RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT FOR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Every organization exists to satisfy the needs of customers through the provision of products that are perceived to match the specific and unique needs of different customers. Producing products just to participate in the market is the same as firing bullets aimlessly to scare the enemy away, rather than targeting it. Many companies, if not all, have realized the importance of seeking customers' feelings about their products, their needs and also their expectations. Walking on the streets, you are most likely to find some company agents with questionnaires, trying to gather as much information as possible about what their customers think about their products. Some companies go that extra mile to mail questionnaires through post offices and also electronically through the internet, just to seek what customers want before producing products into the market. Companies are pitching tents and setting tables in different institutions to gather information. Research should be given the first priority in organizations since it explores important facts and new trends in customers' changing behavior, including their tastes, preferences and buying patterns. Companies should maximize their utilization of every customer touch point, in that they should be able to obtain and store information every time a customer comes into contact with the organization, whether via the phone, mail, face to face or through the internet.  Before development of any product, a thorough and extensive research should be undertaken.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

You must have seen companies going back to the communities to lend them a hand in many activities, most commonly being digging of dams and boreholes in dry areas. This is what corporate social responsibility (C.S.R) is all about. There is no common definition of C.S.R but can be referred to as "giving back to the community". Since all companies operate in the midst of communities, they ought to give back to them. The communities are the customers that keep these companies in existence. C.S.R takes many forms, among them being sports and sponsorship. In Kenya, most companies have taken the lead in giving back to the communities. For example, Equity Bank is well known for its university sponsorship programmes for the needy students; Safaricom is well known in sports. It sponsors football (Sakata Ball Live), Rugby (Safaricom safari 7s) and marathon (Safaricom Lewa marathon to cater and care for the environment); Kenya Power and Lighting Company (K.P.L.C) is known for constructions of dams and digging of boreholes in dry areas; Kenya Cooperative Bank (K.C.B) is known for hosting safari rally events, last but not least, Standard Chartered holds marathons, an initiative dubbed "seeing is believing" to help raise fund for blind children below 9 years old to re-gain their sight. You may wonder  why C.S.R is important. It creates a positive perception of the company in the mind of the consumer, hence a good reputation. In turn, the reputation will keep the company in business for long, hence more profit is earned. It does not require a company to have millions of shillings so as to participate in C.S.R. Activities like putting rubbish bins in the estates or sponsoring the local team in your area can make a difference. Again I'll say this, "the little things we do make a difference in the future". 

The Six Sigma Approach

Marketing and Logistics disciplines are akin to each other. They all strive to satisfy and delight customers in ways such as reliability, availability of products, faster delivery, right quality and the overall customer care. Most of my posts have been about Marketing, but this time round, I'd like to share with you, my dear reader, about my other field of study (Logistics), and concentrate more on the "Six Sigma Approach". This concept, developed years ago by the Motorola Company, strives to achieve the right quality of products by reducing the variation of defects in the production process and the products themselves. It involves setting quality objectives, in which a process should have a variation of positive/negative 3, meaning that there can only be a maximum of 6 defects if a million opportunities to produce were provided. This concept greatly relies on customer driven objectives, which emphasizes that the customer should determine what quality means to them. It also relies heavily on the element of a structured improvement cycle, which keeps the process of production a continuous cycle that strives to improve the quality of products. The concept uses a number of measures to calculate the number, fraction and percentage of defects in a product and in a production process. To me, it is an important concept since it helps organizations to continuously improve on the quality of their products.

Quality, your company's shield and defender

The road to quality is a long one, a journey filled with many challenges that only the "smart" companies can persevere. It takes a company a couple of decades before realizing its desired quality, that matches with the customers' expectations. For instance, it has taken 40 years of scramble, stiff competition and hard work for the Kenya Wine Agencies Limited (KWAL) to achieve its long desired quality objective-according to a report in the Daily Nation of Friday August 5, 2011. Quality calls for employee commitment, ownership of the processes and continuous improvement of the entire production processes over and over again. "As we look back and celebrate the success borne out of our team's cooperation and commitment to continuous improvement........", explained Moitalel Ole Kenta, the Board chairman of KWAL. People are the driving force of a company desiring to produce better quality products. "From its employees within, to the clients and consumers, we ensure that all our policies, strategies and products are in the people's best interest", reported one of the KWAL's administrators. Employees need to be empowered through training, working in self managed teams, and participation in decision making, which in turn will lead to a sense of belonging and a positive attitude towards work. Problem solving tools like the Deming Wheel, should be effectively utilized to continuous plan and monitor the production processes and improve them for better quality products. Quality goes hand in hand with flexibility. A company that is ready to alter its operational strategies, venture in other external activities and acquire new and advanced technology is in a better position to satisfy its customers better than those companies that stick to their policies and strategies. Let quality of your products raise each customer's eyebrows in excitement and delight. 

The Youth and Vision 2030

Blame the oil marketers for the increase in commodity prices, but alas, have you peeped through the key hole at the bar next door after "11 p.m" to see the number of youths, with wine glasses up in the air, making hullabaloo about the "tasty" liquor and "soothing" music? The figure is alarming. Instead of burning the midnight oil in constructive works for the realization of the Vision 2030, the youths are whining and dining from club to club. Kenya has been termed a "drinking nation", from illicit beer to expensive drugs like cocaine being used by the youth. This springs up an idea that the youth is a potential market that every marketer should set an eagle eye on. Given a chance, you my reader or as a marketer, what would you do to counter the youths' expenditure in drugs and alcohol, to the realization of our very own dream? What enticing, cynosure projects would you come up with, to redirect the youths in building Kenya, as a brand, rather than staggering on their way home and dragging the awaited Kenya's Vision 2030? Its seems so far away, but its only a matter of time before we are caught off-guard. Marketers associated with branding Kenya should be on their toes, exploring any possible opportunities for the youths to burn their midnight oil in, rather than in the drinking dens. "We are the ones, we are the children, we are the ones to make a brighter day, so let's start building" there goes a song by a group of artistes. The earlier........................the better.

Mobile Advertising Vs Permission Marketing

I looked at my phone and saw an icon of an envelope blinking, indicating that someone had sent me a text message. I thought it was from a friend who wanted us to party but after reading it, i found out that it was from a local company promoting their product. Am sure you must have received a text or a call from a company promoting their products. Mobile advertising is a new marketing trend in which organizations use the cell phones as a medium to pass promotional information to their potential clients. Organizations buy bundles from of phone numbers from mobile service providers and use them to send text or make calls to persuade and convince the phone owners to make an immediate action towards their products. Mobile advertising is effective since it is fast and there is a guarantee that the text will be read or the call will be answered. However, it is so disturbing to receive texts and calls from unwanted persons. Here comes the idea of permission marketing. As an example, i got a text from a company promoting products that help in loosing weight. I found it so disturbing since am not in need of loosing weight, so i had to delete it immediately. For an organization to send texts to different people, it must be having the knowledge of the people in terms of their unique needs, tastes and preferences, so as to send the right message to the right person, something that many marketers ignore with the assumption that the information will trigger an immediate or a later action. These companies should get the permission from their recipients before sending them texts. In countries where advertising laws and regulations are strictly adhered to, it is enforceable at law to sue such companies. Therefore, organizations should consider their potential clients first before sending them unwanted texts, which will save them from spending much on consumers who ignore their messages. As Chris Harrison, a marketing maverick, puts it, "I have two mobile phones at present, on different networks. I must receive and ignore at least six promo messages a day". Also, it will save them the cost associated with lawsuits, if at all they are sued.  

Winning and Retaining customers

It is the dream of any organization to win and retain customers, thats where the marketing function comes into play. To win a customer your product must be enticing enough to lure them into purchase. By this i mean, the product, be it a service or a good, must have a competitive advantage so as to position itself first in the mind of the consumer, whenever a need arises. In a bid to retain them, alot of inducing features/activities can take  place so as to induce them to make repeat purchases hence creating customer loyalty. For instance, discount in prices has been widely used to keep customers with different organizations. Lets take a look at the banking industry. Banks are well known for their great customer service. All around the world, banks are engaged in attracting all potential clients, from as young as ten years old kids to great grand parents. They come up with exciting features to cater for the different age brackets in the society. In Kenya, we have Jumbo Junior for kids, bankika for the youth e.t.c In a bid to win customers, banks are going the extra mile to open accounts for free for their clients, and depositing some amount of money as a start-up capital. They also go ahead to charge less on withdrawal of cash over the counter, free ATM withdrawals, free balance enquiries, and also they offer low interest rates on loans and mortgages to their loyal customers, just to retain them. Personally, i take this as a big stride ahead of any other bank still taking their potential clients for granted. Take this as a stepping stone to your organization's success, whatever the industry. What enticing products, services or features do you have to induce existing and potential clients to do business with you? What incentives do you have to make them stay with you? I live the question for you to answer.