Caribbean Research and Strategy

Register for Rainmaking Curacao 2011 - September 27

2011-09-18T17:02:00.002-04:00

Thank you for your interest

Register for September 27 seminar at Renaissance here

Payments can be made in favor of
MarkStra
MCB 12567805
Curacao

Featured Speakers

2011-09-16T10:03:00.002-04:00

Born and raised on Curaçao, Tamira La Cruz, MBA, CEO of MarkStra Caribbean, started her career as a marketing executive with a leading banking group in the Netherlands Antilles, working throughout the Dutch Caribbean. As a consultant, she has completed research, corporate strategy, marketing, trade development and internet/e-commerce assignments for both domestic and global firms throughout the Caribbean, in the U.S., Belgium, Spain and Chile.

She has lectured and published extensively on strategy, marketing, management and global business issues, both locally and elsewhere in the region. Selling knowledge services and innovation across borders holds her particular interest.

Ms. La Cruz holds an MBA degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BSBA degree from Boston University. Ms. La Cruz is a Burke Certified focus group moderator, a board member of the Curacao Chamber of Commerce and Industry, former president of the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International Curacao.

Mirto Murray, esq., has practiced law in the Dutch Caribbean and Surinam for the past 15 years, using Curacao as base, most recently as partner of SMS Attorneys. Early in his career he served as Vice-President and then President of the Curacao Bar Association. His law degree is from the University of Amsterdam.

He has served on numerous important committees and board, often related to legal issues in the Dutch Caribbean and Surinam. He has been the trustee for the bankruptcy for the Dutch Caribbean Airlines N.V. and an observer on behalf of the Curacao Minister of Justice to the trials related to the "Decembermoorden" in Surinam.

He is a prolific writer, whose work has often been published in legal and scientific publications, as well as local newspapers. His most recent publication is the "Two Masters" written with Karel Frielink, esq.

Mr. Murray, who hails from Surinam, has also lectured law to numerous full-and part-time students in Curacao and has made many media appearances to speak on legal issues.

Clark Russelis the CEO of IBIS Management Associates Inc. theleading international banking consulting and technology company in theCaribbean and

Americas

. IBIS Management helps major banks in more than 25 countries to become"profitably efficient" in their operations.

Clark founded IBIS ManagementAssociates Inc. back in 2001, as an advisor and provider of Straight ThroughProcessing solutions for the international banking sector. IBIS Management isthe creator of the award winning Alchemy Payment Processing suite of productsthat provide Internet Banking, Mobile Banking and a back office paymentprocessing infrastructure for banks. Banks that use the Alchemy solutiontransform their manually driven back-office departments into highly efficientand fast paced operations with increased profitability.

After completing his Engineering studies,Clark began his career in the Netherlandswhere he joined the international systems department of the ABN AMRO Bank in Amsterdam. In this role, he laid down the initial blueprints for the Global Access Network of the Bank, a proprietary integratedcommunications network connecting all world wide ABN AMRO Branches. He went onto hold Sr. positions in the Bank where he played leading roles in the creationof regional ATM and POS payment processing networks for the Bank in theCaribbean region over a six year period.

In 1998 Clark continued his career atPriceWaterhouseCoopers as a Sr. Management Consultant, where he was involved inimplementing cost management models at major national telecommunicationcompanies in countries such as the UK,Israel, Holland and his native Dutch Antilles.

Clark and IBIS Management associatesare members of the International Financial Services Association (IFSA), theCaribbean Association of Indigenous Banks (CAIB), SWIFT, and actively providethought leadership and best practice to leading Central, Private and CommercialBanks. Clark and IBIS Management are constantlyat the forefront of leading innovative projects in banking technology while atthe same time making contributions to the local and regional community throughthe Banks-4-kids charity foundation.

Clark is a native of the lovely islandof Curacao in the Dutch Caribbean, is married and the father of three sons and apassionate sailor.

Program B2B Marketing Strategy and Innovation Seminar

2011-09-16T09:06:00.001-04:00

Rainmaking Curacao 2011

September 27, 2:00pm-5pm

Renaissance Resort and Casino Curacao

200pm-230pmRegistration followed by opening

230pm-300pmTamira La Cruz- CEO MarkStra Caribbean, on Marketing

includes hands-on exercises

300pm-315pmMirto Murray, Partner SMS Attorneys,

as interviewed by Karyl Bertrand, lawyer, SBA Advocaten

on his experience in marketing himself and his firm as a lawyer

315pm-335pmCoffee break

340pm-410pmTamira La Cruz – strategy and innovation

410pm-430pmClark Russel – CEO of IBIS Management on specialization

as a strategy for international growth

430pm-500pm Panel discussion

500pm Networking

Mystery Shoppers Wanted

2011-09-12T22:18:00.000-04:00

A mystery shopping program enables companies to measure the quality of their service and therefore the satisfaction of their customers. Read more about Mystery Shopping.

Mystery shoppers pose as anonymous customers and go to assigned stores on assigned dates and carry out an assigned transaction. Thereafter they fill in an evaluation form which is sent to the MarkStra's client. Shoppers are reimbursed for the expense (of buying something) and/or receive a fee.

Mystery shopping is also referred to as secret shopper or shop audit.

Because of our increased load we are now looking for mystery shoppers. We are looking for serious, responsible people with a cellphone and internet access. If interested please fill out Mystery Shopper Application and we will get back to you via email.

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Un programa di mystery shopping to sirbi pa yuda kompanianan midi kalidat di nan servisio i satisfakshon di nan klientenan/kumpradonan. Pa mas informashon, por lesa Mystery Shopping.

Mystery shoppers anonimamente ta bishita un establesimentu predetermina riba un fecha predetermina i ta hasi un transakshon (kumpra algu, hasi un pregunta, etc.) predetermina. Despue snan ta yena un formulario di evaluashon ku MarkStra ta manda pa dono di e establesimentu. Nos ta paga nos shoppernan pa e gastu (di a kumpra algu) i/of nan ta hana un pago apart.

Na e momentu aki nos ta buskando algun mystery shopper nobo, hende serio i responsabel ku telefon selular i aseso na internet. Si bo ta interesa, por favor yena nos Aplikashon pa mystery shopper i nos lo tuma kontakto via email.

Support from the Curacao Chamber of Commerce and Industry

2011-09-12T17:32:00.006-04:00

We are grateful for the support of Curacao Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Rainmaking Curacao 2011 on September 27, 2011.

Register for Rainmaking Curacao 2011

Why a B2B Business Development (Marketing) Seminar in Curacao?

2011-09-12T17:21:00.000-04:00

With more than 120 participants, our B2C Seminar Reaching Curacao 2010 of May 2010 exceeded expectations. Soon afterwards people started asking us about a B2B Seminar which discussed business development/marketing tools that were effective in Curacao's small market.

Some of the specific challenges in a small market are:

a 'small to medium' B2B firm easily means a practice which just one professional, where this same professional is also the main marketer, something that is not his/her core business
securing acceptable ROI on the investment in time and financial resources
how does one achieve growth in a the local market which is limited and local and global competition that are growing?
how do you specialize? Is it worth it?
where does one find and guide suppliers (advertising agencies, copywriters, graphic designers, etc.) specialized in B2B tools and is that essential

These are the questions we seek to address in Rainmaking Curacao 2011.

Rainmaking?

2011-09-12T16:55:00.000-04:00

What does "Rainmaking" in Rainmaking Curacao 2011 refer to?

Rainmaker : An employee who creates a significant amount of business for a company, often used in the context of law or financial services firms, but increasingly so for other B2B service firms.

Most of us know the term through John Grisham's 1995 bestselling novel The Rainmaker or the 1996 movie based on the novel, directed by Francis Ford Copolla and starring Matt Damon, Danny de Vito Danny Glover, Claire Danes, Jon Voight, Roy Scheider, Mickey Rourke, Virginia Madsen and Mary Kay Place.

Since there have been many books, seminars and blogs carrying this title, including The Art of Rainmaking by Guy Kawasaki, perhaps best known as the former chief evangelist of Apple.

So, let's get to some rainmaking in Curacao and internationally in Rainmaking Curacao 2011, Tuesday September 27 starting at 2pm at the Renaissance in Curacao.

Seminar B2B Marketing, Strategy and Innovation Rainmaking Curaçao 2011

2011-09-12T16:51:00.001-04:00

Youare the owner or senior executive of an accounting, architecture, advertising,bookkeeping, consulting, design, engineering, IT, law, tax law, media, notary, recruiting, event planning, privatehealth care or other professional business service firm.

Is your goal to:

· Start a business development (marketing) programthat you can maintain?

· Differentiate yourself from your colleagues toget more business?

· Have your associates bring in more revenues?

· Re-package (innovate) your services for more revenue?

· Get some inspiration and share experiences?

You willleave Rainmaking Curaçao 2011 with:

· Marketing tips and techniques from which you canchoose based on your strengths and resources

· Parties who can help you implement the marketingactions under our guidance

· Strategic moves to consider to specialize,innovate, or carve out a niche locally or internationally

· Real life examples of local B2B providers whohave done the same

Place: Renaissance CuracaoResort & Casino

Date: Tuesday, September 27,2011

Time: 2:00-5:00pm followed bynetworking

Fee: ANG 375,-- (including Syllabus and OB)

Featured Speakers

· Tamira La Cruz, CEO of MarkStra Caribbean

· Clark Russel, CEO of IBIS Management

· Mirto Murray, Partner at SMS Attorneys At Law

To register: Register Rainmaking Curacao 2011 27 September 2011

· For more info: info@markstra.com or call (5999) 767-3085 (after 2pm)

Join us!

Making do with less leads to Innovation

2011-08-14T21:30:00.001-04:00

Interesting. This journalist makes the case that since resources in Africa are limited, Africans are inherently innovative because they have to make do with less. I have previously made the case that since resources in small economies are relatively limited, we are inherently innovative for the same reason.

http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/02/african-innovation-doing-more-with-less/

Innovative Avenues for Business between Curacao and St. Kitts

2011-08-14T13:50:00.000-04:00

Speech for the Rotary Club of St. Kitts, July 14, 2011

My grandmother was born in St. Kitts.. Together with her mother, uncles and siblings she later moved to the Dominican Republic. In her twenties she left all her family behind to follow my Nevisian-born grandfather to Curacao. Of her arrival in Curacao she says: “I was still on the boat when I saw them put my Singer sewing machine on the dock”. At age 100 she was still sewing. She died later, still a Kittitian or “British”, as she would say, not having consciously experienced the independence of her country.
As you can imagine, it’s a deep honor for me to be stand before you today. I bring you greetings from the Rotary Club of Curacao, as well as a more personal greeting, and thank you for this opportunity.

As you know, since 10 October 2010, the Netherlands Antilles no longer exist. Instead there are, on the one hand, the countries of Curacao and St. Maarten. And, on the other hand, the BES islands- Bonaire, Statia and Saba, which have become provinces of the Netherlands. Curacao is not independent. We are all still Dutch citizens and we are still Caribbean with all the opportunities and challenges these bring.

Talking about opportunities in Curacao. You know, or can Google, the standard list of opportunities in Curacao: tourism (including long-stay and real estate), international finance and trade, harbor, logistics, oil refining. But permit me to take a road less travelled, based on my professional background and interest.

My company, MarkStra Caribbean’s, key words are research, strategy, competitiveness and innovation. We help companies grow through research, strategy and innovation in products, services and markets, particularly Caribbean markets. I am personally doing academic work on competitiveness of small state economies. That’s essentially where ‘competitiveness’ comes in.

So, today, permit me to highlight some innovative avenues for the growth of Kittitian and Curacaoan businesses, particularly knowledge-related businesses, which most of your businesses are.

What could be the added value of Curacao’s businesses to Kittitian businesses? In other words, what are the relative strengths of Curacao and Curacao business?

1. Anything with language, diversity and multiculturalism. Just about every Curacaoan can make himself understood in at least 4 languages: Papiamentu, Dutch, English and Spanish, with growing sprinklings of Brazilian Portuguese (which is a lot like Papiamentu) and French. Between 1920s and 1950s, we had a large influx of British Caribbean nationals. In the past 20-30 years we have become particularly popular among the European Dutch, Dominican, Colombians, Venezuelans, Haitians and to a lesser extent Jamaicans. Twenty percent (20%) of our labor force of 55.000 people is born outside of Curacao. Think translation, advertising, communication, but also the interpreting and understanding of other cultures. For instance: I have done preliminary research among Haitians friends in Curacao before going to the field in Haiti.

2. Anything European, particularly Dutch. We have better access to European markets for products to which we add value (not so much commodities). In addition, Curacao is probably the destination of choice for Dutch visitors and business people.
But there is also the more intangible. I am an exception –I studied in the U.S. - but most of my peers studied in Holland and still have close ties. An example: There is a company in Curacao which recruits employees for Dutch companies to work in Holland, based on the time difference- candidates can be called after their work hours. But more importantly, they make use of the Dutch network of recruiters who have moved to Curacao.
What else have we learnt well? Organization, structures, rules & regulations, directness, on-time performance and reliability. We stress ourselves trying to imitate and please the European Dutch and sometimes it has its benefits, a fact sometimes mentioned by regional clients.

3. Anything related to Spanish speaking Americas. I mentioned the large and increasingly professionally diverse diaspora from Colombia, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic, who have to our shores for many reasons. Today they have been in Curacao long enough to have become duly settled. Their new businesses thrive, many based on ties with their home countries. So, if you want to sell to or source from these markets, Curacao can provide the network.

4. Resources. With a population of 140.000 and a GDP of USD 20.000 per capita, Curacao is a relatively large economy among the really small ones. We have more consultants, architects, doctors, engineers, etc.. Perhaps we can offer more specialization, or just more choice. In this specific case, our professionals probably have a different perspective from our CARICOM colleagues, which can add value. And… we are farther away. Some clients value the resulting objectivity, real or imagined. We also all know that, for some, an expert is someone-who-arrives-on-a-plane.

What is St Kitts’ relative added value to Curacao and its businesses?
It’s my 5th time in St. Kitts in 20 years. I first came here at the start of my career to explore business opportunities for a financial institution. Later I came to explore family ties. I have landed here a couple of times with a sailing boat with friends and this time I am here to celebrate family.

1. Caribbean or CARICOM hinterland. We are not allowed in, on our own. And perhaps, because of size St. Kitts cannot take advantage of the Caribbean market of 20 million, on your own. Perhaps, we can succeed together.

2. Programs, projects customized for the Caribbean often by Caribbean people, which may be suitable for us also. Perhaps you have more access to them or you are more aware of them. Remember, we are not independent. Therefore we are excluded from many programs from the WTO, IDB, etc. Sometimes it is possible for us to get access in partnership with an independent country. In addition, generally our focus has been Holland, so we are less aware of what is possible in and for the region.

3. Canada. Canada is perhaps to you what Holland is to us: a country we are quite familiar with, where we have a large diaspora and whose opportunities we can make much better use of. Curacao is interested in Canada. Perhaps you can help. On the other hand, perhaps Curacao is further along in exploring its Dutch-based diaspora. Perhaps there are some learnings to share there in your relation to Canada.

4. Every time I come here I marvel at the choices in Caribbean children’s books at the bookstore. Our education is not in English – it is in Papiamentu and Dutch. But rather than writing our own Caribbean based children’s books, we can translate yours. I think we have some translated African children’s books. But I know our children would be better able to identify with stories of beaches, tourists, slave history, etc.

So, the message is: there are many opportunities ahead, if we work together. But this is just some food for thought till next April. I invite you to come explore for yourself. April 5-7, 2012 is a good time to do so as the two Rotary Clubs in Curacao will be hosting our District’s Conference in Curacao. Our club is celebrating its 75th anniversary, so it will be something special. The Rotary International President Kalyan Banerjee is scheduled to come, as are several other prominent Rotarians. And it would be a personal pleasure to welcome you to Curacao.

Watch your words, even when they are written

2011-07-22T21:08:00.001-04:00

I have a home-office, so leaving my house early enough to get somewhere at 8am is a rarity. But, today I did. I was having an early morning coffee with a colleague. I arrive at my favorite coffee place. There is a paper stuck on the door.

Temporalmente sera pa motibu di problema ku kassa!!!!

Translated: temporarily closed due to problems with the cash register!!!!

So I wondered:
1. Why all the exclamation points?
2. An apology for the inconvenience would have been nice.

Practicing what I preach

2011-07-22T21:04:00.001-04:00

Marketing 101 for consultants:
1. Join organizations and be active in them
2. Be a speaker whenever possible

So, I joined the Rotary Club of Curacao last November. In May I went to the Rotary International Convention in New Orleans. This month, while essentially on vacation, I visited the Rotary Club of St. Maarten-Mid Isle and spoke for the Rotary Club of St. Kitts.

Met some wonderful people, several with ties to Curacao and Aruba. When I invited the Kittitians to come to Curacao for Rotary's District Conference, they reminded me that, before that, they had to come to the Curacao North Sea Jazz Festival. Did I know the line-up?

Post-Reaching Curacao 2010.

2010-07-01T13:56:00.003-04:00

It was a while ago, but Reaching Curacao 2010- the Event, exceeded my expectations. More than 126 marketing people attended. Someone said: "all of marketing Curacao has come to a complete stop." And the comments were very encouraging.

I do have pictures, but technology is not cooperating.

After that, and a short illness, I worked hard on the report. We sold more reports than expected.

Thank you all for your support.

Planning the next thing, while I work on engagements that really allow me to pay the bills.

Reaching Curacao 2010 Looking Good

2010-05-17T17:19:00.003-04:00

Reaching Curacao 2010 is looking good, like we envisioned.

Almost 100 participants have registered already, representing the following companies:

Fatum, ENNIA, DAE, Curacao Beverage Bottling Company, HUCOR NV Holding Company, Selikor N.V., Freeport Jewelers, Insel Air, Distribier, Maduro & Curiel's Bank N.V., Fun Miles Antilles N.V., Kooyman BV, Building Depot, Hector Henriquez N.V., Curacao Laboratories & Senior & Co, Janssen de Jong Project Development, McDonalds Aruba & Curacao, SFT, EJPEG, DEZ, Chamber of Commerce, Curacao Mobile BV, ActionCoach, Manrique Capriles, Licores Maduro, OBNA, Epiphany BV, NAOC, DirecTV, El Tributo, Martijn Trading, Securitas Antias, Gosucon NV, ACTS, Regina Pacis VSBO, PRGV 100% Creatie, BAKEN Management Consultancy, Mosaic Marketing & Coordination, FEFFIK, SIAC NV, Axum Caribbean, Jonckheer Advertising and Marketing Cons. BV, Artutrust N.V., VMA (Varia Marketing & Advertising), Noort Advies, Rao & Co. N.V., Kleinmoedig & Partners Attorneys at Law, Curacao Financial Advisory Services BV, Plantijn Secure Advice BV, DENKENenDOEN, Tera Group Advertising and Public Relations, Dragonfly Media Chatlein Notaries, COR Antilles, SaBiCa NV, Openbaar SBO Ban Bria, In Zaken, MIXmarketing, Stradius, Hagen Advertising, TexPic.

Reaching Curacao 2010 - Why do we do it?

2010-05-07T14:56:00.004-04:00

MarkStra Caribbean is not an advertising or media placing agency. We do not make advertisements. We do research, advise on competitive strategy, new products, prices, distribution channels, innovation, etc. But, once in a while we have to make media recommendations to clients, or assess in which medium good or bad publicity has the most impact, and thus warrants action.

I can never give a firm recommendation, and the advertising or media-buying agency we are working with cannot either. Our work is more complicated because of the extreme media proliferation in Curacao: 20something radio stations and almost 10 daily newspapers? When I had my first media job, in 1983, the landscape was quite different.

Yes, my colleague Disrael Orphelin did media surveys many years ago, mostly as a hobby. And yes, there is a media survey sold quite exclusively to a number of large advertisers. But the rest of our clients?

No matter how you turn it, in 2010, with so many highly educated marketing and advertising professionals working in Curacao this is simply not possible. It is also not possible because foreign companies do have the information, putting our local companies at a competitive disadvantage.

So why are we where we are with regards to media, while we do have lots of ongoing research with regards to other products and services?

I don't know the answer. Do you?

Meanwhile, learn more about Reaching Curacao 2010

Reaching Curacao 2010 - What is it?

Reaching Curacao 2010 - The Report

Reaching Curacao 2010 - The Event

MarkStra Caribbean - 15 years!

2010-05-06T10:31:00.000-04:00

Hey, it's our 15th anniversary year!

And we are celebrating:

and adapted name
a new style
a new focus
Reaching Curacao 2010

Reaching Curacao 2010 - What is it?

Reaching Curacao 2010 - The Report

Reaching Curacao 2010 - The Event

Reaching Curacao 2010 - The Report

2010-05-04T18:40:00.006-04:00

But how many people are we talking about? what media is best to place this particular advertisement in?

It is obvious that we need (more) hard data on Curacao for good strategic and marketing decision-making.

At MarkStra Caribbean we are on a mission to make a difference by collecting market related data for Curacao (doing surveys) and making this available in a report to selected parties or via presentations.

The first report is Reaching Curacao 2010, containing:

Size of Curacao market segments
Our total combined spending on different product categories
Our use of radio, television and newspaper and new media in Curacao by age, sex and social-economic class (SEC), and time most watched or listened
Where we shop and roads most travelled by age, sex and SEC
Global trends regarding media attitudes and generations! Yes, the generations are different.

Reaching Curacao 2010 - The Report is available at the special introductory price of ANG 1.500 if bought before June 1, 2010.

How is the Report different from the Event? It provides more detailed data:

readership and audience by age, sex and SEC for all media
more detailed data about spending on product categories
more detailed information about media attitudes

Worried that you will have paid for the information while everybody else copies it?

Valid concern. We will select the companies who can buy the report.

Thinking about ROI? If the report helps you:

place two 3colx25cm ads better, you will have made your money back
make a better decision about sponsoring radio newscasts for two months you will have made your money back
reduce the one debate about market potential or guesswork about market size, you will have made your money back

Methodology

Reaching Curacao 2010 - The Event

You can see the quality of our work and to enable small businesses to get at least some info. We hope to see you and your business development and marketing staff there!

Reaching Curacao 2010 - What is it?

Reaching Curacao 2010 - The Report

Reaching Curacao 2010 - The Event

To reserve your copy, please contact us at tlacruz@markstra.com or call 767-3085.

Reaching Curacao 2010 - Media Survey Methodology and FAQ

2010-05-04T16:55:00.015-04:00

Methodology and frequently asked questions before the event.

Methodology

March 2010 was the 2nd time we conducted a survey about media usage as part of a Caribbean wide effort. The first was time was February 2009.
The same survey has been done in at least 10 Caribbean countries at the same time.
It's a telephone survey, among 320 respondents, representative of Curacao. We have made sure that each age group, sex and educational status is represented in roughly the same proportion as in Curacao. In addition, we have tried to make each group large enough so that we can base some realistic conclusion on the findings. If you only have the responses of 10 males between the age of 18-24, you cannot base much of a conclusion on that.
Respondents were selected from our database (panel) and from random telephone listings. Why not just telephone listings? Because increasingly people do not want to answer questions from 'strangers'. Increasingly, around the world, market researchers are moving towards 'panels'.

What did we ask?

newspapers most read the past month
radio and tv stations listened to/watched each time of day
ownership of several items, including computers, internet, cellphones, BlackBerry/Iphone
use of internet
use of Facebook and frequency
most visited local website and frequency
roads most travelled (2009)
mode of transportation (2009)
geographic areas most shopped (2009)
demographics: age, sex, education, economic status (working, retired, student, etc.), profession, size of household

What can we report?

all of the issues above by age group, sex and education. We have developed a system to determine Social-Economic-Class (SEC) based on some of the demographics above. We report that, instead of education.

How exact is the data?

At a sample size of 320, the margin of error is around 5%. That means, if we find that 35% of all respondents reads newspaper Z, you can be 95% certain that the exact number is between 30% and 40%. Not exact enough? Consider what you are basing your media placement decisions on now...

Why didn't we use a larger sample size to provide more exact numbers?

Cost. After Reaching Curacao 2010 The Event and The Report, we will see what the appetite is for this type of studies. If it is big, we will do larger surveys. We certainly hope it will be!
ROI. When a research agency puts 1000 radio&tv monitoring boxes in households in Holland, advertisers stand to gain 100x more from the exact data these produce, than they would in Curacao. Why? Because the Dutch market is 100x larger and conducting a survey in Curacao is not 100x cheaper than in Holland. We can let ourselves be demotivated by the limitations of a small market or we can try to make the best out of it.
For more information on this subject: Survey sample sizes in small markets

Reaching Curacao 2010 - what is it?

Reaching Curacao 2010 - The Report

Reaching Curacao 2010 - The Event

2010-05-04T16:35:00.001-04:00

Probably the first event on Curacao for Strategy and Marketing professionals, accessible to all business owners, CEO's, CMO's, other strategy, marketing and advertising professionals

And probably the first seminar most of us will attend at the brand new Hyatt Regency Curacao.

Yes, I am excited that this will be in partial celebration of MarkStra Caribbean's 15th anniversary!

Save the date!

Tuesday May 18th,

4pm-5:30pm, followed by networking

Hyatt Regency Curacao Arrawak Ballroom

Fee: ANG 95 or USD55

Some people asked if there is an international speaker.

No! This will be the first time we will be discussing primarily Curacao strategy and marketing hard data, all together. Gezellig!

I promise it will be a unique and fun presentation, by myself, in English. But above all the data will be useful! Heads up for the preview

Please help us: if you are coming please try to register by May 10th.

We must indicate the number of attendants wayyyyy in advance.

Reaching Curacao 2010 - What is it?

Reaching Curacao 2010 - The Report

Reaching Curacao 2010 - The Event

Reaching Curacao 2010 - An introduction

2010-05-04T16:17:00.010-04:00

A frequent cry: “There is no data on Curacao”. Often followed by the realization of the acute need for hard data for good strategic and marketing decisions

At MarkStra Caribbean we would like to bring a difference by collecting market related data for Curacao (doing surveys) and offering this for sale in a report or via presentations.

Our first one is Reaching Curacao 2010. It provides:

A compilation of the important demographics in Curacao, including the size of different market segments, to help you or your client determine how attractive a consumer segment really is
Our combined spending on some important product categories
Our use of radio, television and newspaper and new media in Curacao by age, gender and social-economic class
Where we shop and roads most travelled. Ever wonder where the best places are to put billboards, without having to revert to "you-say-I-say"?
Global trends regarding media attitudes and generations! Yes, the generations are different.

Reaching Curacao 2010 - What is it?

Reaching Curacao 2010 - The Report

Reaching Curacao 2010 - The Event

9 issues to consider when deciding between Telephone or Door-to-door surveys in small markets?

2010-03-12T18:17:00.010-04:00

The source for this post is the textbook Marketing Research by Aaker, Kumar and Day, supplemented by our own experience in the small markets of the Caribbean.

When trying to decide between a telephone or door-to-door (face-to-face) survey, these are some issues to consider:

turn-around time - Because it is faster to call someone than to drive or walk to them, the turn around time for a telephone survey is shorter than for a face-to-face survey. In our experience, 400 telephone interviews can easily be done in less than 80 man-hours. Not so with face-to-face interviews
length of the questionnaire - If the questionnaire is long or complex, it is often not desirable to conduct the interview over the phone. We have found that sometimes respondents are more willing to reveal certain personal information over the phone than in person and vice versa.
distance to travel to respondents. If respondents live far apart, a telephone survey might be more cost-effective because of the cost and time of travel.
level of supervision. It is easier (and more cost effective) to duly supervise interviewers from a centralized call area, than on the road. Mistakes are also easier caught and corrected, especially if data input happens at the same time, as we do at MarkStra.
accessibility to respondents. Not all people have a telephone; interviewers can often not gain access to gated residential communities or apartments; interviewer safety may preclude visits to certain neighborhoods or during certain times of the day. Other groups are systematically inaccessible because of lifestyle or unwillingness to cooperate. Young men are often not home. When they are not, they are likely to be engaging in a group activity and cannot participate, even when called on a mobile phone. Workers in hospitality and health care often work shifts and may not be accessible during "regular" interviewing hours. In Curacao, we find that European Dutch people are systematically unavailable during dinner hours when interviewers are most likely to call or visit.
product category. If the survey is about Ringtones, a phone is a pre-requisite. Hence a telephone survey is highly appropriate. If the survey is about a basic necessity (such as water or electricity), some respondents are likely to not have a phone, while their opinion is not only important, but possibly varies significantly from people with phones. If someone has an issue with the electricity company and has a phone, the road to a solution is probably much different than if he doesn't have a phone.
sampling method used. Random sampling can be more effectively executed with a telephone survey. It is easier to call and call-back the chosen respondents, than to drive to their house with the risk of not finding them home or the risk of them not qualifying for the survey (f.i. because they are not a user of the product).
the number of phones available at the call center
budget- total cost is determined among others by the issues above

I started writing this post to explain the limitations of telephone surveys, but have realized that face-to-face interviews have at least as many limitations. Point 5, not being able to enter gated communities and apartments and interviewer safety issues are especially telling.

In the Caribbean, ROI and budget issues are especially important.Telephone surveys probably fit the budget better. Don't dismiss them as being less-than-ideal. Door-to-door surveys have at least as many limitations.

Survey sample sizes in small markets

2010-03-12T17:56:00.005-04:00

Earlier this week I had a FB discussion with a fellow researcher about appropriate sample sizes (steekproefgroottes, muestras) in market research. It prompted me to write a post I always want to write each time that discussion comes up in Curacao.

As I write, I realize that the discussion might arise from the different goals of business research versus scientific research. In business (and other organizations) information is gathered to assist in decision-making. It has to make business sense. Scientific research often merely seeks to describe a condition. The findings are not necessarily used to aid in decision-making.

The research field allows for all sample sizes. Researcher just have to indicate the accuracy of the findings.

The larger the sample size, the more accurate the result, i.e. the more likely it is that the result of the study is closer to the reality. What is the error?

Sample (rounded)	Error (rounded)
2.500	2%
1.000	3%
600	4%
400	5%
100	10%

This means that if you interview 400 people and 60% says they like your product, the reality is that between 55% and 65% like your product. If you interview 2.500 people, and 60% says they like your product, the real answer is likely to lie between 58% and 62%.

So, why would a market research not choose to work with the most accurate (large) sample size?

1. ROI reasons. Let’s say that a mass market research study with a sample size of 2.500 costs the same in Curacao, Holland and the USA, e.g. USD 10.000. All else equal, if the accurate answer on which you will base a decision yields you USD 1million extra profit in Holland, it will yield you USD 10.000 extra profit in Curacao – a BREAKEVEN -, just because our market is 100 times smaller (16 million vs 150.000). Why bother? What are the chances that you will sell this research proposal to your US boss, who is accustomed to a market where the same investment can yield 2.000 times more profit?

2. Maybe the ROI is good, but there is just no budget.

3. There are not enough qualified respondents in the market. There are 2000 babies born in Curacao every year. If a survey with 2% margin of error is desired, you need to interview all the new moms, and then some. How much it will cost in money and time to get to ALL of them? We were recently asked to interview 100 regular users of a minor cigarette brand in a certain age group. How difficult is that? How large is the risk that interviewers or respondents will fake interviews or come up with unqualified respondents?

4. There is not enough time. See point 3

5. Often a high level of accuracy is not necessary. For strategy and marketing purposes we are usually more interested in understanding and exploiting the top 3-4 alternatives, than in making an accurate top 20-ranking. We are interested in the top 3-4 reasons people buy a product, the top 3-4 media vehicles they use, the 3-4 advertising or product enhancing concepts that most appeal to them, the 3-4 closest competitors. All the other reasons, media vehicles, advertising or new product concepts and competitors become irrelevant. Why only the top 3-4? Because those are the ones we will duly consider in strategy development and/or marketing.

6. Borderline cases always mean that your work as a strategist is not done. If 52% like the product concept and 48% dislike, it is imperative to continue working on a better concept, regardless of the margin of error of the study. The risk of the product flopping in the market is simply much too great. What if further enhancement is not possible and a clear winner is not obvious? Well, if budget and time permit and the client wants to assume the risk of a product flopping, you can continue interviewing (making the sample size larger) until the desired accuracy level is reached. I.e. you can start with 400 and work your way up to a sample size of 1000 or more.

7. Segmentation is not very detailed. If the intention is to analyze and develop strategy for different segments, then you need enough respondents in each segment (subgroup) to properly analyze it (there is a formula for that). But, in small markets it is often not profitable to divide the market in many different segments, each with a different strategy. The most we might segment a small market by is 2 or 3 demographic and/or lifestyle variables. The best approach is to first decide which segments you want to study (because you can and intend to develop a separate strategy for them) and decide on minimum sample size later.

Why then have some studies with a sample size of 400 yielded vastly different results from the reality?

There are many reasons other than sample size, that could lead to the “wrong” answer. Following are some of the reasons listed by Aaker, Kumar and Day in Marketing Research (the quintessential marketing research textbook):

1. Interviewers might have phrased questions wrongly

2. Respondents might have intentionally or unintentionally given inaccurate answers

3. The answers might have been recorded, coded, processed or interpreted wrongly

4. Interviewers might have faked the interview. Unsupervised and without validation (i.e. call backs) that is a big risk. Our company asks the name and telephone number of respondents so we can call them back and check (validate). Either that or interviewers are duly supervised.

5. Certain segments (ages, gender, social economic class) might have been over- or underrepresented. Perhaps they could not be found (as young men often are), they were not willing to participate, or participated but systematically refused to answer certain questions. Personally I always participate in surveys but systematically refuse to answer questions about income, politics, religion, sex, etc. That’s one of the reasons we don’t include them in our surveys: never ask a question you would not want to answer.

Sample sizes in the Caribbean

Sample sizes of around 400 are the norm rather than the exception in the small markets of the Caribbean. The constant discussion about sample size inhibits the further development of the research industry. Researchers are afraid to propose small sample sizes, clients are afraid to accept them since they have been led to believe that small sample sizes provide useless answers. Yet, there is no money to pay for more. So, research is forgone, decisions are made on no data at all, while we all know that some data is better than no data at all.

The Tipping Point at Work in Curacao Referendum

2009-06-17T16:31:00.001-04:00

In the previous post http://smallmarketmarketing.blogspot.com/2009/06/lessons-from-marketing-politics-and.html post I made some observations about the referendum campaigns in Curacao. Here is my most interesting observation still.

According to Malcolm Gladwell, "The Tipping Point is that magic moment when an idea, trend or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips and spreads like wildfire". He suggests that these so-called social epidemics are created by a combination of "connectors", "mavens", "salesmen" "stickiness" and "context".

Connectors are those people "who know lots of people";

Mavens are people known for their objective knowledge and who pass it along without self interest;

Salesmen are those communicators who do not only speak but also convince;

Stickiness refers to the memorability of the message;

The ideal context is when all of the above comes together at the right time.

Nothing really new for a communicator or marketer. But when was the last time you really thought about these?

How do you think the different referendum campaigns in Curacao did on these points?

Lessons from marketing politics and ideas in Curacao

2009-06-10T18:48:00.015-04:00

All politics is for local consumption, so too this post dealing with local politics. If you are somehow related to Curacao, you know that on May 15th we had a referendum, of which the result was 52/48.

Throughout the campaigns I was burning to post my observations, but since marketing is not an exact science, I did not want to publicly take the risk.

In the aftermath, what do I think we in Curacao have learnt about political marketing strategy?

The power of emotions

Not just any emotion, the relevant emotions (of the relevant target market); not just emotional content, but the inference, context and form of the emotion. As is the case in consumer products market, marketers who appeal to the right emotions in politics, also do best. Over the past 20 years, marketers, including those in Curacao, have relentlessly trained consumers to choose a product based on emotions (not reason). That's the only decision-making process that today's consumer really knows. He is no longer able to decide based on reason. Hot temperamented people like Caribbeans certainly cannot.

Know your market

Quantify the target segments, understand what motivates each segment and use these core motivators as the starting point for any strategy. Finding a "common motivator" is ideal. But if that does not exist, applying the motivator from one segment across all segments doesn't work, not even in small Caribbean markets.

Mirroring your competitors' position is not a viable strategy

If your competitor positions itself as "for the youngest people", will you position yourself as "for the oldest"? If she says "my product is the cheapest", will you say that yours is the most expensive? Intuitively that does not make sense. Why not, you wonder? Because everyone in the middle is left unserved, untargeted. Marketers know there is a larger market in the middle than at any extreme.

My most interesting observation is in the next post.

The difference between marketing and sales

2009-06-04T10:24:00.002-04:00

Seth Godin as a great post on the difference between marketing and sales.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/05/the-difference-between-marketing-and-sales.html

Guestology

2009-06-03T14:28:00.003-04:00

Guestology; Disney term

Not just knowing your guests in terms of demographics, psychographics, need, wants, experiences and expectations.

But understanding your guests: understanding their motivations and analyzing and interpreting objective data in such a way to yield profit enhancing marketing strategies.

The only way to do so is by engaging customers in conversations, through techniques such as focus groups and in-depth interviews.

Analyzing results of Customer Satisfaction Surveys

2009-06-03T13:51:00.004-04:00

Here are some interesting observations from Mark David Jones, President of Small World Alliances, and former Disney man:

Dissatisfied customer damage

You think 5% dissatisfied customers is acceptable? Think again. Consider that a dissatisfied customer broadcasts his dissatisfaction 20 to 30 times. And that word-of-mouth is the most powerful form of advertising.

To get the damage done by dissatisfied customers: Multiply your number of annual customers by the percentage of dissatisfied customers. Multiply that number by 20 or 30 for the number of negative advertising images you generate in a year. And remember that w-o-m weighs more than paid advertising.

Extremely satisfied customer earnings

On the other hand, a customer who is merely satisfied is not an advocate. For someone to be your advocate and generate positive word-of-mouth for you, s/he has to be "extremely satisfied". How many "extremely satisfied" customers do you have each year?

If your advertising budget is restrictive, as is often the case in a small market, you know where to invest your money for the most efficiency.

Mark David Jones gave a workshop in Curacao last Friday during CTO's 5th Tourism Human Resources Conference.

A Pitch for BusinessRICH boot camp

2009-05-27T10:54:00.003-04:00

Just a pitch for an event organized by my friends Arnout Druyvesteyn and Janine Lie-A-Kwie.
They are developing their Coaching Business throughout the Caribbean. Perfect strategy if your domestic market is small... expand to other markets

BusinessRICH
A two day business boot camp for business owners and managers
who really want to improve their business

Visit their site http://www.actioncoach.com/arnoutdruyvesteyn/events.php

Guest speaker: ActionCOACH Lee Huffman (USA), serial entrepreneur, international speaker, author

June 11, 2009 (8:00 am - 9:00 pm) & June 12, 2009 (8:00 am - 5:00 pm)
Marriott Hotel, Piscadera Bay, Curacao

Once-only introduction fee ANG 995,-. FREE for our current clients.
Price includes lunches and dinner, workbook & materials.

Register before June 4, 2009 here or email arnoutdruyvesteyn@actioncoach.com

Latin American economies

2009-05-25T18:52:00.003-04:00

Last week I attended the 39th General Assembly of ALIDE - Asociacion Latinoamericana de Instituciones Financieras para el Desarrollo - including the Caribbean. While Caribbean economies are well-known to me, it was a welcome refresher in Latin American economies.
The key take-aways for me were:

1. between 2000 and 2007 poverty in Latin America was reduced by 10%, meaning that 40 million people rose out of poverty.

2. if you want to know what the future areas of growth will be, examine what the main research areas in U.S. universities are. Now these are energy, and water

3. in Latin America also the growth in tourism can be exponential with targeted investments in tourism, as the case of North Eastern Brazil shows.

So, it leads me to think how small economies can use this knowledge to their advantage.

Online marketing - gaming

2009-05-25T18:48:00.003-04:00

I spent a workday at the beach learning about the online gaming industry and the latest developments in online marketing in general. How much the industry has changed since I was first introduced to the concept many years ago. It has kept me wondering how to apply the learnings to other similar industries and markets.

Take the longer survey “Participating in the global economy through knowledge sourcing and providing”

2009-04-28T16:31:00.007-04:00

If you are really interested in the topic and can spare a few more minutes, please also take the survey. If you can, please also ask a colleague, client or supplier to do so.

Knowledge Service Provider http://1236735131.provideknowledge.sgizmo.com/

Knowledge Service Sourcer http://1236735131.sourceknowledge.sgizmo.com/

Thank you in advance. If you want a copy of the report, be sure to include your email address.
Please feel free to leave any comments. The survey is in its beta phase, so I can use comments on the questionnaire also.

Some background

Reason for the poll and survey

Globality: everyone wanting to sell everything, including their knowledge, to anyone anywhere in the world.

Having worked across the Caribbean from Bermuda to Haiti and much of what is in between, I have developed an academic interest in the topic, especially with regard to small states. Can we apply strategic/business innovations produced in Curacao to St Lucian, Maltese, Andorran, Bajan, Cape Verdian businesses, markets and economies and vice versa?

The topic also interests me with regard to economic policies of small states. How can small states benefit from the globalization of knowledge?

Research Question
To what extent do KSP’s sell their services across borders, thus participating in the global knowledge economy? This with particular interest to KSP’s in small ststes/territories/markets and/or emerging markets

What are Knowledge Service Providers (KSP's) and Knowledge Service Sourcers (KSS)?

For the purpose of this study KSP’s are individuals or companies such as advisors, consultants, designers, health care providers, trainers, researchers, recruiters, lawyers, accountants, even artists, etc., in the broadest sense of the word.

KSS’s are all those individuals or companies who buy services from KSP’s established in their market or elsewhere

What's in it for you?
Since participants can elect to receive a copy of the report, you will get an insight into:
1. If you are ahead or behind the curve in terms of providing or sourcing knowledge across borders
2. What the key success factors to sell your services internationally

Take Poll: do you participate in the global knowledge economy?

2009-04-28T16:00:00.005-04:00

I am writing a paper and want to know to which extent knowledge service providers (KSP), i.e. consultants, recruiters, trainers, designers, analysts, etc., have international engagements, and thus participate in the global knowledge economy. I am particularly interested in small KSP’s in small and/or emerging markets.

If you are a provider, please follow this link to my Linkedin poll http://polls.linkedin.com/p/35300/cpurr.

If you hire consultants, use this link http://polls.linkedin.com/poll-results/35302/cmmyp.

If you are really interested in the topic, please also take the survey
Knowledge Service Provider http://1236735131.provideknowledge.sgizmo.com/
Knowledge Service Sourcer http://1236735131.sourceknowledge.sgizmo.com

For more info
http://smallmarketmarketing.blogspot.com/2009/04/take-longer-survey-participating-in.html

Thank you, also for your comments

What to expect from a telephone survey

2009-01-26T13:52:00.008-04:00

In my previous post I outlined when telephone surveys may be chosen over face-to-face (personal) surveys. What should you expect when you are called for a telephone survey?

An interviewer that clearly states his/her first and last name and the company s/he is calling from.
If you are called at an inconvenient time, you may ask to be called at another time. In our case, interviews are conducted from a central location. You may also call back.
While the interviewer may ask your name, the information you provide will be treated confidentially. Your name is important for the research company when double checking the interviewers' work. It will not be released to our client, NEVER.
A questionnaire that is designed to last no longer than 10 minutes. The actual length often depends on how much commentary the respondent delivers. You should know that, at each question, the interviewer can only record one of the options (multiple choice answers) she gives you. She cannot record any other comment. So, it is best to limit yourself to choosing one of the options. At the end of the interview you will always have a chance to make free flowing comments.
You will not be called by a sales representative based on your answers. You will not be asked questions in a manner that suggests that your answers will be used to call you later to sell you something. This is a market research exercise, not an exercise to generate sales leads.

Telephone surveys vs face-to-face surveys

2009-01-26T13:38:00.004-04:00

You may wonder why companies elect to do telephone surveys rather than face-to-face-surveys. We do so mostly for efficiency and speed. Convenience for the respondent and quality control may also play a role. How so?

When the questionnaire is short (up to 10 minutes), it may take more time to travel from one respondent to another. Telephone interviews are more efficient.

When the type of respondent are geographically dispersed, it may also take more time to travel from one respondent to another.

The respondent may be very mobile or finds it inconvenient to make an appointment that lasts only 10 minutes. The same matter would be resolved faster over the phone.

Since telephone interviews are usually conducted from a central location, under supervision, it is easier to control the quality of the interviews.

Telephone surveys are less personal. When the survey entails sensitive issues, this is always a reason try to decrease the respondent's possible discomfort. to For that reason, it is desirable, whenever possible, to inform respondents that they will be contacted and to give some background of the purpose of the survey. Read also my post What to expect from a telephone interview.

What to expect as a focus group participant?

2008-09-26T12:04:00.004-04:00

So, you have been asked to participate in a "focus group". What now?

In our post What is a focus group? you can learn more about the purpose of a focus group.

Why have you been invited?
You are invited based on certain characteristics of yourself, your family, your business, etc. These often include age, gender, kids/no kids, lifestyle, type and size of business, or your function within a business.
Our recruiters often "think" you may qualify. They ask additional questions to be certain that you do. If you do, they will give you the date, time and location for your session. Often you cannot choose a different date because the characteristics of the participants vary according to the session.

What should you expect?

A pleasant exchange of ideas guided by a moderator. Many participants find the groups very informative because you can learn about other solutions to the challenges you face.
Five to eight other panelists, a moderator and often an assistant moderator will be present.
Alist of topics that must be covered, but other than that it is an unstructured discussion.
A moderator who is prepared to lead the discussion, but who is not an expert on the topic. Even if she is, she will not show it. She is there to learn from you!
Your views to be listened to and valued. There are no right or wrong answers. This is not a test. Sometimes the group is asked to solve a problem. In those cases it is not the solution that is important, but the issues that participants raise in getting to the solution.
Expect the question "why". "Why do you do that?" "Why do you think that?"
Depending on the topic, the session may also be audio- or video recorded to assist in the analysis and report writing. The recordings will not be shared with the client or anyone else. Recordings are destroyed after the report is written.
You will not be contacted by anyone based on your participation or what you said. This is not a session to generate sales leads.
A reward in cash or kind for your input.

What do we expect from you?

to arrive on time and stay the whole session
if you must cancel, to do so in advance through your recruiter
to come prepared to share your experience, ideas and reasons for those ideas
to speak up, whether you agree with the popular view or not
to give everybody a chance to speak and treat each other with respect
to have fun
if you have suggestions after the session, to please let us know through info@markstra.com

As a Certified Moderator, the real reward is to see the exchange, how people learn from each other and the fun they have. I always appreciate your presence and your input. I hope you decide to participate.

What is a focus group?

2008-09-26T11:36:00.005-04:00

This article is posted especially for the benefit of those we ask to participate in our focus groups. It is an excerpt from the quintessential marketing research text book, “Marketing Research", by David Aaker. V. Kumar and George Day. Please also see our post "What to expect as a focus group participant".

Focus group studies are a qualitative research method.

"Qualitative research is done to obtain a basic feel for the problem before proceeding to the more analytical portion of the study.
[...] to find out what is in the consumer's mind
[...] to get a rough idea about the person's perspective
[...] to become oriented to the range an complexity of consumer activity and concerns."

"A focus group discussion is the process of obtaining possible ideas or solutions to a marketing problem from a group of respondents by discussing it. The emphasis in this method is on the results of group interaction when focused on a series of topics a discussion leader introduces. Each participant in a group of five to nine persons is encouraged to express views in each topic and to elaborate on or react to the views of the other participants."

"The focus group discussion offers participants more stimulation than an interview; presumably this makes new ideas and meaningful comments more likely. Among other advantages, it is claimed that discussions often prove more spontaneity and candor than can be expected in an interview. "

In the end one knows the range of consumer expectations and motivating factors, and thus which products or services to offer or how to improve existing ones.

What are your destination’s “accidental” brands?

2008-05-15T16:53:00.001-04:00

You don’t have to go to Jamaica to know that it has great beaches, rivers, waterfalls and flora. Then again, several Caribbean islands have those.
But, I don’t think anyone can leave Jamaica and not know what is unique and innate to Jamaica:

Blue Mountain Coffee
The Jamaican Bob Sled Team (with its own restaurant and merchandise at the airport)
The colors of the Jamaican Flag (used in every imaginable tourist-related product)
The colors of the Rastafarian movement (see above)
Braids
Jamaican Jerk
Chicken-every-imaginable-style
*Bob Marley*

What a great diversity: music, food, colors, entertainment, “boutique” java, sports and fashion.
And most sustainable and renewable.

Three Questions for you:

What are your destination’s unique and innate accidental brands?
How can they be exploited, preferably in a sustainable way?
Is there something for every taste?

Why you should know the trends

2008-05-15T16:39:00.004-04:00

Competition is tough. Those who survive and thrive are those who can come up with new product ideas, innovations, and effective strategies to get these to the customer… first (or almost first). Not any new product or customer care innovation or strategy. No, those ideas and innovations that appeal to your customer. And, alas, the speed of change in customer tastes and preferences. Generations amorph. Lifestyles change. Developments outside of your product category now influence yours like never before.

If you are in charge of innovation, customer care or strategy at your organization, how do you keep track? If you are on a small island, it’s a two-edged sword. What you see in the U.S. (or elsewhere) this year will be on your island at least a few months later. So, you have time to prepare. But, unless you spend enough time abroad and sit down to analyze what you see, you won’t know the trends.

That’s where a trend analyzer comes in handy. Michael Tchong of Ubercool, “The most influential trendspotter in America”, according to the London Daily Telegraph, will be in Curacao to take us through his analysis of global trends this coming May 29th. He is hosted by the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International Curacao.

Mr. Tchong has spoken, among others, for Evian North America, Diageo, Euroforum in Rotterdam, several realtor associations in the U.S., Visa Europe in Istanbul, Luxury Home Marketing, Ubertrends in Colombia, several hospitality groups across the U.S. and at the Harvard Business Club.

He will take us on a whirlwind tour of the most telling trends and leaving you infused with new ideas that make sense. As a professional you cannot afford to not be aware of possible innovations (unless you can afford not to have a job). But, even if you are not specifically in charge of innovations, his presentation will leave you impressed and inspired.

Visit www.hsmaicuracao.org for more information and to register.

Ask for the business and make it personal

2008-05-15T16:27:00.002-04:00

On a recent visit to Jamaica, the Jamaicans impressed me with the fact that every Jamaican asks for the business, consciously or subconsciously. Everybody asked: “When are you coming back?”

The most impressive of all was Keith, the driver on the airport shuttle. He welcomed us aboard with a nice, personal flight-attendant-like speech. The kill came as we arrived at the airport. He said, paraphrased:

“Did you enjoy your time in Jamaica? .... I hope you come back. And remember to tell your friends what a good time you had, so they will come too. It’s because people like you and your friends keep coming to Jamaica that people like me have a job. So, thank you for coming and have a safe flight home.”

Now, that hits home.

Marketing, Advertising, Public Relations. What's the difference Part II

2008-01-04T07:46:00.000-04:00

This is the second of a three part series. The previous post dealt with Public Relations. The next will deal with Marketing.

As competition increases, the focus on marketing also increases. When I started working in marketing in the Caribbean 20 years ago, very few companies had marketing staff. Today, that's the exception rather than the rule. Unfortunately though, it is not always clear to non-marketers and some marketers alike what the function encompasses. Terms such as public relations, advertising and marketing are sometimes used interchangeably. When we do so, we omit to consider all the tools available to attract good customers.

This is an effort to provide some clarification.

Advertising

When competition increased, companies started to try to explicitly convince buyers to buy their product. Up to quite recently accountants and lawyers in Curacao did not do so. Now they have started putting up advertising, telling us what they are good at. Soap manufacturers went down this path many decades ago. Banks started some 20 years ago and now are at it in full force.

Advertising is "any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor" (Armstrong, Kotler). It involves designing advertisements and campaigns and placing these on radio, TV, billboard, Internet, in the paper or magazines, etc. Some companies, "advertising agencies", are able to do everything following a well-thought out strategy. Others do part of the process. Graphic designers in principle just design an advertisement following the specific instruction of the advertiser/client. Copywriters just write a text following instructions of others. Independent photographers, video producers, etc. in principle also follow instructions of others. Their creative juices should be flowing within boundaries set by the client or determined by a strategy.

Marketing communication
Advertising and public relations are now often referred to as marketing communication.

(Sales) Promotion
The term "promotion" may cause confusion. It is conveniently used in the four marketing P's to denote everything that has to do with communicating with the client: advertising, public relations, direct marketing, sales, customer service, and sales promotion.

However, if you want to use the terms correctly then (Sales) Promotion is "short-term incentives to encourage the purchase or the sale of a product or service" (Armstrong, Kotler). Think of sweepstakes, raffles, buy-one-get-one-free, give-aways, coupons, programs in which you save and get something later, etc. In Curacao we often call them "kampana" or "speshal".
Why are they used? Everybody already has a toothpaste. If you are introducing a new toothpaste you must convince the customer to leave his old toothpaste and buy yours. An incentive in the form of a gift, lower price, a free trial, etc. may do so. A good sales promotion always induces the customer to "ACT NOW" or its gone.

Read about Marketing in the next post.

The marketing of green: 5 ways to be part of the trend

2008-01-03T21:18:00.000-04:00

Green has taken center stage, not just because of global warming, but also because of the price of oil. Finally going green also makes good business sense immediately (the way business people, unfortunately, like it).

Here are five tips to ride the trend. Remember though, you can ride the trend, but you must be sincere. Otherwise it will hurt your brand.

Use green to add value for your customer. I always thought a restaurant with its own vegetable, flower or herb garden is a neat idea. Now, it reduces transportation costs... and there is really nothing to beat freshly picked vegetables on the plate and flowers on the table.
Use green to attract customer segments with a special affinity for the environment. You can imagine that if you are the only company in your category known to reduce, reuse or recycle water, energy, bags, etc., you may appeal to certain segments. This strategy works best for companies that are seen to provide a near-commodity, such as banks, insurers, and airlines. There are not so many other tangible sources of differentiation.
Develop new uses for your products using green. Curacao cantaloupe is an additional way to use Curacao liqueur.
Support efforts that reuse the waste that your company produces. In Jakarta, my friend Roy and his team make the coolest laptop bags from empty tubes of toothpaste found on the streets.
Use green to distinguish your brand or company from others for a short moment. At MarkStra, our corporate gift this year was a reusable crate for shopping and a list of tips. Let me say that I consciously try to reduce our footprint through composting, planting trees, and several other efforts. But, I admit... the empty reusable crate over the holidays was to distinguish us from the habitual well-wrapped baskets well-filled with goodies.

Three strategic models to bring objectivity to marketing plans

2008-01-03T19:06:00.000-04:00

I would not be surprised if in Curacao "strategy" will continue to be the marketing buzzword of 2008. Good for me, that was my specialization in business school.

A strategy determines how a company is going to compete. Some strategic models also provide objective tools to evaluate the quality of marketing plans. In other words, whether the right mix of resources is dedicated to each element in the marketing mix: line extensions (new products), advertising, pricing, service, direct sales, or consumer and trade promotions (campaigns). This for each product in your portfolio.

Last year I had the pleasure of applying some models which I had long "forgotten" to a client's portfolio.

Product Life Cycle. Uses the life cycle stage each product is in (development, introduction, growth, maturity or decline) to help you determine for each product in your portfolio the right mix of resources and the level of profitability you should aspire to achieve. The PLC model has been around long and is quite readily applicable.
Boston Consulting Group Matrix. Uses your market share and overall market potential to determine marketing objectives and resources to dedicate to each element of the marketing mix.
Trout's Strategic Square. Uses your market share relative to that of competitors to determine marketing objectives: defend market share, attack the market leader, avoid the him or be a guerrilla.

For all some data, market intelligence and forecasting ability is needed. How to get the data?

Porter's Competitive Strategy. Uses SWOT analyses of yourself and your competitors to determine how to compete. It's a great model, which I studied at length when in school and which continues to be used extensively today. Unfortunately, there are few objective measures to determine your or your competitors' strengths or weaknesses, or which of these are relevant. Even the opportunities and threats facing the organization are not obvious. Hence, SWOT analyses often turn out to be an exercise in bias and subjectivity. A consultant should be able to be more objective. But, the first time I did so honestly (in 1995), I was fired on the spot.

Six tips to decrease marketing waste and increase your ROI.

2008-01-03T18:54:00.000-04:00

With oil at 100 dollars a barrel, we can barely afford to produce waste, including marketing waste. What can you do?

Find out who your true target customer is, so you can focus on her in all your marketing efforts. Be detailed, specific. Try to describe her in terms of demographics, lifestyle, friends, family. Then think of someone that you know who fits that description and finish the picture.
Think of what will really help her and how much she can or is willing to pay for that benefit. Again, be specific. Everyone has insurance. How does your insurance product help her better than the commodity insurance product?
Think of how you might influence that person best. Best bet: ask her what she really reads and watches and who or what she really listens to. Read, watch and listen. Not just skim, see or hear.
Find out how many people there are in that target segment. Then you know, for instance, if it's worth your while to place an advertisement in the national newspaper or to approach her via her club or gym. The latter is produces less waste and gives your more opportunity to interact with and influence her directly. It is more effective. It may even be less expensive and more fun.
Find out and decide if, realistically, you can grow your brand and how. If you have a very large market share it may not be easy. But, if you find alternative uses for your product, that can produce growth. If you can't, focus on another product.
Then calculate, calculate, calculate. Calculate your target sales and the resulting ROI. Is your planned effort worth it? Or is to bound to be just "marketing waste"?

The greening of marketing: the 60-30-10 rule

2008-01-03T17:40:00.000-04:00

When I started MarkStra in 1995, the Guerrilla Marketing Handbook by Jay Levinson and Seth Godin provided ingenious, effective, practical and low-cost marketing thoughts and tips for my own company and our clients. Here is one:

"When planning a direct mail campaign, remember to follow the commonly known 60-30-10 rule.

Sixty percent direct mail success lies in using the right mailing list;

Thirty percent depends on your making the right offer (that is, an offer that satisfies the customer's needs better than the competitor and provides value to him or her);

Ten percent depends upon your creative package"

Between 1995 and 2007, the price of oil (and consequently also of our marketing material) has risen from just over US$20 per barrel to US$100 and the environment is under pressure.

Have you stopped to evaluate if its worth it, both for your bottom line and for the environment, to produce some of the super-creative marketing material we marketeers strive for? Especially when you know that super-creative material is not exceedingly effective in attracting customers?

Garbage as fashion

2007-12-17T09:23:00.000-04:00

Getting back in touch with my friend Roy Tan was one of the most pleasant moments provided to me by technology this year. This for several reasons.

First because Roy, an ex-Citibanker who now lives in Indonesia, and his colleagues at Brandt International have developed a very effective sales performance management tool, which we are about to start marketing in the Caribbean. The premise: Just because someone is a good salesperson doesn't mean s/he can become a good sales manager. One needs different skills.

Second because Roy is involved in a project called XS Project Europe. They make artsy fashionable laptop and other tote bags from plastic garbage collected by poor trash pickers on Jakarta's streets. Each is one of a kind and artistically designed. Sometimes you can even recognize which brand the tube of toothpaste was from. It's well worth a visit.

Marketing, advertising, public relations. What's the difference part III

2007-12-14T09:14:00.000-04:00

Marketing and MarkStra

This is the third of a series on the difference between marketing, advertising and public relations. People often use the terms as synonyms, or are not sure what the difference is. By doing so companies like yours fail to notice and make full use of the tools available to convince the customer to buy from you.

At one point companies realize that public relations, advertising and promotion alone will not convince customers to buy or remain loyal. While many companies arrive at "marketing" at a later stage in life, it is a function that is performed before (in time and planning) "advertising and public relations". Advertising and public relations are quite explicitly just a part of marketing.

Marketing theory has it that there are more aspects that influence buyers to buy and which companies can be unique in. Conveniently, we use four (or six) p's, as follows.

product itself (design, innovation, features, color, taste, etc.)
price
place. Meaning the way a product is distributed (in person, via mail, Internet, phone, etc.) and where it can be obtained. If it is a store, if the store is conducive to buying, or if products are well displayed
promotion. Meaning public relations, advertising as well as sales promotion.

I usually add two p's. Technically, they belong under "product" and/or "promotion". But their existence and usefulness may get lost when talking about product or promotion. And how useful and relevant they are in our times!

people. Meaning the customer care and sales potential of employees. Companies that provide a service are increasingly important. In addition, the level of service (customer care) can be an important distinguishing feature.

partnerships. Meaning alliances your company has with others to provide a product. Think about American Airlines with Visa, several hotel chains, car rentals, etc.

At MarkStra Marketing is what we do for a living. We assist the client with determining the right product content, price, distribution channels, promotional tools, people and partnerships.

We may work with other companies to create and execute advertising campaigns, but we ourselves are not equipped to design or write copy for them. The campaigns we may create together with our partner companies are better than the average, because we have considered thoroughly ALL the other aspects that influence a buyer.

In the next post more detail about the marketing process.

Marketing, advertising, public relations. What's the difference Part I

2007-12-14T08:15:00.000-04:00

There is still a lot of confusion among non-marketers and some "marketers" alike about what the difference is between marketing, advertising and public relations. It is the marketer's own fault because we assume everyone knows. Even as I set out to write this post, I am wondering if it is useful. This is most definitely not a post for marketing professionals. But it may be helpful for their non-marketing colleagues.

Of special concern is the fact that marketing and advertising are used as synonyms, interchangeably. By doing so clients and their providers omit to consider some important aspects that influence buyer behavior and hence their bottom line.

Next the first of a three part series which overview in what I think may be the order in which an established company that is seeking to increase its marketing performance may arrive at each stage.

Public Relations

Public Relations is "building good relationships with the company's various publics by obtaining favorable publicity, building up a good corporate image and handling or heading off unfavorable rumors, stories and events" (Armstrong,Kotler).

There was a time when "public relations" was the only tool companies used to connect with their clients. Think of issues such as cutting ribbons and making donations, followed by press releases. This, primarily because competition was much less than it is today. Just appearing in the paper was enough for people to consider your product. In addition, often every company in the category provided almost the same good (a commodity). Banks are a good example. Prior to the US deregulation of banks in the mid 1980's, all banks had the same product, same interest, same branches, etc. They were only promoting their "corporate image", but not specific products. In addition, this "image" was just "a picture". It was not a "picture-with-a-meaning", which is what a "brand" is.

The public relations functions has changed through the years. In good hands, it is now being used more explicitly and more effectively to gain customers. This year Cura-Peska held workshops and appeared on talk shows to provide information about fishing in Curacao. While these activities can be classified as "public relations", they were most definitely meant to attract customers.

Read the next post for Advertising.

Branding Curacao's International Financial Sector

2007-12-14T07:34:00.000-04:00

Some 18 months ago, out of pure interest, I started examining what could be the unique competitive advantages of Curacao's international financial sector. The many years of expertise suggest that a unique competitive advantage must exist. Only, I believe the sector has been promoting benefits that now exist in most jurisdictions.

Recently a picture of a beautiful Curacao monument used in a some promotional material for the sector, triggered a discussion and further thought. First about the image the sector really wants to portray. Second, about what potential clients are impressed by and therefore what image (brand) the sector should portray. And then we discussed what picture would best fit with what these clients look for in a Caribbean jurisdiction and therefore what picture we should use. A classic brand essence exercise, but done informally.

I do not know. As many Curacaoans I am proud of our monuments and the fact that our city is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Monuments are classic and depict a proper conservatism. That image may very well be necessary. I also know that in at least some sub sectors of the industry, the people are young, risk-takers, educated at some of the premier schools of the world. Now everyone is connected 24/7, the world is fast, global. Unfortunately, in international business, we expect images to be the same wherever we are. That suggests a "seamless fit".

So, it merits further thought and discussion. Most people in the industry are accountants or lawyers, who are less inclined to truly "market". That is not their strength. Proper market research, followed by the appropriate strategy would be a good step to take.

Of Curacao Cantaloupe and rum

2007-12-14T07:21:00.000-04:00

Brand and product development exercises for (alcoholic) beverages is one of our strong suits. So, I have taken to collecting cook books published by Caribbean producers of different liquor and have developed some recipes of my own as a result.

Curacao Cantaloupe

Peel a cantaloupe (melon) and cut it in wedges of 2-3 centimeters thick. You can use other fruit, especially those that are not tasty enough on their own.
Make a thick syrup of equal parts of sugar and water. This means you would have to heat up the two
Throw in the cantaloupe wedges and boil for a few minutes until the fruit is softened somewhat
When the mixture is cool enough to handle, divide the wedges in sterilized (previously used) glass jars and fill up to 2/3 with the syrup
Fill to the top with orange Curacao liqueur, preferably the authentic one
Serve at room temperature with your best local ice cream

The recipe above is adapted from Edward Bottone’s Spirit of Bermuda (cooking with Gosling’s Black Seal Rum). It is absolutely delicious. I also have a love-hate relationship with the matter because cantaloupes are the one vine in my (organic) garden that lizards absolutely will not leave alone.

Colorful tropical fruit steeped in rum also makes for a nice gift, drink and fruit. Red hot peppers in rum makes for a nice hot gift. Both ideas are from Steven Raichlin’s The Caribbean Pantry Cookbook.

Make your Holidays Caribbean Green

2007-12-14T06:56:00.000-04:00

I suppose I am not an environmentalist in the true sense of the word, even though I do believe in giving all species, including our own, a fair chance of survival. Given the current oil prices, even a little bit of environmental action can produce great returns in our pockets.

A few months ago I made a pledge to include an aspect that has to do with the environment in everything MarkStra does. It's for the environment, but fortunately some environmental action also supports our small businesses and saves us money.

Carry your own reusable shopping bag or crate when shopping. Refuse bags or accept only durable ones.

Eco-friendly gifts? Energy saving light bulbs, shower heads, reusable shopping bags or crates.

Buy nothing – give a gift certificate for a manicure, lunch, some lessons, a donation. They use no raw material and help our small businesses.

Use simple wrapping paper. Use those colorful glossy folders marketers send you. Or use useful and reusable items: a bandanna, a nice towel, hand kerchief (remember those?), pillow case, or a storage box.

In the Caribbean in December there is enough green outside to bring inside. Hibiscus (kayena) and West Indian Jasmine (faya lobi) provide the red.

Give your Christmas ornaments a new look with a fresh coat of paint in this year's fashionable colors or with a collage of those direct mail pieces. Remember the kids.

If you must buy new ornaments, buy durable ones which you can use next year. Store them well.

Plan your meals around ingredients that are locally grown. It helps your local growers. It also uses less transportation. Did you know that in Curacao there are 24 types of fruits and vegetables that are produced locally year-round?

Use durable table ware. China, metal and cloth are much nicer than paper and plastic anyway.

If you must use paper, use plain white un-imprinted kitchen, bath, toilet tissue, cotton and the like. Why would you need design imprinted on it?

Recycle your glass bottles. In Curacao there are glass bins at gas stations. Remember to tell your guests, caterers and cleaning lady.

Turn those beautiful lights off if there is no one there to enjoy them.

Safe and Happy Holidays to all

Some of these ideas are our own. Others are from:

the Sierra Club

And tips for your office from Scotland

The Lecture Circuit

2007-10-24T12:47:00.000-04:00

It seems like once you start lecturing, you keep on doing it. Besides lecturing at the University, I held two other presentations over the past 6 weeks:

For a group of marketing managers including several banks, fast food restaurants, home improvement stores on a short introductin to "Return on Marketing Investment" in September.

And for the Curacao chapter of the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International on "What exactly is Branding?", a session to encourage smaller companies to brand themselves better last week

7 ways to use market research

2007-08-28T11:22:00.000-04:00

Often we think of market research as a way to get insight from customers with regard to our own company. But, that's not its only use. Here are some ideas:

measure, rank and score yourself on issues that are important to your organization (Key Performance Indicators) or the customer (Customer Core Values). Don't bother measuring things that are not important to either you or the customer.
check out your competitors. So, you know who to copy (and in which way), whose customers to go after (because they are dissatisfied) or leave alone (because they are way too loyal). Maybe you are uncomfortable asking about your competitors, but an independent researcher is not. That's their job!
find out if the perceptions that employees have of their organizations matches the perception of customers and make adjustments when and where necessary.
establish a common starting point (a common data-backed assumption) in your organization with regard to opportunities. This, so that innovative ideas are not shot down or delayed just because of different suppositions. This is especially true when the decision-makers have varying degrees of experience with the issue or look at it from different angles. An example: the director and supervisor may have different assumptions. Whose is most likely to be correct? Whose is most likely to "win" without independent insight.
determine desired ROI. For example: Based on the research data, can you gain 5% market share? What would be the source of this growth? How much would it cost? Is it worth the effort?
If your organization is not yet into ROI, you can use the data to set quantifiable and realistic objectives. Example: if the research shows that you have a 50% market share, is it realistic to set an objective of 25% growth over the next 12 months? In other words, you need to know what your market share is. Otherwise you can't determine if your growth objective is realistic.
create a unique value-added experience. Nowadays it's not just the product that is important. It is the experience when purchasing or perusing the product, online or offline, that is. Through research (mystery shopping) you can find out what customers find a "wow" experience.

Back to school: Market Research and Corporate Strategy

2007-08-28T10:42:00.000-04:00

It's been back to school in two ways in the past few months:

First, later today I start teaching Marketing Research at the University of the Netherlands Antilles, using the same text book I had as an undergraduate student (Aaker/Day), albeit a much newer edition. It's a real pleasure to see the difference in the 2nd and 9th edition with regard to geographical scope. The chapters on secondary data sources are also expanded to reflect the abundance of timely, easily and inexpensively available secondary data that researchers now have access to. More emphasis on cost-benefit analysis before embarking on research is also a welcome addition, especially in our small markets. And lastly, obviously, the impact of the Internet on the market research function.

It will still be a challenge to translate the concepts to our smaller market and showing students how to be creative with their knowledge given the limitations. This while reminding them that we do live in a global world and they can more easily end up doing research for larger markets (while still sitting in Curacao) than ever before.

Back to (graduate business) school days also came in an assignment some time ago where we used Product Life Cycles, Boston Consulting Group Matrices and Ansoff growth models, the stuff specialization at The Wharton School was made up of. Now we used them to examine the existing and future potential of each brand as it relates to the client's bottom line and which marketing strategies to follow to realize that potential. Given the experience I have now, I could also develop some of my own strategies. Without doubt one of the more interesting assignments recently.

I realized the increased relevance of these concepts as marketing directors try to manage product portfolios that are ever expanding with new products and line extensions targeted to increasingly smaller segments.

It also made me realize how even more relevant these strategic concepts are to small markets. Marketing Directors are inclined to take on all (or many) extensions of their brand owners in their portfolios in an effort to fulfil the desires of their customers, who have access to global information and just know there is a product "just for them" even if, in a small market, they may be the only one in the segment. What is the MD to do?

Have you stopped to evaluate:

the added benefit of a new extension to your clients
the added contribution of a line extension to your bottom line, given the sometimes really small segments.
how to duly support line extensions in the long run
how to support the growth of extensions that will be more relevant in the future with present "cash cows"

Wanted: Mystery shoppers

2007-08-28T10:28:00.000-04:00

Because of our increased mystery shopping load, we are looking for more mystery shoppers.
A mystery shopper poses as a customer, visits an establishment, and later evaluates the product and service of the client establisment using a standard evaluation form.

Mystery shops take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours to a few days, at varying times, depending on the client. Shoppers are paid for their efforts in cash and/or kind. It's a fun way to make extra money or get something free.

Mystery shopping, also known among others as shopper audits, and secret shops is an efficient way to:

measure is service is being performed according to the establishment's standards
determine training needs
compare competitors

Shoppers must have internet access every day and be over 21 years of age. Please send an email with: name, gender, age, telephone number to info@markstra.com.

4 Tips for Tradeshow Marketing

2007-08-28T09:37:00.000-04:00

Ever stood at a trade show booth and wonder how to increase your return?

Selling at trade shows is particularly challenging because you have little time to assess the potential of a visitor and act on that assessment. In small markets you probably also know many of the visitors who are just there to browse around (and not to buy anything). This provides an additional challenge.

Here are some tips, assuming for a moment that you and your colleagues have already:

Determined that the show is a good place to get prospects and serious leads
Determined the expected ROI for your participation at the show and based your decision to participate on that
Have an attractive booth
Know the basics (no eating in the booth, no badmouthing the competitor, and ideally no sitting in the booth)

Now, how do you start a conversation and raise the chances that you do so with someone who is really looking to buy?

Make eye-contact, introduce yourself and ask the prospects’ name
Make your opening question a provocative and open one. Asking questions that can be answered with “yes” or “no” is a no-no. Some good questions: “What has attracted you to our booth today?” , or “What specifically are you looking for at the show?” If the answer is “nothing”, then you know right away that she is not a hot prospect.
Determine how much the prospect knows about your product so you don’t risk boring him with information he already knows. You can ask: “What do you already know about our product?”
Have your talking points ready, so you know which to mention when it’s your turn to speak. Try to mention three. Remember that your talking points should be phrased as a benefit to the customer. Remember also that all your colleagues should have the same talking points in their arsenal. By the way, talking points are also known as “brand attributes” or “your brand’s promise” or “your brand’s unique selling points”

The above is an excerpt of a workshop we do on “Trade Show Marketing”.

Wanted: A parachute for Marketing Advertising Communication Service Providers

2007-07-10T20:52:00.000-04:00

Some time has passed since about 40 Marketing, Advertising and Communication (MAC) Service Providers, representing 20 companies in Curacao got together for a happy hour. It was our first time and how fun it was.

Since I was the one to send the invitations, many people have asked what my expectations were and are. Really, I wanted to meet and chat informally with colleagues I already knew and meet those I did not know. My ultimate goal, however, is to find optimal ways to cooperate so we can offer our services internationally. It is more efficient and effective for us to do so together than alone, as I have been doing in the past 12 years.

I happen to believe that international service is cut out for us. We speak (or at the very least understand) all the languages of the Caribbean region (and the hemisphere): English, Spanish, Dutch, French, Papiamentu (and even Portuguese). Many of us can easily trace our ancestry (and customs) to one ore more of the 40-plus countries our parents or grandparents came and keep coming from. Most of us have studied abroad and adopted parts of the cultures of our host country. So, we also understand the "blends" that the world is increasingly made up off "naturally". Unfortunately, when something is so "natural" to you, you don't realize its value and you don't sell it.

Cooperation also enables us to provide a better product to the client, because every one can then market their true specialty and still get or keep the client (or at least a commission). The perils of selling something one cannot deliver are well-known: you risk losing all of it.

I believe in the efficiency of free markets (so I don't believe in setting prices), and in a Code of Ethics, similar general conditions and business improvement workshops for the sector. These strengthen our businesses and prepare us to meet greater challenges. A bit of publicity is not bad either. That's our business.

In addition, if we do all of the above, chances are local clients will realize our true potential and feel (even) more comfortable recommending us to their principals or brand owners for assignments that encompass the region. Because there is nothing better than word-of-mouth. So, since most readers of this blog are local clients, I may ask: "Will you be some one's parachute into another market?"

Branding according to MarkStra

2007-07-04T09:28:00.000-04:00

The word "branding" is in vogue by marketers and non-marketers alike to denot many things. Often it is to denote a "a not-independent" establishment (i.e. part of a global brand) or some major advertising effort.

But, what is branding really? The following is based among others on Jack Trout, Al Ries and Gerald Zaltman.

A brand is ONE word you own in the mind of the relevant consumer.
The key words are:
· One word (concept, belief, aspect)
· Ownership
· The relevant consumer
If done well that word enables you to differentiate yourself meaningfully from competitors in a way that consumers value and will pay for

That word and its ownership have value to you because they either:

Enable you to command a price premium
Drive volume
Increase the lifetime value of every customer (among others through loyalty)
Or a combination of these
With an acceptable ROI

The ultimate goal of a branding exercise is to determine:

what that word should be
how to achieve its ownership (in all aspects and by all means)
which consumer segment to weigh heaviest when seeking the above (because one cannot be all things to all people)

By this (true) definition of branding, every business, large or small, in a large market or a small market can embark on a branding excersize to "brand itself". For instance, even the smallest independent shoe store can brand itself as being the one with the most personal service. Let's assume that the customer values that. The store can achieve the ownership of this ONE word or concept for instance by remembering each customer's name, his sizes and preferences like no other shoe store does.

Even when a company is part of a larger group (a multinational, a chain, etc.), a company can still brand itself further for its specific market. For instance, being a Ritz Carlton hotel in Curacao is different from being a Ritz Carlton hotel in Aruba. If for nothing else, in Aruba the guest is more likely to be an American than in Curacao. In the same way, a Ritz Carlton in the city is different from a Ritz Carlton at the beach. Each can and should brand itself further (within company guidelines, of course). Otherwise, there is no difference for the guest if he chooses Ritz Carlton in Curacao or Ritz Carlton in Aruba. And, we know what than can mean for your revenue.

8 tips to increase marketing effectiveness in small markets

2007-07-03T11:35:00.000-04:00

In a previous post I mentioned my small business client Cura-Peska, the fishing equipment specialty store. Most of my work is for larger companies in small markets. And most of it is "advising", not implementing. But, in this case I found myself planning and implementing marketing activities for a small business in a small market. The biggest challenge is scarce resources (time, energy, expertise and money) and the fact that after I am gone, the owner has to be able to do it himself.

Here is what I learnt:

Forget advertisements in mass media. Small businesses do not have the funds to get past the saturation in mass media, or any media for that matter. The question is if big businesses do.
Have a unique product and/or unique promotional event. That's Marketing 101. But, how often do we really consider what this can entail? A unique product and/or a unique promotional event is NEWS. That gains free publicity. Free publicity is more credible than your paid advertisement.
Focus and when you think you are done, focus again. There are events that create/develop brand awareness. But, small businesses do not have the resources to create brand awareness, as some larger brands/companies (still) do. And, how do you measure if you have succeeded? The ULTIMATE goal is always to generate sales or good leads. That should be your focus. If in the process awareness is created, that's nice.
Narrow down your target market and use that knowledge. What is needed to generate sales? People with an objectively verifiable interest. This means that they are already fishing, and not thinking about it (you know how long people can think and do nothing). They also have decision-making authority and money to buy. If people outside of this group catch on, that's nice.
Know the lifestyle (psychographics) of your target market. Where do they go when they are not fishing? What time of day? Who and what do they listen to, read, watch? Which of those influences them most?
Try different activities that fit our target market and goal. Keep rolling out innovative activities. Then you can see which is effective and which is not.
Measure your return-on-investment. This is important for all businesses, but more so for the small business. There is little room to waste resources (time, energy and money). And, for a small business, it is easier to measure your ROI: just ask people which activity led them to you and write it down next the their purchase amount. I am driving my dad, the owner, mad with ROI measurement.
Pay attention to quality. That is, quality of the customer. Please don't get me wrong. 10 people buying 100 dollars each yields the same as 100 people buying 10 dollars each. But, let's be honest, what you really want is more of the type that buys 100 dollars each. What is his profile? What led him to you? What keeps him with you?

5 Tips for back-up plans in a small market

2007-07-03T10:54:00.000-04:00

In small markets such as Curacao and the Caribbean, even larger corporations are often small. There is "one of each". That is: one KEY person for each function. When that person is gone, the activities stop or go low profile. What to do?

Last month my most important client was Cura-Peska, a specialty store selling high quality fishing equipment, based in Curacao. It is my dad's post-retirement activity. So, it was a father's day gift and the plug above is well-deserved.
The store has existed since 1992. A few years ago my dad spent time helping my brother build his home and went low profile with the store. This is characteristic for small businesses: when the owner is sick, becomes a parent, divorces, breaks a few fingers, cares for children or parents, etc. the business goes low profile.

In most larger companies in small market, when the key person in a department is sick, becomes a parent, divorces, breaks a few fingers, etc. the department also goes low profile.

The key is to plan for it. I searched the web for tips and found nothing. Here is my own take:

Face the reality. Know that there will be a moment that you (or your key person) cannot be there, planned or unplanned.
Prepare for shut-down. What will you do when that moment arrives? Can you afford to "shut down" activities? Can the activities be reduced? How will customers react to reduced activities? Can or should you tell customers that activities will be reduced? Do you have your priorities for the next day, next week, next quarter listed on paper in a prominent place so that someone can take over, in an emergency, if needed?
Prepare for come-back. What will you do to stage a come-back? What will it take to prepare? How long will it take to yield results?
Reach out and share. Entrepreneurs are often independent spirits and live in relative isolation when it comes to business specifics. Employees of larger corporation live in their isolated "silo's" for whatever reasons. Reach out and share some of the specifics of your job. Interest someone in what you are doing, teach them what you are doing. Remember, if nothing else, you cannot be promoted if there is no one to do the job you want to leave.
If you do not have a back-up in house, look for one outside. It can be someone who has time on his hands, or is flexible with her time. It can be someone who has previous experience in the industry or just with running a business. It can be someone you reach (or already have) an agreement with or just someone you have in mind (and whose whereabouts you follow). Someone to take over completely or just some responsibilities.

Social Media in Tourism

2007-07-03T10:28:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago I attended a meeting of the Curacao Hotel and Tourism Association (CHATA), of which I am a member. There was a lot of discussion about the official Curacao website, www.curacao.com and the plans for improvement. Online marketing & technologies and tourism are not (yet) my areas of expertise, but as I drove away, I realized how little talk there was about social media.

What is social media? Follow this link to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media. (I said I was not an expert)

"Social media describes the online technologies and practices that people use to share content, opinions, insights, experiences, perspectives, and media itself.[1]
Social media can take many different forms, including text, images, audio, and video. The social media sites typically use tools like message boards, forums, podcasts, bookmarks, communities, wikis, weblogs etc."

We know that customers' attention and belief in "sponsored" advertisements online and offline is decreasing. Word-of-mouth, and social media is the ONLINE equivalent of word-of-mouth, is increasing more influential. I tried to remember when, if ever, word-of-mouth was not the primary reason that I chose a vacation destination.

So, maybe we should start talking about social media, for tourism as well as for other industries?

If you are still in the dark, here is a list of social media listed by Wikipedia.
A few prominent examples of social media applications are
Wikis: Wikipedia
Social networking: MySpace and Facebook
Presence apps: Twitter and Jaiku
Video sharing: YouTube (video sharing)
Virtual Reality: Second Life
Events: Upcoming
News aggregation: Digg and Reddit
Photo sharing: Flickr and Zooomr
Livecasting: Justin.tv
Episodic online video: Stickham, YourTrumanShow
Media sharing: Izimi and Pownce
Social bookmarking: del.icio.us
Online gaming: World of Warcraft

Do you know what your customer REALLY values?

2007-05-07T17:24:00.000-04:00

This is a story to show how sometimes companies emphasize some aspects of service that have no value to the customer and neglect the ones that do.

Two weeks ago on a Thursday morning, I called a company where I am a client to make, what I considered, a routine request for a document. I was in a session all afternoon, but my cell phone kept ringing off the hooks, showing a number I did not know. I came to the office to find several messages. My document was ready... already! This speed was way beyond my wildest expectations for I am not now (or will ever be) a VIP client.

"You can pick it up tomorrow", they said. "Well, thank you," I said, "but picking it up is quite inconvenient for me. Can you mail, fax or email it?" "No,", they said. "For xyz reason that's not possible."

So, a few days later I went to pick it up. It wasn't there! Actually, it was there, I later learnt, but it was with the person responsible for VIP's. And it just happened that that person had gone to the bathroom when I got there.

I picked up the document last Thursday: 2 weeks later!

The lessons?

I didn't care to be treated like a VIP. I just wanted that document mailed, faxed, delivered, emailed to me. Or, if all else failed, not have to make the trip twice. That is what was "valuable" to me, what helps me. Do YOU know what your customer finds valuable? It's not always what you think.
All this investment in "speed" at the front end, and the client still got the benefit two weeks later (and is "blogging about it), because you did not control the whole delivery process. What did it cost you to control that additional step? US$ 1.30 maximum?
Make sure the "VIP client" knows what to do when the "employee-in-charge-of-VIP's goes to the bathroom.

Bid on a mystery shop: support hospitality scholarships and outreach

2007-04-26T14:41:00.000-04:00

The annual auction of CHATA, the Curacao Hospitality and Tourism Association, is open, with fabulous prizes. This year is also the association's 40th anniversary. If you haven't done so before, this is your opportunity to contribute to funds for scholarships and recognition activities such as the Curacao Culinary Team (which won Caribbean Gold last year), the Starts of the Industry Program and hospitality school activities.

MarkStra has donated two (2) mystery shops: A two-day shop for hotels and one for other types of organizations. Sorry, shops can only be done in Curacao. A lot of the other prizes can be bought by anyone, though.

What can you use a mystery shop for?

to find out if service standards are being adhered to. Are the phones being answered as agreed? Are customers greeted and thanked appropriately? Do they get the correct information? Are complaints handled in a way that customers would find pleasant? Do employees try to up-sell and cross-sell? Do customers feel that they got the product and quality that you advertised and they paid for? Do they get receipts, without asking for one? Etc.
to find out what the customer's total experience is, if this is good enough or if it has that "wow" factor. Do your procedures make sense? Is the atmosphere pleasant to the customer? Do employees have a pleasant attitude? Do all these issues reflect your brand's attributes?
to find out how your service and experience compares with the competitor. What do you do better? Can you use this as a selling point? What might you want to copy? You may not use the CHATA bid for this type of shop, though.

Who can benefit?

any organization with face-to-face contact, including retail stores, hotels, car rentals, banks, brokers, restaurants, airlines, touristic attractions, etc.
call centers: reservation, help desks, information
organizations with an online presence. How do prospects experience your site? Does it convince them to buy?

What are the "procedures" if you win?

Together with you we will:

determine what you want to know or improve
develop a questionnaire with ample space for comments
send a certified representative to your location, who will pose as a true customer or guest
within 5 to 10 days of the shop we will be ready to discuss the reports and comments with you

To clarify: if the shop involves a purchase, the deal is that we will advance the purchase and that you will reimburse us afterwards.

Hurry: Auction closes Wednesday, May 2, at 11am.

Diversity in communication: an anecdote

2007-04-26T12:21:00.000-04:00

My boyfriend has lived in the Caribbean for several years now. He is a good sailor who has sailed the Caribbean Sea extensively. He is also an accountant who works in the international financial sector. A native Dutch speaker, he speaks good English.

I am a local Caribbean woman who had a proper undergraduate and graduate U.S. education in the North East. I too have travelled extensively in what I call "my Caribbean" for my roots lie in the Dutch as well as in the Spanish and English Caribbean. I am a marketer. A native Papiamentu speaker, I speak good English and Dutch. Spanish also, but that's not relevant now.

We are going on a sailing holiday with some friends: Canadians, New Yorkers and Californians.

The - admittedly not so original - idea of making caps for everybody befell us. So, for the past week the two of us have been thinking of a slogan that fits the following requirements. Probably also in this irrational order:

The captain (my boyfriend) should like it well enough to accept on his boat. Ahoy, captain!
I should like it well enough to arrange the production. A little sabotage goes a long way
The guests should find it appropriate both on vacation in the British Caribbean and when they return home, so that they will continue to wear it. At least, the two of us should think that they will
Our Anglo-Saxon friends and their friends should understand the humor, a humor that does not have Anglo-Saxon roots. Again, so that they will continue to wear it. Again, at least the two of us should think that they will

This all given:

our different ethnic and professional backgrounds
the hierarchy and our position in it
that it should remain a surprise for our friends. So, we cannot consult them. No, we are clairvoyant enough

In many ways it reminds me of the times that I have thought up or contributed to marketing communication efforts. Or of some of the efforts I see and hear today.

I have accepted that everything we think of with the caps will be "a bit off". But, on vacation, it doesn't matter. We will all still enjoy the experience.

But, what if it were important, as it usually is in a marketer's professional life? What if we didn't know if it is important? Or how important it is?

Here are some questions to ponder:

How well does your organization handle internal diversity?
How well does it handle diversity as it relates to the customer? Do you just translate to different languages?
How do you ensure that you make and execute the right decisions, i.e. those that appeal to the customers and not necessarily to yourself? Or the boss? Or her husband?
Do you localize global campaigns? How? Based on what?
How do you convince headquarters that something won't work locally?

Yes, maybe your market is small. But, how much can you afford to get it wrong when you could and should have gotten it right?

7 ways to use market research

2007-04-26T11:20:00.000-04:00

Often we think of market research as a way to get insight from customers with regard to our own company. But, that's not its only use. Here are some ideas:

measure, rank and score yourself on issues that are important to your organization (Key Performance Indicators) or the customer (Customer Core Values). Don't bother measuring things that are not important to either you or the customer.
check out your competitors. So, you know who to copy (and in which way), whose customers to go after (because they are dissatisfied) or leave alone (because they are way too loyal). Maybe you are uncomfortable asking about your competitors, but an independent researcher is not.
find out if the perceptions that employees have of their organizations matches the perception of customers and make adjustments when and where necessary.
establish a common starting point (a common data-backed assumption) in your organization with regard to opportunities. This, so that innovative ideas are not shot down or delayed just because of different suppositions. This is especially true when the decision-makers have varying degrees of experience with the issue or look at it from different angles. An example: the director and supervisor may have different assumptions. Whose is most likely to be correct? Whose is most likely to "win" without independent insight.
determine desired ROI. For example: Based on the research data, can you gain 5% market share? What would be the source of this growth? How much would it cost? Is it worth the effort?
If your organization is not yet into ROI, you can use the data to set quantifiable and realistic objectives. Example: if the research shows that you have a 50% market share, is it realistic to set an objective of 25% growth over the next 12 months? In other words, you need to know what your market share is. Otherwise you can't determine if your growth objective is realistic.
create a unique value-added experience. Nowadays it's not just the product that is important. It is the experience when purchasing or perusing the product, online or offline, that is. Through research (mystery shopping) you can find out what customers find a "wow" experience.

Which market research method when? A quick guide

2007-04-26T10:12:00.000-04:00

Often, when people think about market research, they tend to think about surveys (in Dutch: enquetes; in Papiamentu: enkuesta), with a few hundred interviews.
But, in reality there are several methods of research. In this post I will give a quick run-down of three methods and a quick guide on which to choose when.

In a small market when the incremental benefit/profit from the research findings for your organization may be limited, it is important to make the right choice. It is also important to know in advance how you are going to use the data and to make sure you have the resources to use the findings.

3 Basic Market Research methods

quantitative research - mostly to measure in a numerical way. The result will be a score, a ranking. It will reflect issues such as frequency, (average) amount of usage, market share, preference.
qualitative research - mostly to explore the breadth of opportunities, innovative ideas, possible service improvements, possible next trends. This can be done through questioning or observation (looking at how exactly customers use a product).
desk (secondary research) - using existing data, public or private, local or international to extrapolate, draw inferences and make forecasts.

When to use quantitative research?

when you already have some relevant specific information. For instance, if you already know what guests find important in a hotel (the core values), you can then measure how your hotel scores with regard to those core values.
when you plan to do the same research regularly in the future. For instance, if you are going to invest in customer service training, you can measure over time if and how much this has improved service. Or, if you plan to increase your rates, you can measure, over time, how this affects your occupancy and guest satisfaction and perhaps that of your competitors.
when producing a number, a score or a rank is important because "the boss" wants to see a number or the organizational culture expects to see a number. That's a quite valid reason.

When to use qualitative research?

When you have no information at all. For instance, you have no idea how and based on what people choose a hotel, restaurant or car rental. Sometimes the reasons customers act the way they do are by no means obvious or rational.
When you want some customer insight, feedback, suggestions, ideas with regard to innovative product or service improvements, branding, pricing.
When you really want to understand the customer's deeper thought processes. Qualitative research is most often an interactive conversation, sometimes in a group. Ideas, reasons, perceptions and preconceptions can be challenged, probed, explained further, enhanced, struck down. As markets become more saturated, it is the deep understanding of the customer's motives that provide ideas as to how to target the customer better. Knowing this well and being the first to know, provides a competitive advantage.

When to use desk research?

when you are in the orientation or initial phase of a new product or service idea. Often you have no information at all. And, since you are not sure whether the idea will fly, you may not want to make a large investment.
When you know that a lot of data is already available, locally or internationally. You can always draw preliminary conclusions based on data that is not your own. The Internet is a tremendous help for you (and both a colleage and a competitor for us). An often overlooked source are market research agencies. They have insight into many industries based on previous work. Yes, MarkStra does too, especially with regard to (alcoholic) beverages, health care and pharmaceutics, banking and Caribbean markets in general.
When, quite simply, you don't have the budget to collect your own primary data.

"Don't worry, dear. We are open tomorrow too."

2007-03-20T22:52:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday I made the rounds of home improvement and decor stores in Curacao. I had varying experiences, but the one I came home talking about was about the security guard at Building Depot.

As I was walking out of the store, empty-handed, I said to the guard: "I bought nothing." To which the guard answers: "Don't worry, dear. We are open tomorrow too."

In sales training sessions I often remind participants to tell clients when the "store is open", not when "the store closes". This, even when someone asks: "When does the store close?", as we often do in Curacao. This time someone used that line on me. What struck me was the invitation: "If you didn't spend money today, come spend money tomorrow." I'm sure that's what the Building Depot wants.

It's official: MarkStra strengthens alliance with Research & Research

2007-03-20T21:23:00.000-04:00

We are happy to announce that our firm, marketing and strategy consulting firm, MarkStra, has strengthened our alliance with research specialists Research & Research of Puerto Rico, in order the provide more efficient quantitative market research to our clients.

We have provided market research services since our inception in 1995. Qualitative research (focus groups) and desk research have been our strong suits. In fact, I have been a Burke Certified Focus Group Moderator since 1998. But, our small market combined with rapidly developing technology and increasing customer expectations have made providing quantitative research at international standards a challenge.

Now we can meet that challenge. This alliance will allow us to tap into the expertise and technology of Research & Research whenever needed. We liaise with the local client. Being in Puerto Rico, Research & Research is used to doing research in the Caribbean and Latin America and to working with global brands because several Caribbean headquarters for global brands are established there. That's an added benefit.

I truly look forward to this new form of cooperation. We have worked with Research & Research and several other marketing research firms across the Caribbean for more than 10 years now. What is new is integrating our technology and knowledge to serve our clients and further our businesses. That's the strategic innovation.

What exactly is Return?

2007-03-07T09:11:00.000-04:00

Return on investment is a relatively new term for marketers. At seminars it appears we are still trying to determine what the relevant indicators should be. But, there are some things we are certain about though.

I have heard marketeers speak of return in terms of:
"Our marketing investment was this amount and our marketing revenues (return) was this amount". Or, if it's a first effort to be accountable just "Our revenues were this amount.".

But, that is not the appropriate measure. It's not even the most relevant measure.
More appropriate would be to report or consider:

Our marketing investment was this amount and our profit was this amount.
What would our profit be if we had not made this investment?
Would our profit be higher or lower had we made the investment in another vehicle?

I know, in a small market the figures might not always be encouraging. But, there lies our challenge. How do we allocate or re-allocate our marketing investments so that the figures become more encouraging?

Consistent Customer Care

2007-03-04T20:08:00.000-04:00

People often wonder how some companies achieve consistently good service. One way is through careful recruiting. Another way is by setting standards for employees. This ensures that what they say, how and to whom are within what the company finds acceptable. This, in turn, ensures a consistent level of service every time. A consistent predictable level of service is also part of your brand.

Setting standards
Does your company have standards? Do your employees know how and how fast you expect phones to be answered and within which time limit to return calls or emails? When to speak to shoppers wandering in the store and what to say? How you expect them to deal with angry customers? To thank for the business and how to do so?

You can also set standards to ensure more up-selling and cross-selling. Some companies’ associates consistently ask: “Would you like dessert with that?” Do you realize that that dessert could add 25% to the sale?

Measure, reward or retrain
Setting standards or providing training without measuring if the standards or training lessons are being applied, is throwing money down the drain. Do you measure if employees are applying what they learnt? Mystery shopping is one way to measure. The results show if you must reward or retrain your employees.

Customer feedback forms
These are also extremely useful, if you use them consistently and with specific goals in mind. For instance, it is better to make sure every customer gets a card and most fill it in on a specific day, than to have 20 cards filled out by chance over a period when you no longer remember what was going on. Do it the first way and you will know where to make changes or which changes were effective. Do it the latter way and all you have is data you don’t really want to process and analyze.

MarkStra can help

Setting customer care and sales standards
Setting up and executing mystery shopping programs
Developing customer feedback programs and processing the forms

Cold calling

2007-03-04T17:23:00.000-04:00

About 10 days ago, the "salesperson" in me had her very first true "cold call". That is, a business call to someone I did not know, who did not know me or my company, and whose specific needs I did not know, but who was kind enough to receive me. Obviously, I had my introduction ready and well-rehearsed. True to a small market, it soon appeared that we had several common acquaintances. Of course, that made the conversation go smoother. Since, I made another few relatively cold calls. These are the best practices I liked best:

Send a short written introduction beforehand, perhaps by email, stating that you will be calling. By doing so, you will not catch your prospect totally off-guard. In addition, she may be able to refer you to someone else if for some reason she is not the appropriate one.
Do some research on your prospect beforehand. It may give you an indication ofwhat to highlight in your introduction. It also shows your interest in the company.
Prepare and deliver your short "introductory speech". "Short" is a key word. You want to reveal most of your information once your prospect has told you something about his challenges or needs. This enables you to tailor what you say to his needs and not put your foot in your mouth.
Restrain yourself. If you just went for an introduction, don't try to close a sale right then and there. Unless, of course, the prospect states an explicit need which you can readily fulfil.
Don't leave without asking who else might be a good person to talk to in the company or elsewhere.

Cold calls are never a lot of fun, necessary to grow your revenues. You see, the prospects that already know what your business offers are likely to consider you anyway when a need arises. It is those who do not know you that form the truly new opportunities.

I have also heard salespeople say that they don't cold call because prospects prefer to deal with providers whom they have a previous or personal relationship with. While this is true, it is also true tha potential customers are increasingly looking for the best possible product or service and are open to hearing about all there is on the market, regardless of previous or personal relationships. The challenge is up to you: start establishing those relationships!

Confidentiality and consultants in small markets

2007-03-04T17:17:00.001-04:00

Having someone steal your idea is always a concern. This is especially so in small markets where everybody knows everybody and service providers are very likely to have worked for your competitors already (or do so in the near future).

I have had the good fortune of having clients who were rather trusting and the good sense to honor that trust. But some time ago I met a potential client who was less trusting than usual. It made me think of techniques I have seen applied and have applied myself to safeguard the client's confidentiality.

Of course you can register your idea at your bureau of intellectual properties or ask the consultant to sign a confidentiality agreement. But what if these are not appropriate at the time?

Mention the broader product category rather than the product itself. Consultants, marketing consultants particularly, do need some information to be able to make a good proposal for you. How to give useful information, but not reveal all before you are really ready to do so? Mention the broader product category rather than the product itself. If you are going to sell "soap", say "personal care products". Generally all personal care products face the same competitive environment, as well distribution, pricing and marketing communication challenges. So, it's okay to refer to "personal care products".
Give a comparison. If you need or want to be more specific, you can say "It's the Rolls Royce of soaps". That gives the consultant a better idea of the issues he may have to take into account when drawing up a proposal.
Ask the referee. If you were referred to a consultant by someone, discuss your concerns with the referee first. She may not be able to answer all your questions, but her experience may give you an indication of the integrity of the consultant or his organization.
Ask the standard question. When doing market research our first question is usually: "Does a close relative or friend work for such-and-such type of firm?" You can ask your consultant the same question.
Voice your concern and wait for the reaction. You can say: "This is confidential, of course." and see how the consultant reacts. Many consultants, ourselves included, have a standard confidentiality clause in our contracts and on our website. It shows they appreciate your concern and have thought about ways to address it.
Ask for disclosure. Ask if the consultant has done work in this area and the nature of the relationship with that previous client. You want to know if previous engagements where long-term or one-off deals. Be reasonable, though. The consultant must also honor the confidentiality of previous clients. So, you cannot insist on the previous client's name AND the type of engagement.
Be prepared. Read up! If you know exactly what you need, you are more likely to know whether the consultant's questions are warranted or not. Not knowing makes you more vulnerable and more easily suspicious.
Don't overkill. Consultants earn their living by providing good solutions AND by keeping their mouth shut. Most of us are not out to reveal client's confidential information. Data or methods that are publicly available or obtainable is not your property, even when you are the first to use them. It is also good to realize that after or even during your engagement, a consultant must be able to earn a living by solliciting and working for other clients. So, a non-compete clause cannot be as broad and exhaustive as you may want it to be.

Comments welcome. This is always an interesting topic in small markets.

What if personal relationships are the experience?

2007-03-04T16:36:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday we celebrated the birthday of my friend Angelique with breakfast in Cafe Barista.

We arrived early, at 9 am. Within an hour the small cafe was buzzing with the happy chatter and laughter across tables of dine-in and take-away customers who all seemed to know each other and be part of the same party. I did not know that this was the Saturday morning ritual of "the regulars". But what an experience!

It also made me realize how easy it is to create (or have) a great experience in a small market, just because everybody knows everybody. It reminded me of why I preferred the Curacao carnival to the Trinidad carnival: in Curacao I knew lots of people standing at the roadside, people you danced with a little bit, posed for, or had a little chat with. That is a big part of the experience for me. In Trinidad I knew no one.

It made me wonder if a tourist or someone visiting alone or as a couple would have the same experience in our bars and cafe's or in our carnival. If not, how do we create it for them also?
How about that first-time customer, who does not know anyone and who is not yet loyal, what is his first experience? After you have invested money to lure him, after he has taken the plunge, is his experience good enough for him to come again and become a regular with a good lifetime return for your company?

Strategy and marketing in small markets?

2007-02-06T17:21:00.000-04:00

On the internet there are many ideas for small businesses and for big businesses.
But few ideas deal specifically with marketing and strategy challenges in small markets such as Curacao and the Caribbean.
That, while we know that, because of consumer demands and expectations, the future lies in “niche markets” and even “localized” strategy (adapted to preferences of specific cities, neighborhoods, etc.). In our small markets we may easily literally end up with a “market of one”.
How can we overcome these challenges? How can we use and adapt existing tools for our small markets to make it worth our while?

These are the issues I wish to discuss in this blog. It is a thought that I am developing, hopefully assisted by your comments. So, not all posts deal with small markets.

How do you use the Internet?

2007-02-06T11:38:00.000-04:00

Last semester I taught a marketing course at Curises. That was one of the issues that encouraged me to start exploring the possibilities of the Internet again. The last time I was really involved with Internet opportunities was in 2000, just before the bust.
What amazes me is how the Internet has evolved, how users and providers have found so many ways to use the technology. I counted 24 "basic" things.
What I would really like to know is what my colleagues, friends and business relations, use the internet for and how much.
Please visit http://websurveyor.net/wsb.dll/87513/InternetUsage.htm and fill out the short questionnaire before February 15th. I will post the results as soon as available.
If you have usage alternatives I have missed, please let me know.

Mystery shopping and the customer experience

2007-01-31T11:42:00.000-04:00

The year has started with several requests for mystery or secret shops. I could or should have expected it. Why? Because aside from being used for measuring quality, mystery shops are an excellent tool for developing customer experiences. And, the focus on unique customer experiences is increasing, also outside of the hospitality and entertainment industries.

While mystery shops are great for checking out the competitor, auditing prices, and checking the integrity of team members, I believe the thrust has been to measure quality and whether team members adhere to certain standards when providing service.

But now, companies are going a step further, to use mystery shops to help them develop a unique experience or to measure if they have been successful in providing the experience they sought to create.

An example: Some time ago I walked into the lobby of a hotel. One of the first things my eyes rested on was a garbage can: a clean, empty and neatly placed garbage can. In traditional mystery shops that would not necessarily be counted as a negative. After all, nothing was done wrong and nothing was filthy. But when trying to map (or create) the customer journey, it certainly will because who wants to have a view of a garbage can.

And, by the way, creating a unique experience is as easy in a small market and for a small business as it is in a large market and for big business.

Return on Marketing Investment in Small Markets

2007-01-30T11:09:00.000-04:00

In 2006 I attended the Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI) Seminar of the Institute on International Research in Fort Myers. I will be posting a bunch of ideas discussed at that seminar. This is the first.

For some time now “branding” has been a focus for many brand teams. But it’s being challenged by the quest for a responsible ROI, a pressure to achieve better returns on marketing spending. The statement that I most remember from the ROMI seminar was this:

Branding has value if it:
· Enables you to command a price premium
· Drives volume
· Increases the average lifetime value of your customers
· Or a combination of these
All with an acceptable ROI. That’s a serious challenge in markets as small as ours. How can we go about it?

To understand how to face the challenge, we have to remind ourselves what a brand is. A brand is one word you own in the mind of the relevant consumer and which provides value to that consumer. The key words are: one word, ownership, value and the relevant consumer. Often, brand teams try to achieve ownership of that one word through advertising. This often involves highfixed costs (and therefore makes it harder to achieve an acceptable ROI). So, the larger the market, the better. But, what to do if you serve a small market?
We must realize that advertising is not the only way to achieve ownership of that one word. There are more tools in a marketing mix which can be used to differentiate ourselves from our competitors.

So, we should ask ourselves the following questions.

Are we unique (or different) in the way we: Conduct our direct selling, Manage and nurture our relationships, Provide customer care, Conduct our public relations, Are involved with our community, Price or distribute our products?
Does this uniqueness provide value to the consumer, which in turn will provide revenues for us, in the short or long run?
If we are not unique or different,is there a way we can be? In which area will this “uniqueness” provide the best return for us?

So, when you are next thinking about "branding", think further than "advertising"

I look forward to your comments.

Marketing and strategy for not-for-profits

2007-01-30T10:54:00.000-04:00

There are now so many not-for-profit organizations, both governmental and otherwise, trying to raise funds, get members, attract “share of attention” of the same people. All are having a harder time doing so.

How can your organization stand out?
By taking the same strategy and marketing approach as successful businesses do.

Many years ago I developed the program “Charity is no longer” in an endeavor to share strategy and marketing thinking with not-for-profit organizations. I held presentations and workshops for, among others, the Rotary Club of Curacao and several chapters and national congress of the Jaycees International.

The issue recently came up again, inspiring me to revive that program in 2007.

In the session of your choice we can discuss your biggest challenges from a business point of view.

Attracting and retaining active board members and general members
New approaches to raising funds
How can the internet help you
Asking for and giving support other than money
Advertising your projects, programs, cause or club
What else can we do, where else can we help? Brainstorming for new project ideas
Capturing your ideas in a strategic plan

All topics can be tailored to your needs and delivered in Papiamento, English, Spanish or Dutch. Contact me at

tlacruz@markstra.com or (599-9) 767-3085.