Predatory Marketing

Rating:
Summary: Great if you're a retailer - so - so otherwise
Review: C Brit Beemer is the founder and CEO of America's Research Group, a Charleston based market research firm. In Predatory Marketing, Beemer shares perspectives he has gathered from interviews with thousands of customers over the past 20 years. Some of the information he shares is fascinating, and the marketing philosophy he espouses is rock solid, but ultimately this book disappoints.

The basic premise of the book is that to gain market share, marketers must steal customers from their competitors. Beemer backs up this premise with some compelling research showing trends such as:
- In 1980, the average consumer expected to visit 3.5 stores before purchasing an appliance or electronics item. In 1990, the number was down to 2.8, and in 1995, it was down to 2.1.
- He asked consumers if any store came to mind first in a series of different categories. In 1983 38% or respondents said no. In 1996, that number was down to 6%, indicating that the number of consumers without a preference, or 'up for grabs' was ¼ of what it was in 1983.

As you can tell from the statistics cited, Beemer's main experience and area of expertise is retail marketing. He offers dozens of anecdotes from his work with retailers all across the country. He mentions other kinds of marketing here and there, but it is clear that he doesn't have the same depth of data or experience. For example, in discussing a survey about the importance of a knowledgeable sales person, he says 'While our study was limited to retailing, I believe this thinking applies also to non retailing industries'.

However, the biggest disappointment in the book is from the lack of depth in the examples and case studies. Never is a case study or example more than a single page, and often they are only a paragraph or two. Countless times I was left wanting more detail or more information. In a number of cases, the examples he cites aren't even on target for the topic he was discussing. The worst offender in this realm was an example in his chapter on niche marketing.. Through the chapter, he offers some good advice for niche players, then at the end he says 'There is still another problem that a niche player faces: He may be so focused that he can't see the forest for the trees.' Then he launches into a story about a long standing retailer that was having a very difficult time attracting new clients. Ultimately they found that the reason was that in the 10 years he had been in business, a tree grew over and covered the store sign. After the tree was removed, business picked up dramatically. Very amusing, but what does this have to do with niche marketing? It was as if he had an anecdote, and decided he needed to use it somewhere.

I found three chapters in this book to be of particular interest. In chapter 1, he lays out the importance of research, and some guidelines for doing research right. He cites several examples of business executives who were convinced that they knew their businesses, only to be proved wrong by the consumer. He makes a compelling case that asking your customers isn't enough, since people tend to avoid confrontation, they won't tell you what's wrong. However, a skilled researcher can get to a customer's true concerns and opinions.
In chapter 7, he lays out the 'Predatory Marketing' strategy. This strategy comes from his basic premise that in order to get new customers, you must take them away from your competitors. The methods he suggests for doing this tend to be superior value, service, and selection. He goes into a fair level of detail about what he means by each of these.

Finally, in chapter 10 he wraps up with the prevailing theme of the book, that 'Every marketing plan will ultimately fail.' Even successful marketing plans fail because conditions change. Competitors change their strategies, new competitors emerge, customers' tastes change, and new technologies make products or strategies obsolete. Indeed, as Beemer points out, 'The only constant is change.' I found this statement sobering to say the least. Even so, he points out that if you are armed with this knowledge, you can anticipate change and respond to it. Your strategies and tactics will have to change as conditions change in order for you to stay successful.

Should you buy this book? If you are a retailer, or closely connected with retail trade, you will get some valuable information and insight. If you are doing other kinds of marketing, you can still get some interesting perspectives from this book, but you should probably treat it more as a 'skim' focusing on chapters 1, 7, and 10, then as a 'read', and put this one on your "optional" list.

Rating:
Summary: fascinating
Review: If you are or wish to be in the marketing field, read this book. More information is packed into here than in dozens of other volumes I've read. Just save the money and the inane information overload and buy Predatory Marketing today!

Rating:
Summary: fascinating
Review: If you are or wish to be in the marketing field, read this book. More information is packed into here than in dozens of other volumes I've read. Just save the money and the inane information overload and buy Predatory Marketing today!

Rating:
Summary: How Much Do You REALLY Know About Your Customers?
Review: We are told that "the purpose of the book is to tell you how to get information, and most important, [how to] analyze it so that you can make the right decisions....So the main theme of this book is not to promote research -- it's to inform you of ways to find out more about your customer, your competition's customers, and trends in the marketplace." For Beemer, "predatory" is a synonym for proactive: "I'm a firm believer is taking an offensive -- rather than defensive position; marketing is always an offensive weapon." Recall John Newbern's comment: "People can be divided into three groups: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened." To these Beemer would probably add a fourth group: Those who wait for something to happen and then respond too late (if at all).

The title of Predatory Marketing is somewhat misleading. it really does not suggest strategies to "win today's customers" which require what the word "predator" denotes or even suggests. On the contrary, the advice offered is highly ethical as well as immensely practical. Many of the suggestions have previously been offered by others. Nonetheless, reminders of key points can often have substantial value.

One of the book's greatest benefits consists of a series of ten "Consumer Mind Reader" analyses of trends as well as tendencies which reveal consumer preferences are as well as the reasons for them. Another substantial benefit is derived from a series of check-lists and multi-step sequences which suggest how to implement the information provided.

Marketing either creates or increases demand for whatever one offers. For those whose organizations compete in a flat or declining marketplace, only increasing share will enable them to achieve sybstantial growth. Leaders of these organizations will probably derive the greatest benefit from Predatory Marketing.

As Jeffrey Gitomer correctly suggests, "customer satisfaction" occurs on a transaction basis. One bad experience and the customer is gone...perhaps forever. "Customer loyalty" must be earned over time so that, when a customer has a bad experience, the relationship with that customer is not necessarily destroyed.

Predatory Marketing places great emphasis on a thorough understanding of both current and prospective customers. Such understanding is even more important, obviously, when attempting to "capture" customers from competitors. Reading Predatory Marketing will assist such initiatives.

Rating:
Summary: How Much Do You REALLY Know About Your Customers?
Review: We are told that "the purpose of the book is to tell you how to get information, and most important, [how to] analyze it so that you can make the right decisions....So the main theme of this book is not to promote research -- it's to inform you of ways to find out more about your customer, your competition's customers, and trends in the marketplace." For Beemer, "predatory" is a synonym for proactive: "I'm a firm believer is taking an offensive -- rather than defensive position; marketing is always an offensive weapon." Recall John Newbern's comment: "People can be divided into three groups: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened." To these Beemer would probably add a fourth group: Those who wait for something to happen and then respond too late (if at all).

The title of Predatory Marketing is somewhat misleading. it really does not suggest strategies to "win today's customers" which require what the word "predator" denotes or even suggests. On the contrary, the advice offered is highly ethical as well as immensely practical. Many of the suggestions have previously been offered by others. Nonetheless, reminders of key points can often have substantial value.

One of the book's greatest benefits consists of a series of ten "Consumer Mind Reader" analyses of trends as well as tendencies which reveal consumer preferences are as well as the reasons for them. Another substantial benefit is derived from a series of check-lists and multi-step sequences which suggest how to implement the information provided.

Marketing either creates or increases demand for whatever one offers. For those whose organizations compete in a flat or declining marketplace, only increasing share will enable them to achieve sybstantial growth. Leaders of these organizations will probably derive the greatest benefit from Predatory Marketing.

As Jeffrey Gitomer correctly suggests, "customer satisfaction" occurs on a transaction basis. One bad experience and the customer is gone...perhaps forever. "Customer loyalty" must be earned over time so that, when a customer has a bad experience, the relationship with that customer is not necessarily destroyed.

Predatory Marketing places great emphasis on a thorough understanding of both current and prospective customers. Such understanding is even more important, obviously, when attempting to "capture" customers from competitors. Reading Predatory Marketing will assist such initiatives.