WHY MARKETING WORKS....!!!

Believe it or not, there are actually business consultants out there who will tell you that marketing is a waste of time. I say cut the crap…!!! If you don't market and advertise, your chance of success in coffee, tea or any other business is slim to none.

Today, everywhere we look, we are exposed to advertising. Driving our cars, we catch sight of highway billboards and city buses that have been transformed into large mobile advertisements. Subways are littered with signs, planting seeds for us to support sports teams or buy a certain brand of juice. Log onto the Web and you'll see banner and pop-up ads on almost every page. Everywhere we turn marketers are pitching us.

How often have you sworn you would never eat fast food again only to find yourself tempted after seeing an ad from one of the many chains showing their latest dish? Really, how many ways can a fast-food chain present the same product rice, beans, spicy meat, and burger? They do it by marketing. For starters, they don't call the product what it is-a daily item- instead they come up with a snappy and flashy name then they hire food stylists and photographers to make this 99-rupees fare look like something you can't live without-especially at a quarter of the price you would pay for it at a restaurant. If you have found yourself passing this chain and actually stopping to purchase the item, you were seduced by those marketing efforts.

Still, the reality is that some promotions work while others don't. Marketing is a sophisticated combination of being in the right place at the right time with the rightproduct. And it's the job of marketers to convince people to buy a particular product-their client's product. The owner of a single coffee operation or small chain has a challenge. First and foremost, how do they compete with the corporate chains in your area when their advertising budgets may be 100 times greater than what they can afford?

The good news is they can compete and can actually beat many of these chains at their own game. How? By knowing their customer, offering a unique and distinct product and tailoring their promotions to particular business philosophy. After all, they probably know their customer much better than some corporate marketing director across the country.

The first step in making sure your marketing efforts work is enjoying the act of promotion rather
Chains have only one big advantage-name recognition. Out of necessity, they usually run their stores the same way in Mumbai as they do in Varanasi. Use this disadvantage to your advantage. If you are in Varanasi and bucking huge advertising bucks by the Big chain, use phrases in your marketing like "Buy Local" and "The Varanasi Difference," or use humor-" Varanasi Pan-fed Cappuccino," for example. Bottom line, play up the fact you are an independent!"

The ultimate goal in your business is to increase sales and, hence, profit. Marketing is a proven means for this. We often see individuals work hard during the pre-opening process. They secure a prime location, purchase the best equipment and open their businesses full of optimism. But you must remember that once the doors open, you are only halfway up the hill. At this point you can't rest remember you are on a hill-if you rest you only go backwards). You need to peddle twice as hard as you did during your pre-opening time because you are now dealing with the reality of keeping your doors open.