WHO I'VE WORKED WITH
Marketing
It isn't enough to have a good product; that product must to be what the customer is both going to be in needing and looking to buy.
- Source of revenue generation
- Sales: You have to understand the lives of your audience as people, and the price they are willing to pay for what they want or need.
- Revenue inflow model: sales & consultancy services; redirected sales; Internet advertising; work outsourcing; pre-designed components.
- e-Commerce
- To establish "Reliability & Availability" to the client.
- Key channels: word of mouth, safeforce, print (magazines, brochure, sourcebook, yellow pages) & radio media, community network, lead generation firms, online testimonials of experiences with photos
- Expenses: operational & material costs, physical infrastructure, manpower; creating brand identity; branding need event presence; promotion of special eco-products
- Customer relationships: Online & dedicated customer service, Online tracking of order, subscription to discounts alerts,
- Target age group: 21-80 year old,
- Customer segments (urban): real-estate developers & agents, architects, students to pensioners/expats and new house owners, gated apartment & villa communities
- What are the products and services for each segment?
- Key resources: technology Innovation; providing worker's accommodation; purchasing new machineries
- Leverage R&D technology innovation from outside, rather than in-house. In-house R&D brings in additional value but is an expensive investment.
- Key partners: material Suppliers, specialized component manufacturers, home furnishing stores, financial institutions, paint, insulation/AC & electrical store, design and architectural institutions.
- What activities do our key partners perform?
- What resources are we acquiring from our partners?
- 720 degree quality products
- What are the client's problems that we are helping to solve?
- What does satisfy the client's need?
- Imported and wide choice of hardware materials
- channel & distribution integration?
- Real-time Visualization (coloured) with customized solutions
- (functional, aesthetic, durable) holistic design solutions
- Craftsmanship & Knowledge mastery
- Financing benefits: EMI option
- Maintenance option
- Awareness > evaluation > purchase > delivery > After sales
- Dynamic pricing: depending on the availability and demand
- Value-driven pricing vs fixed listed pricing
- A long-term strategy: Selling "top products" in larger volumes, can subsidise for less profitable products. However, identify "top products"; these are niche products that sell even if its less quantity.
- Reduce cost through design first, rather than investing in the most expensive functional equipment inside the product.
- Products made by big firms ,who have a rigged the market and monopolised it, measurement their success solely in terms of money. Ready-made traditional products, copied and repeated, seductive product sells well with people who are living with a dumbed down mentality. New players may have no control over the market but they are sharing things they love making and this brings in more value. When there are a growing number of people with different sensibilities, they will be looking out for a better products in the market space. This demand, creates a space for change in the market for new risk-taking players who have the market space to grow.
- “Choose your team carefully. So much of your success is due to the people who you surround yourself with."
- “Decide for you if fashion is an art or an artistic business. This will affect how you setup your company. "
- “Find a great business partner and don’t let them go. This is absolutely key. You'll need someone who believes in you completely and respects your judgment and vision.
- “Be thankful to all those who help you on the way up. You won't get there without them. Cherish them."
- “Remember that we all have it in our power to simply say, ‘Fuck it, I’m going to bed.’ And somehow, the next morning, everything seems a lot better. This was my father’s secret to staying calm and making it through anything that life threw at him, and it’s given me a lot of strength over the years.”
“Remember that our customers do not need our products. They don’t need another pair of shoes or a new jacket. We have to create that need by creating desire. I have at times in my life had a real problem with this, with the materialism and consumerism that is fashion. Part of me wants to rebel against this and move to the desert and live in a simple adobe hut and become a monk. The other part of me wants to enjoy the beauty of the way that a piece of silk velvet catches the light and takes colour. Finally, I realized we live in a material world. We're material creatures. We are sensorial, we feel, and we touch. We’re fortunate to live in the Western world where we do have luxury. And fashion is part of experiencing that material time that we have on earth. It really does add beauty and quality to our lives.”