The subjectiveness of the word Quality in Marketing

Quality is not subjective 

Quality in products demystified

First, let us explore some definitions of quality

According to Webster's definition - Quality is degree of excellence or superiority in kind. 

That in essence is the most basic definition of quality. But with respect to marketing, quality is defined by two attributes.

1. Performance (superior functions)
2. Conformance (consistency in performance)

Performance

When we talk about performance, we mean to match every attribute of the brand and compare it against their rival; attribute by attribute. Benchmarking is often used for quality comparison and benchmarking is done on the brand's physical and intangible offer i.e., their product and or service. 

You can compare an Apple Iphone to a Samsung Galaxy Note as they are in the same industry and have similar offers. We can compare them on factors such as:

1. Screen resolution (dpi)
2. Battery life (hours)
3. Camera resolution (pixel and color depth)

And the list goes on. Hence, we benchmark their performance through testing the features and their perception of performance is noted from consumer opinions. 

Conformance

Standardization, consistency, and matching expectations for any product to perform as it is intended to... all relates to the attribute of conformance.

According to Webster's dictionary, the word is derived from the noun called Conformity that means "action in accordance with some specified standard or authority".

So simply put, what you have intended the product to do, the service to perform, it must comply with the standard system. A plug in the US cannot fit a Switch in EU due differences in standards and compliance issued by the government and regulations. 

Back home, in my country, the switch boards did not comply with any of the ISO standardization and therefore if he had to plug in an appliance like an iron or a toaster, we would cut the actual plug, separate the wires, and insert them in the switch with the help of two matchsticks.(sigh)

Conformity can also be consistency such as McDonalds services all over the world is the same. The shapes, colors, and ambience may differ slightly, but everything else remains highly consistent.

So let's recap. Quality is not subjective.  It can be objectively stated as performance and conformance of the brand.

Hope you found this article useful. If so, please do share. I am open to any and all comments.

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Marketing - Assesing value at different Need levels

What are Needs, Wants, Demands and Desires with respect to Marketing?

When learning marketing, we try to serve our solution (or value) to our target market at different levels of needs. I will be using definitions to elucidate my point about how they differ. Human being are satisfied with certain solutions to their problems because of how important it is to their physiology and psychology. 

Such as basic necessities of food, water, and shelter.  A need is essentially states of DEPRIVATION. When one is DEPRIVED of Nutrition, they need to address that issue otherwise they might, or most likely, DIE.

But in marketing, needs are not addressed right away. Here is an example. If I am hungry, I should ____. EAT you say? WROONGGG!!! Let us try again. If I am hungry, should I go down to the kitchen and start baking a cake? The result would be my wife waking up from the noise, coming downstairs with a baseball bat, and finally breaking my shins for causing her to be scared.

So then. If I am hungry........ (deeep breath). I need to SATISFY MY HUNGER. If I am driving down the highway at 100 Km/H and I am tired and feel sleepy, I need to sleep? Incorrect. I need to satisfy my fatigue.

How do I satisfy my Need(s). Remember, Needs are states of deprivation. You can have a look at Uncle Maslow's Triangle of Needs. (it's actually Hierarchy of Needs). We humans have different levels of Needs that need to be addressed. 

• I am hungry (level 1), I need to satisfy my hunger. (nutrition or patience)
• I am in danger (level 2), I need to satisfy my insecurity. (shelter or protection)
• I am lonely (level 3), I need to satisfy my loneliness. (company or companionship)
• I am insecure about myself (level 4), I need self-esteem or satisfy my insecurities.

You get the idea.

Then we move on to WANTS. Wants are Needs, but backed by Culture and Personality.
Hence, if I am hungry, I need to satisfy my hunger. Therefore, I WANT to eat a cheeseburger. Makes sense? Wants are depended on your culture, your upbringing, and the experiences that have shaped your preferences in life.

Simply put, wants are the INSTANCES of NEEDS. Need are a generic state.

Then we move on to DEMANDS. Demands are the consumers' purchasing power. But don't let this confuse you. In today's day and age, people don't simple purchase things rationally. If everyone were rational, who would buy expensive jewellery, sports cars, and useless gadgets like Apple I-Phones. 

Demands are more of an economic function and purchasing power is linked to disposable income. People do get loans as well linked to Interest Rates. Loans for a house (mortgage), for a car, for even micro-loans for renovation of their apartments, or buying a television set. They may not have the disposable income to spend at that moment, so they use financial services to address that need. 

But since we as humans are IRRATIONAL and buy goods or services that cannot be justified but simple to validate our feelings, ego, and FANTASIES, then the demands become also irrational. (for more on this, read Dan Ariely's Predictably Irrational).

When we listen to music, we imagine that we are dancing to it. When we watch a hero fall, we cry for them. When we see a beautiful woman, we hope to seduce her. All these are FANTASIES and some brands have addressed these PROBLEMS. 

People who desire to be more seductive, sexy, confident, or just be their best, use perfumes. They could have resorted to scented soaps and deodorants. But perfumes advertise imagery of fantasies. Most of you wear perfume to work, to college, and to a date. Perfumes are expensive. More so than deodorants. Hence, we try to justify our irrational purchase with our fantasy.

Therefore, the last piece is DESIRES. Desires are Irrational Demands backed by Fantasies. 

I hope this will add some wisdom to your marketing arsenal. Let me know if you wish to add anything to this.

Professor Baber Mirza

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Marketing is hard

Why Marketing is Hard - Products don't exist and I will tell you why

#marketing #products #business #customerRelationship #customerValue #marketingExperience

Let us get one thing straight. I hate writing blogs. But what I hate more is REPEATING myself!!

Teaching a class full of young, bored to death students who always assume (presume) what marketing is drives me to the edge. Why? Because they make they think that Marketing is (a) Selling (b) advertising (c) creating products and sometimes the word CUSTOMER is thrown in.

Well I am going to explain why students can be delusional about the concept of marketing. I blame the educator and their exposure. 

Here are some definitions of marketing

Marketing is the social process by which individuals and organizations obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging value with others.
Kotler and Armstrong (2010).

Marketing is the management process for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably.
The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM). Accessed 2012.

A revision of marketing concepts by Professor Baber Mirza


As you can see from the above, the words PRODUCT, SALES, and ADVERTISING are nowhere to be found. The definitions are coming from two of the most valuable sources of marketing knowledge in the history of civilization. 

Why then do we make that deadly assumption. Are just stupid that way? (please say yes). 

First let us clarify what marketers really do. They create value by researching needs, wants, demands, and desires. They research what solution consumers are searching for to satisfy their needs. Hence, they partake on a NEED GAP ANALYSIS journey to figure it out.

I will write about Needs, Wants, Demands, and Desires soon.

Once the solution has been found, marketers build a strategy to address that need (problem) of the consumer. Remember, just like a doctor looks for symptoms for a disease, marketers look for the underlying need to be satisfied. And then they solve it by the 4 Ps (or 4 Cs) of marketing.

Once the solution has been provided i.e., a sale of product to the prospective customer, the journey doesn't end. Marketers then monitor the usage of the product and await proper feedback that can allow them to enhance the experience of the consumer.

Wait-Just-A-Darned-Minute. (Pulls out gun). Experience of the consumer... did I mean consuming the product, or the whole process of searching, obtaining, consuming, and disposing it? I meant the latter. 

Consumer's don't consumer products. They consumer experiences. 

I will speak about this briefly here and in length in my Ted Talk. (next blog, duh)

If you want to consume a cup of coffee, its not just the coffee that marketers observe you drinking, but the way you searched for it, evaluated it against competitors, evaluated the taste, price, and availability. They research how many times you drank it. And also how you would choose it again, or even reject it. 

You see, a product doesn't exist. It is the experience of searching, acquiring it, and evaluating it. Product is just part of the Value the marketers created. Part of the solution. or rather part of the doctor's prescription. 

And this my friends, is how marketers also capture value from you. They get feedback, enhance their experience, and try to establish a profitable relationship with you.

That my friend, my pal, my dear, is how marketing is defined. 

So if you ever think it is only about sales, advertising, or product, you are not wrong, you are just not correct. 

But what about sales and advertising you say.

Marketers need to communicate with you. Think of PR and Word of Mouth. Body Shop has no advertisements and yet it became such a powerful brand. 

Apple releases a product and people line up outside their stores. That is not a sale. It is a purchasing of goods. 

Marketers try to eliminate the sales effort and also the advertising effort. But this story is for another day. 

Thank you and If you like this blog post, please share with your friends so they are not involved in the crime of saying Marketing is about PRODUCT, SALES, and ADVERTING.

Professor Baber Mirza is a BBIT, MBA, and a master of the dark arts.


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Education and class hours - Motivation management

The cruel hours of education

Many of us in the education business both as professors, and as students are unsure of how to manage lectures and assignment. We are unsure if are course should focus on the lecture itself, group work, participation and maybe even the size of work load to give out.

We as teachers have always met with the sleepy looks of young adults, the spacing out of individuals sitting next to the window, the doodling of many bored young'uns sitting up front, or the select few who resort to browsing the internet for memes or using their phones for solace.

As students we have had really interesting teachers but the hours of the class just weighed down on us. Sitting down and taking notes for 3 hours or sometimes the whole day is not the most attractive feature of attending school. What should we do.

For those starting out in the world of pedagogy, here are some of personal opinions in the world of business education in the international environment. I will focus on a few key areas of classroom and time management. This blog is focused on teachers and then I will create another one for students

They are as follows:

1. The Total Hours vs Session Hours

2. Humor and Interaction

3. The silent treatment

The Total Hours Vs. Session Hours of classes

When you are assigned a course, please understand that in some European Schools, the hours maybe half that of the American Schools (30 to 36 hours). Some schools enforce mid-term and final exams so the pedagogy may not be entirely flexible. 

If you have 15 hours of a class, you can choose to have 3 hours sessions where you can divide your course work into Lecture and Class Work. Students can take notes and then exercise their learning while you supervise them.

This depends on the class size too but it works favorably by allowing interaction between the students. Gossiping wakes up the mind. Allow them to get coffee and infer that this is part of the procedure. It may not work in certain classes such as Maths, Accounting or such, but you can look at creative ways to give them work on other forums. 

If you have 30 hours of classes, you can suggest Online Sessions. Online sessions are great to give students room to work on their own and free them from the anxiety of coming to the classroom. In today's age, it is an essential tool to manage your and your student's time for completing the course.

In order to use online sessions, some school offer their MOODLE services. If not, you can use Google Classrooms, Moodle Cloud, or my personal favorite, Canvas LMS.

Humor and Interaction

Students are ALWAYS tired. Morning class... they didn't sleep enough. Afternoon class... itis causing them to lose focus, Evening class... they are just focused on going home. Irrespective, some teachers can use humor to their advantage and create a ground for opening up. Sharing stories is essential and allows students to regain some energy. In my personal opinion, I am not that strict and constantly use humor to deal with tough assignment and quizzes. 

The feedback from the students is interesting as the humor leads to curiosity. That curios nature leads to secondary research on their part and they come back with information that could show their interest in the class is genuine. 

Please understand that not ALL students will open up. Some are shy, others may fear that they are not fluent in English. That is an ART you will have to learn by meeting different students. 

The Silent Treatment

Sometimes the class is dead silent as they could be exhausted from previous class lectures, exams, course work, etc. They might not be an a participative mood and for good reason too. The material could require them to focus on taking notes. It could also be the teaching style that requires active listening.

But this does lead to brain decay. Students can only pay attention for 30 minutes. It would be best to introduce questions, interactive games like Kazoo or Klaxoon to encourage participation, or even better would be focus group.

What I do with non Anglophone students is have an interaction session among themselves for the 2nd half of the course like a group assignment. It keeps the blood warm in their heads.

Well. that is all for now. Please comment your favorite teaching styles, or anything a teacher could do improve their sessions.