Week 5 -- Marketing Plan

Pillars:  

We studied the economics of medieval feudalism and how monarchs were in complete control of the economy, owning all the land leasing to whomever they pleased.  Feudalism was introduced into England in 1066 and lasted for hundreds of years changing little over time. 

We then studied how economics was turned upside down with the emergence of Adam Smith, who introduced a free market system in his book the Wealth of Nations, which opened a door for entrepreneurs.  The book, first published in 1776, and was adopted by the new nation in America, changing economics forever. 

Lastly we looked at how the free-enterprise system has created wealth for the betterment of society and how the standard of living has risen significantly, because of the entrepreneur.  We looked at the example of the life of Manoj Bhargava the founder and CEO of 5-Hour Energy drink, who has invested billions of dollars to find free energy, to find the answer to water shortages and to find better health for people.  Entrepreneurs can bless the lives of society because they have been trained to see differently and have a mentality that anything is possible. 

Skills: 

This week our Entrepreneurs are formulating their marketing plans.  To launch this segment, we watched some videos on the how-to theme, including Reg Gupton's on the "3 Ms of Marketing."  Our Entrepreneurs appreciated the simplicity of his approach, and we used it to create a model to work from, which is in summary:

• Market:  identify your ideal customer, considering specific demographic, psychographic, and geographic characteristics.  Also analyze your competition and key differentiating elements.
• Media:  identify at least four different marketing channels you will implement.  Remember that everyone has some type of face-to-face marketing opportunity, which is the most effective alternative.  Consider phone calls, events, email, websites, social media, etc.  Create a strategy with specific actions and goal dates.
• Message:  What is the overall message you are using to connect with your ideal customer?  How can you harness the power of a slogan, imagery, and emotion to connect with your ideal customer and his/her "tribe"?

Our Entrepreneurs also discussed ideas presented by Seth Godin, in his classic presentation, "The Tribes We Lead."  We learned several important principles: 

• Take a piece of the status quo and break through it. 
• Leadership is finding "disconnected people who have a yearning."
• In marketing a product or a movement, "you don't need everyone, you just need a few."  Some of our Entrepreneurs' own ideas on Tribes included these:
• "People really want to be a part of something."  Thomas
• "Don't waste your time trying to force your product or service, just find a group that connects with it."  Charles
• "You don't need to start a tribe -- just find one to tap into."  Jackson

We explored how well-funded marketers combine the elements of an effective message, when emotion, visual elements, and slogans are combined in a powerful and memorable way.  Our examples included a McDonald's "Love" ad aired during the Superbowl, (for contrast) Burger King's funny "Eat Like Snake" ad, and Nike's 25th anniversary "Just Do It" ad.  

Guest:  Nick White, Founder and CEO of Epic Marketing

Marketing genius Nick White, founder and CEO of Epic Marketing paid a visit.  Nick's entrepreneurial journey started early in life.  In third grade, he began selling paper throwing stars to his friends for $.25 each.  Using low-cost materials (paper) and his own labor, he realized that he could make his own money.  While still in elementary school, he then moved on to selling candy.  He had his parents load up on blowpops and other popular items at Costco, and then he sold them to students out of his backpack.  He earned enough money doing this to take his family to Knotts Berry Farm.  

As a young father, Nick expanded on the sales and marketing talents he had been developing as a boy.  He reached top-performing positions on sales teams at RC Willey and later at KUTV Channel 2.  But at both places, Nick felt a burning sense that he had something greater to offer.  He left KUTV determined to succeed on his own.  Ten years ago he started Epic, which now employs around 20 people and carries a distinguished client list.  

Nick walked our Entrepreneurs through two real case studies in a before-vs-after format to help them understand effective messaging, connecting visuals, emotion, and slogans in effective print media.  

In addition to some great lessons on grit, hard work, passion, and planning, Nick left our Entrepreneurs with paper throwing stars, which he made by hand!

Soapbox:  (Note to Parents)  Do you believe it is good to make mistakes?  We sure do.  We want our Entrepreneurs to make mistakes early and often.  In QLP, we are working to create a "flight simulator" where our learners' mistakes come at a relatively low cost and where we have lots of opportunity to reflect upon and learn from them.  Please encourage your children to have courage, to experiment, and help them learn from events that don't go the way they want.