applying marketing principles

sometimes, i feel that majoring in marketing is not too bad a choice after all.

well, my first choice has always been finance. however, being the lazy type in year 1 i screwed up my chance to get into it (supposedly that's where the money is - but only back then. now it's was).

and marketing majors are often people who cannot get into finance.

well, i did what i could. appealed... to no effect. but no matter.

majoring in marketing has given me a little insight into doing business. that's right - doing.

not really sure what the other specializations focus on... but here, it's more about customers - the revenue-bringers.

today, the discussion isn't exactly on applying marketing principles to the business world. these material we already have a truckload. and having read so much about these stuff in school, it's time to put a more interesting perspective in it.

had the idea of blogging about this since last week, when i was having this conversation with a friend of mine. for the two of us, there isn't any topic which we restrict ourselves to. however, we cannot escape from talking about the most interesting topic of all.

yup. relationships (again).

now, it isn't exactly credible to hear things about relationships from a... noob. inexperienced in matters of the heart, but often engaged in the process of analyzing and providing suggestions to relationships, i believe i do possess some level of competence. though i'm still working hard to improve it.

so how can one apply marketing principles in this area?

it's intuitively simple. let's consider a person as a product.

just so happens that the salesperson for this "product" is the person himself / herself.

a product possess both tangible and intangible attributes. discussed in the context of a person, tangible things include physical appearance, while intangibles include thought and behavior.

consumers purchase products not for the attributes products have, but for the benefits they derive from these attributes. for some products, these benefits are merely functional. that is, for example, if you buy a pack of (normal) chicken rice, what it provides is the ability to satisfy hunger. functional.

however, if you buy the car you have always wanted, it provides not only the opportunity for you to drive it and "transport" yourself around, but also allows you to derive certain emotional benefits from it. for example, you might feel a sense of joy or pride, for having saved so long for it, and the satisfaction in general are emotional benefits.

people get into relationships for emotional benefits. that is, a person in my view should be marketed with emotional benefits as the main selling point. while talking about selling points, marketers often advocate the use of "unique selling point" for the products they are marketing. that is, what is unique about the product (person)?

these emotional benefits often come from the intangible aspects a person has. thus, we are talking about the attitudes and behaviors a person possesses - and how these attributes can become strong evidence to convince the other half to seriously consider this person and, from being together, receive these emotional benefits.

not that this is 100% accurate. nor do i advocate getting into relationships just to get these benefits. it's just a so-called scientific way of looking at this issue.

well, love isn't something you can quantify or make perfect sense of it... so there.

anyway, back to the question at hand. so you think you have the stuff, and you would like to start marketing yourself. in your mind, you are bound to have certain consumer segment(s) that you would like to market yourself to - your target market. you hope to have as much of these people in your radar as possible.

good for you if the person you are targeting appears on your radar.

good, too, if the person doesn't. here, you can give yourself some explanations as to why this person is not on it.

as marketers, we do not aim to satisfy every consumer in the market. that'll be too costly, and we will have no specific focus. rather, we segment the entire market and identify near-homogeneous subgroups and target them.

some explanations you can use:

1) you are not out to satisfy every person.
2) this person just don't happen to fall into my radar.
3) i did what i could, (2) just didn't happen.

and by taking this view, you can keep yourself going and not dwell too long on a single person. as with diversification and long-term view strategies, you can do yourself a really big favor by eating buffet and lay a long line.

do not be so concerned with short-term fluctuations and come-and-gos. it is for relationships, as it is with life in general.

in the long run, things are going to be ok and would turn out just fine. isn't that already happening in your life? not all aspects of it perhaps, but looking back 10 years ago and compare it to today, are not things getting better?

just something for you to think about.