What does effective marketing look like today, and what is the real measure of its success? Steffen Saemann, Marketing Director at Tchibo CZ & SK, and Štefan Sarvaš, Internal Consultant at Mars, addressed this topic at the Czech Online Expo conference. They agreed that marketing is not just about immediate conversion, but above all about systematically acquiring new customers.
According to Steffen Saemann, it is more accurate to talk about "direct response marketing" rather than performance marketing. This targets people who have a current need and are ready to buy. However, such people are in the minority. "Today 5%, tomorrow 95%," he summarised the key lesson. Only about five percent of people are ready to buy at any given moment. The remaining 95% do not have a current need. Real marketing must therefore also influence those who are not looking for anything today, so that they remember the brand in the future.
According to him, brand marketing and direct response do not work against each other, but together. One works with long-term mental availability, the other converts current demand. According to Saemann, the budget should be divided approximately 50:50. "A large part of our work is to inform the customer that we exist. When they need something, they will know about us," he said.
Three rules: recognisability, availability, continuity
Saemann described three principles that Tchibo follows:
- Brand recognition. All communication should reinforce distinctive elements (from the slogan to the visual style. Long-term consistency is key).
- Removing barriers to purchase. When a customer has a need, the brand must be physically available at all relevant touchpoints (in brick-and-mortar stores, e-shops and within the omnichannel concept).
- Building reach across the entire category. Building awareness cannot be a one-off event. Even with a limited budget, it is necessary to communicate continuously.
When asked how to justify marketing to the CFO and CEO, Stefen Saemann replied unequivocally: "The only criterion for successful marketing, if you want to grow, is to acquire new customers in every purchasing cycle." According to him, the brand must be mentally and physically accessible. And decision-making should be based on evidence-based marketing, i.e. data on actual human behaviour.
Štefan Sarvaš at the Czech Online Expo conference; Source: Czech Online ExpoMost customers do not buy brands
Marketing consultant Štefan Sarvaš followed up on Steffen Saemann's presentation by emphasising the application of a scientific approach instead of marketing myths. He also pointed out that the largest group of customers for any brand are people who do not currently buy it.
Big brands have more so-called heavy buyers, but not because they are the first to build loyalty. "Loyalty is a function of penetration, not the other way around," he emphasised. The more customers a brand has, the more often they buy it, and the higher their spending.
It is therefore essential to constantly recruit new customers and replace those who leave. According to Sarvaš, even large brands lose 20-40% of their customers annually, medium-sized brands lose up to 70%, and small brands lose as much as 60-80%. Growth is therefore dependent on the ability to attract new customers faster than the brand loses existing ones. He drew a parallel with politics: the winner is the one who can replace lost voters with new ones in even greater numbers.
Growing faster than the market
Sarvaš also warned against fixating on market share. According to him, market share can be "improved" in the short term through various tactics, but the real goal should be to grow faster than the market as a whole.
The key steps are as follows:
- Easy to mind – get the brand into people's minds (build distinctiveness).
- Easy to find – ensure wide distribution.
- Easy to shop – remove barriers to purchase.
According to him, the most difficult thing for marketers is to decide where not to spend money. The smaller the company, the more complicated the situation can be, but at the same time, it tends to have fewer priorities. Large brands, on the other hand, usually set a maximum of three main priorities, but they must clearly choose what to focus on. The marketer's job is to convince the CEO and CFO why it makes sense to invest in marketing. "Marketers must learn to speak the language of CEOs and CFOs and demonstrate value using the metrics that they actually track," he urged. Managers usually track only a few key performance indicators (KPIs), so marketers must demonstrate the benefits of marketing using metrics that managers understand.
Source: mediaguru.cz