'Wow! I have a brilliant idea of a business,' excitement was boiling from my friend's voice over the phone, 'this is the business of the future. It's something anyone wouldn't have heard. It's going to take on the world!!'
'Okay.. that sounds great. But…'
'Listen to me', his wave of excitement wasn't ready to cease. It washed away my query starting with a but, 'I have already made a program. We'll hire a couple of coders & an app developer. We'll also need a space to work. I'll get a website done. Then we'll approach funders.'
He poured out all his ideas around 'the idea' at once. This wasn't new to me. My innovative friend thinks of such novel ideas every now and then. Ideas are free. Execution takes it all. But my friend with an idea mill keeps on churning more and more. So, you must be wondering why haven't any of his ideas worked out so far. Like our previous conversations regarding the idea invention, I was coming to that 'million dollar question' during this one too.
'Okay.. I'll listen to your idea. And I hope, at least this time, you have thought of bringing the buyers..'
'Yaar *&%** !!! you always do this. Buyers will follow us..' irritation started replacing his excitement.
'You had said this in your last pitch and before that.. and.. no business is without buyers.. so.. I want to…'
I knew what was coming next. He switched off the phone.
He never is ready to face the very principle of business - buyers, consumers, customers, leads, enquiries.. whatever you call it. But they are the ones that run the business, not only ideas.
We all meet such people who are so much in love with their business idea that they forget to market it and then eventually the idea (no matter how brilliant it is) dies.
Obviously, not every business owner or a founder is expert in marketing their businesses on their own. But one must have someone buy their side to take it to the buyers. There's hardly any business idea is so indispensable that buyers flock in for it. It takes a while to learn this bitter truth.
When we started our business, One Mile Ahead Films, the video marketing scenario was equally good and bad. Good, because there was hardly any competition and bad because there was hardly any awareness of video advertising and marketing. Videos were always a luxury. You could either make a TVC on the television channels or you can make a corporate video. Television is always dominated by big FMCG brands. Small FMCG brands and retailers always faced this dilemma of going on the regional television channels or find the other ways of marketing. Corporate videos were always meant for manufacturing industries.
We, being very small production house, couldn't get big brands. Though we used to make TVCs for small retailers and real estate brands along with corporate videos for manufacturing industries, we started creating our own mark in our videos. Creative concepts have always been our strength. But in those days, corporate videos would always start with a logo animation and end with the same. We created our videos with an opening concept to begin with. Uniqueness always sells. Needless to say, it got us many new clients.
Trends change after every few year. Opening a corporate video with a creative concept was the in thing then which eventually became cliché. Everyone started doing it. Things change and you'll have to be ready to embrace it. And all this we do, is to gain and retain customers.
Customers are easy to lose and that's the reason we should keep looking for our Undomitable Value Aspect - UVA all the time. This is the term I use for that one aspect of your business in which nobody is able to beat you, may it be the nature of the business or the way you sell or your service or your experience or your experience in the field. Something has to be unbeatable. And if you don't find anything, then you'll have to create one. It's an ongoing process. In my career as an advertising professional and a filmmaker, I have experienced one thing. UVA always keeps on changing. It's the fastest moving aspect of marketing and advertising. The moment you realize that you don't need another UVA, it has already started slipping.
UVA - Undomitable Value Aspect:
In advertising, we've heard the term USP - Unique Selling Point. It's that one point which is the most unique and the most appealing about your business. Believe me, every business has its USP. But with growing competition, someone else in the same category may also share your USP and there comes UVA. USP is constant while UVA changes with times and trends. You'll have to improve and add your UVA.
Both Burger King and McDonald's sell burgers. Burger King has Whopper sandwiches as their signature product while McDonald's has Big Mac. They have many things in common - taste, variety, price. There's hardly any difference. But still people prefer a McD over a BK. It's the user experience where McD scores more. People love to go to McD outlets, get pictures with the mascots and enjoy the service by the courteous staff. So, that's the UVA of McD - User Experience. After a while, once Burger King settles down in India, they may come up with a better user experience. Then McDonald's might have to look for a different UVA or even Burger King will take a new UVA to have an edge over McD.
That's what the case with Pepsi and Coke. They both have to fight for their space in the hearts of the teenagers. In India, Pepsi is playing around the generation 'Y' while coke is still trying to prove their original cola taste.
Positioning makes a difference:
UVA is not something out of this planet concept. It's a new avatar of our age old concept of brand positioning. But the right kind of positioning is that which is in sync with the brand's offering. You can't afford to go wrong there. You can't position yourselves which you are not. Therefore, finding your Undomitable Value Aspect becomes crucial at every stage of business. It keeps you ahead of your competition. It's always makes you distinctive. A UVA can be derived from the product or services you sell, the quality aspect, the USPs, the customer feedback. There are many aspects that would help you find your UVA.
Unlike my friend with 'out of the world ideas and lack of knowledge to sell them', you can find your UVA to stay ahead in winning leads in your marketing efforts. Including your UVA in Video Marketing is again a very important aspect. We'll discuss it in the coming blogs.
Till then, I hope you may be able to find your Undomitable Value Aspect