your product? Not necessarily. Yes,
the timing of a product launch is an essential part of
properly entering the marketplace.
But, at the same time, throughout history, with

crisis came innovation. Throughout 2020, marketers
all over the world capitalized upon the pandemic by
producing products that worldwide consumers
literally were fighting over to buy (at the retail level).
Does this indicate you should take advantage of
consumers when they are down? No. Instead, you
should continue to ask the question:
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“If only there was a product that

could/would….” – and fill in the blank.
The future of Marketing still appears bright. In fact,

exciting new innovations are coming, including:
 Artificial Intelligence will be used to predict

consumer behavior based upon historical
trends of their buying patterns.
 Increased use of robotics and drones will
continue to speed up delivery to customers
such that delivering within two hours after
order placement will become standard.
 Global expansion of eCommerce and social
media will make it feel like we are in each
other’s backyard during a video session.
 Global Consumerism will continue to morph
worldwide consumers into similar
segmentation categories; essentially, the world
is becoming more “like us.”
 Interactive television will bring the younger
generation back to using direct marketing as a
buying method. Consumers will be able to click
333
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and buy their desired items while watching

their favorite TV shows and sporting events.
 Globalization will continue to speed-up as air
travel reaches Mach 1 (767 mph) and higher speeds.
This will make it easier to expand globally as a trip
from the USA to Australia will eventually drop to six
hours.
So, set aside your fears and know that in the long
run, Marketing is here to stay. It will be a different,
faster-paced world using crypto currency and artificial
intelligence to drive sustainability. It’s your job as an
entrepreneur to adapt to these changes and use them
to your advantage.
334
DR. TONY VERCILLO
Good Luck!
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Subject Index
advertising, v, 5, 1, 3, 5, 10, 14, 22, 24, 26, 32, 34, 47,

59, 84, 101, 102, 110, 142, 153, 154, 156, 157, 167,
169, 171, 176, 179, 182, 184, 202, 240, 244, 246, 257,
258, 259, 266, 269, 270, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277,
278, 279, 280, 281, 282, 284, 287, 288, 290,
291,292, 294, 296, 314
Advertising, 33, 152, 196, 246, 256, 258, 270, 273,
276, 279, 280, 287, 289, 290, 314
Africa, 117, 123, 126, 136
AIDA, 266
analytics, 2, 3, 5, 110, 295, 296, 297, 298, 299, 300,
301, 302, 303, 305, 307, 308, 309, 311, 312, 313,
315, 316, 317, 318, 320
Artificial Intelligence, 300, 310, 322
Attribution, 299
Australian Aborigines, 117, 136
backgrounds, 18
336
DR. TONY VERCILLO
brand awareness, 186, 269, 299, 309

Brand Loyalty, 113
business, 4, 1, 3, 6, 9, 26, 34, 39, 44, 56, 64, 69, 74, 83,
88, 104, 105, 106, 141, 143, 156, 181, 185, 195, 199,
206, 215, 216, 229, 252, 253, 263, 264, 270, 276,
279, 280, 281, 287, 290, 292, 295, 297, 298, 301,
303, 306, 308, 313, 316, 317
Buyer Readiness, 290
case studies, 2, 86
China, 15, 113, 114, 116, 121, 124, 128, 133, 135, 137,
223
client, 7, 25, 52, 57, 100, 210
commercial, 2, 14, 23, 218
commercialization, 6, 28, 90, 96, 210, 245, 253, 254
Commercialization, 28, 214, 243, 253
commercializing, 5, 243, 246
competition, v, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 17, 41, 42, 44, 56, 62, 65,
78, 79, 102, 106, 111, 163, 174, 175, 179, 180, 181,
182, 183, 184, 186, 188, 195, 220, 230, 231, 232,
237, 254, 261, 275, 280, 287, 302
Competitive Assessment, 187
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consumer, v, 3, 1, 3, 11, 15, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 27, 55,
56, 82, 83, 84, 87, 101, 102, 105, 109, 110, 112, 139,
140, 142, 144, 149, 157, 158, 163, 167, 170, 171, 172,
174, 175, 176, 209, 214, 230, 233, 236, 240, 242,
243, 244, 260, 263, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, 271,
273, 274, 276, 287, 288, 289, 294, 296, 298, 300,
309, 317, 322
Consumerism, 322
Consumers, 4, 15, 22, 25, 142, 239, 249, 278, 300, 311,
322
Controlled Test Markets, 238
conversion, 313, 315
cross-channel, 312
customer, 8, 39, 82, 95, 103, 110, 174, 176, 179, 186,
209, 212, 214, 216, 217, 219, 220, 221, 226, 227,
228, 229, 240, 245, 250, 265, 279, 282, 290, 296,
300, 311, 312, 313, 315, 317, 318
Customer Needs, 216
data, 31, 82, 83, 85, 86, 87, 89, 91, 93, 95, 101, 104,
105, 110, 111, 166, 240, 250, 297, 298, 299, 300,
301, 302, 303, 305, 306, 310, 312, 313, 316, 317, 320
338
DR. TONY VERCILLO
decision, 86, 216, 223, 229, 236, 245, 247, 249, 267,
287, 290, 302, 308, 309, 312
demanding, 4, 19, 79, 140
Descriptive Research, 85, 86
Design and Development Process, 215
desires, 19, 20, 40, 150, 172, 174, 209, 212, 221, 226,
229, 238
digital, 186, 262, 297, 308
Direct Marketing, 263
discount, 15, 45, 47, 77, 79, 142, 260
eCommerce, 275, 292, 322

Effective, 20, 21, 256
entrepreneur, vi, 3, 12, 13, 15, 33, 51, 73, 157, 194, 195,
235, 245, 257, 262, 269, 279, 290, 292, 323
entrepreneurs, v, 1, 3, 4, 22, 72, 172, 180, 205, 210,
235, 263, 275
Ethnic Shifting, 149
euphoria, 2
Evaluation and Review, 227
expansion, 9, 48, 322
experience, 2, 28, 32, 68, 103, 183, 206, 224, 228,
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262, 279, 312
failures, 2, 9, 146, 315

female, 18, 141, 144
Focus, 93, 94, 169, 170, 197, 213
funding, v, 1, 5, 3, 4, 28, 32, 194, 195, 203, 204, 205,
208, 245
Generation, 24, 139, 152, 218, 273, 280, 294

Global, iii, v, 109, 112, 113, 310, 320, 322
globalization, 5, 188
goal, 2, 8, 216, 223, 251
idea, 1, 3, 1, 2, 5, 8, 11, 12, 15, 18, 29, 30, 31, 39, 43, 45,
69, 70, 71, 76, 78, 170, 176, 204, 209, 210, 213, 214,
218, 222, 224, 227, 228, 230, 234, 244, 258, 265
Idea, i, v, vi, 8, 1, 2, 4, 2, 12, 28, 29, 30, 31, 61, 76, 212
Imitators, 188
Impulse Buying, 114
India, 116, 121, 125, 128, 131, 133, 135, 137
340
DR. TONY VERCILLO
industry, iii, 1, 10, 43, 44, 45, 106, 156, 225, 227, 264,
276, 289, 294, 295
influence, 10, 21, 114, 141, 177, 189, 242, 287, 315
Innovativeness, 10
Instant Gratification, 22
intellectual property, 5, 29, 31, 32, 61, 62, 63, 67, 68,
69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 76, 77, 78, 79, 189, 194, 244
Internet, 2, 4, 5
internet advertising, 5
Japan, 65, 117, 119, 122, 125, 128, 131, 134, 135
Judaism, 130, 136
Knockoffs, 188
Landscape, 50, 172, 180, 185, 195, 200

Launching, 37, 229
male, 18
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management, 110, 193, 211, 236, 308, 315, 317

Manufacturing, 208, 221, 222, 253
market, v, vi, 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 16, 21, 27, 28, 31, 34,
35, 39, 40, 49, 50, 54, 56, 58, 71, 72, 78, 83, 84, 85,
95, 96, 102, 111, 142, 144, 146, 157, 158, 160, 161,
162, 163, 166, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 174, 177, 181,
184, 185, 186, 195, 199, 202, 203, 208, 209, 210,
211, 213, 217, 221, 224, 228, 229, 230, 231, 233,
234, 235, 236, 237, 239, 240, 241, 245, 246, 247,
248, 250, 252, 253, 257, 260, 263, 264, 267, 274,
286, 287, 292, 301, 311, 316, 317, 318
market dynamics, 4, 83, 233
market research, 1, 158, 318
marketers, 4, 18, 58, 78, 84, 85, 92, 94, 97, 100, 109,
143, 144, 149, 180, 234, 256, 264, 265, 267, 269,
287, 292, 296, 298, 300, 301, 308, 313, 317, 321
marketing, iii, v, 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 32, 34, 43,
46, 48, 49, 52, 54, 55, 58, 59, 82, 83, 84, 85, 88, 89,
91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 101, 103, 105, 107, 110,
111, 112, 115, 141, 144, 145, 149, 154, 160, 162, 163,
171, 172, 176, 177, 185, 188, 196, 211,213, 218, 219,
220, 222, 230, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 240,
246, 250, 252, 256, 257, 258, 259, 263, 264, 265,
342
DR. TONY VERCILLO
266, 267, 268, 269, 278, 281, 282, 283, 285, 287,
288, 290, 292, 294, 295, 296, 297, 298, 300, 301,
302, 303, 305, 307, 308, 309, 311, 312, 313, 315,
316, 317, 318, 320, 322
Marketing Research Process, 88, 89
marketplace, v, vi, 1, 3, 4, 20, 21, 32, 33, 37, 81, 158,
172, 179, 182, 214, 220, 221, 230, 232, 245, 248,
249, 253, 321
media, 5, 1, 16, 17, 19, 27, 30, 39, 42, 46, 47, 48, 54,
55, 57, 74, 84, 88, 103, 109, 111, 142, 152, 153, 154,
155, 156, 157, 179, 183, 184, 186, 189, 194, 202, 231,
244, 254, 257, 258, 259, 264, 265, 269, 270, 277,
278, 279, 286, 289, 292, 308, 311, 312, 322
Media Mix, 299
methods, vii, 1, 84, 85, 88, 101, 168, 170, 174, 237,
238, 263, 278, 280, 299, 309
metrics, 5, 48, 186, 193, 276, 297, 309, 313, 315
Middle East, 122, 126, 130, 134, 136
Millennial, 19, 24, 155, 167, 273
Models, 299
Netherlands, 120, 138
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Nicaragua, 137
online, 15, 25, 31, 40, 42, 46, 54, 58, 64, 69, 75, 94, 97,
99, 103, 104, 110, 186, 200, 243, 249, 254, 264, 265,
266, 267, 292, 297, 301, 314
Optimize, 318
owners, 62, 65, 263, 303, 313, 317
Parallel Entry, 248

performance, 26, 161, 209, 220, 227, 228, 236, 276,
277, 295, 296, 308, 316
Performance, 299, 314, 315
Personal Selling, 259, 281
Place, 2, 54, 249
platforms, 46, 74, 103, 142, 211, 257, 259, 270, 275,
295, 312, 315
point of difference, vi, 3, 56, 172, 176, 177, 188, 274
population, 18, 19, 43, 86, 105, 144, 146, 147, 149, 164,
167, 169, 170, 239, 250, 285
positioning, 1, 3, 4, 20, 21, 41, 111, 171, 172, 174, 176,
177, 230, 234, 244, 254, 276
344
DR. TONY VERCILLO
Positioning, 20, 58, 169, 171, 195, 200

presentation, 8, 24, 39, 192, 193, 194, 201, 203, 204,
258
Price, 2, 41, 42, 54, 58, 175, 176, 187, 261
Problem, 13, 14, 20, 199, 205
product, v, vi, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12,
14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28,
29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44,
45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59,
63, 66, 70, 71, 72, 74, 78, 79, 81, 82, 83, 86, 87, 90,
94, 95, 96, 98, 99, 102, 103, 104, 106, 107, 110, 111,
138, 143, 145, 146, 147, 149, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157,
158, 160, 162, 167, 168, 170, 171, 172, 174, 175, 176,
177, 179, 180, 181, 182, 184, 186, 187, 188, 189, 195,
197, 198, 200, 202, 203, 205, 208, 209, 210, 211,
212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222,
223, 224, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 233, 234,
235, 236, 237, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245,
246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 252, 253, 254, 256, 257,
258, 259, 260, 261, 265, 269, 271, 272, 274, 275,
276, 278, 279, 280, 283, 284, 286, 287, 288, 290,
291, 300, 301, 309, 313, 315, 321, 322
Product, iii, 2, 5, 6, 8, 15, 34, 38, 42, 45, 49, 54, 56, 58,
345
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110, 171, 172, 175, 195, 196, 198, 200, 208, 209, 210,
211, 214, 218, 219, 220, 221, 227, 229, 230, 233,
234, 243, 256, 286, 287, 290
product development, 7, 32, 39, 63, 90, 110, 155, 157,
209, 210, 215, 227, 241, 252, 275
product life cycle, 16, 17, 230, 231, 235
products, iii, v, vi, vii, 1, 3, 4, 5, 15, 16, 17, 21, 22, 23,
24, 26, 28, 40, 41, 42, 43, 48, 56, 57, 64, 77, 98, 110,
113, 114, 144, 147, 149, 150, 152, 154, 156, 158, 164,
166, 168, 172, 177, 181, 186, 197, 199, 214, 218, 222,
231, 238, 239, 243, 247, 253, 258,259, 263, 264,
265, 267, 269, 274, 275, 289, 294, 311, 316, 321
product's life cycle, 5, 6, 276
Promotion, 2, 33, 54, 260, 273, 282
Promotional Mix, 286
promotional plan, 5
promotional strategies, 1
Promotional Tools, 278
Psychographics, 163, 167
Public relations, 261, 292
Public Relations, 257, 283
purchase, 1, 31, 34, 40, 114, 154, 162, 167, 168, 177,
181, 238, 240, 260, 261, 265, 266, 278, 282, 283,
346
DR. TONY VERCILLO
287, 312
Push versus Pull Strategy, 286, 288
Quality, 113
renewal strategy, 5
research, v, 1, 3, 5, 1, 3, 4, 34, 39, 40, 45, 49, 50, 69,
74, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94,
97, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 110, 111,
146, 154, 157, 158, 163, 174, 177, 208, 209, 211, 213,
214, 217, 233, 234, 238, 239, 240, 242, 250, 253,
254, 311, 318
retailers, 7, 24, 48, 70, 72, 76, 79, 181, 205, 220, 244,
254
reviews, 8, 11, 19, 25, 26, 42, 46, 48, 104, 152, 153, 154,
186, 197, 260, 267, 311
robotics, 322
sales, 5, 7, 14, 21, 27, 39, 47, 61, 87, 90, 162, 185, 193,
234, 237, 238, 240, 242, 244, 246, 250, 258, 264,
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274, 277, 278, 281, 282, 283, 284, 287, 288, 289,
290, 291, 292, 296, 301, 313, 315
Sales-Wave Research, 242
segment, 18, 162, 186, 274, 285
segmentation, 161, 163, 164, 166, 167, 168, 170, 322
Segmenting, 169, 250
Shelf, i, v, vi, 1, 2, 4, 12
shopping, 15, 24, 165, 166, 239, 266, 312
Simulated Test Markets, 239
skill set, 12
Skills, 13, 14
Social Media, 2, 4, 5, 24, 41, 43, 204, 269, 275, 314
Social Media Marketing, 2
Spain, 138
Specifications, 219
Standard Test Markets, 236
Store, i, v, vi, 1, 2, 4, 12
success, vi, 1, 4, 5, 2, 8, 15, 16, 18, 20, 38, 44, 46, 48,
49, 102, 106, 110, 111, 113, 158, 195, 215, 217, 218,
246, 254, 258, 259, 280, 302, 307, 320
SWOT, 43, 44, 45, 50, 188
348
DR. TONY VERCILLO
target, v, 1, 3, 21, 31, 39, 40, 50, 58, 84, 95, 104, 111,
144, 146, 157, 158, 160, 161, 162, 163, 166, 168, 169,
170, 171, 172, 174, 177, 186, 195, 209, 213, 220, 228,
234, 239, 242, 250, 253, 256, 260, 268, 274, 283,
309, 312
Target Marketing, 169
techniques, 1, 84, 86, 170, 263, 295, 317
technology, 4, 210, 230, 231, 267
telecommunication, 5, 149
Thailand, 117, 119, 120, 121, 125, 129, 131, 134, 135
The Marketing Funnel, 251
The Post Launch Phase, 179
The Psychology of Color, 115
theories, 2
traditional product, 16
travel, 5, 110, 149, 266, 323
trends, 1, 10, 43, 44, 105, 112, 146, 158, 164, 217, 230,
277, 296, 302, 314, 315, 316, 322
Unified Marketing Measurement, 299

unique, 3, 15, 16, 20, 28, 29, 43, 56, 66, 71, 106, 172,
349
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176, 182, 188, 193, 205, 235, 258, 274, 281, 282,
283, 287
USP, 20, 56, 172, 176, 195, 274
venture, 6, 33, 70, 71, 76, 185
websites, 74, 77, 312

Western, 115, 118, 119, 120, 124, 127, 131, 132, 134,
136, 137
350
DR. TONY VERCILLO
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Launch It

From Idea to the Store Shelf

Dr. Tony Vercillo

In addition, there are a few other important people

 To my many clients throughout the world,

And finally, to my family. I have tried very hard to

Dr. Vercillo has been a global marketing and

He has served as a Senior-Level Manager and Vice

You can contact Dr. Vercillo at:

Follow Dr. Vercillo on Twitter - @DrTVercillo

The problem with this statistic is that 80% of these

Launch It: From Idea to the Store Shelf will help

The point of difference within this body of work is

Launch It: From Idea to the Store Shelf provides

Launch It: From Idea to the Store Shelf is a mix of

Part 1- The Pre-Launch Phase..............................................................................................

Chapter 1 So, you think you have a Great Idea?....................................................................

Part 2- The Post Launch Phase.............................................................................................

Chapter 7 Assessing the Competitive Landscape...................................................................

Thousands of products enter the global

The purpose of Launch It: From Idea to the Store

consulting experience. You will also learn what "not-

What Can You Expect from this Book?

Let's be truthful. Most product marketing books

Over the past 25 years, I have learned a few things

In fact, when asked what I do for a living, I often

What you can expect from this book is practical

After reading this book, you may even feel a little

Why will you use this Book Again and

• Do you want to launch your own business?

How the Book Is Organized

• The Pre-Launch Phase

Part 1 – The Pre-Launch Phase

Part 2 – The Post-Launch Phase

Ready to Get Started?

First, read the book to determine the topics that are

The Pre-Launch Phase

What it takes to be an Entrepreneur

Product Success Traits

The Cost to Launch a Product

You wake up in the middle of the night and have an

success. You will also learn precisely what it takes to

Why Do Products Fail?

Great marketers avoid these mistakes by carefully

The Odds of Success

They fail for a variety of reasons, but mainly due to

product will sell itself. It doesn’t work like that. In

This unusually high failure rate has been

In addition, our intellectual property (IP) laws,

idea outside of the USA. In fact, in recent years, IP

1. Being first to the market to gain first-mover

The Immutable Laws of Business

other business. As with any other venture, product

Many inventors and product developers will give

However, after just 2.5 months and only $30,000,

phone call or email due to the barrage of

If you decide to go solo and market your idea by

The 12 Immutable Laws of Business

2. Make meeting people an everyday event. Set a

asking yourself, What can I do today that will

books, news stories, industry events and

Mistakes made by most

Telling your friends or family about your idea prematurely