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MASON & MADISON
In Search of the Silver Bullet
In selling New Haven, is the product what the target audience really wants?
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Business New Haven
8/9/1999
By: Charles Mason
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Over the years we have counseled many wonderful clients like General Motors, Scandinavian Airlines, Bell Atlantic, Konica and Mitsubishi, to name just a few. Almost without exception each has understood the intrinsic importance of having a great product. They pour millions into R&D and constantly evaluate what new innovation will move them ahead in the game.
But in the public sector this kind of approach is much less common. More often than not leaders are frustrated by a complex set of variables and are looking for communications to help them "interpret and present" the facts in a new creative way that will suddenly make all of their problems fade.
The "product" (in this case New Haven) is assumed to be, for all practical purposes, immutable. And consequently attention is focused through default on the positive aspects of what's available to sell.
This is not stupid, nor is it lazy. It derives from a healthy desire to get action and work with what you've got. Unfortunately, without a naturally appropriate product, it is also not fundamentally effective. Such a program makes everyone feel better for a while, and that's important. But ultimately the reason for disappointing consumer results has not been addressed in any real way. And slowly market factors seek their own level.
The solution to this dilemma is, of course, to remember the first "P" in the four P's of marketing: PRODUCT. Is New Haven really competitive with suburban shopping and restaurants? Is it really better than Stamford for a corporate office? Are there really attractions to draw in and keep families for the day? Will people rationally make it a weekend destination?
We use a diagram to help our clients think about these types of issues. It's a visualization of the marketing opportunity. As shown below, the rectangle represents the marketplace. The circle on the left stands for all of the things New Haven has to offer. And the one on the right, all of the things our target audience needs and wants. Of course, the place where they overlap is our "Sweet Spot," or area of opportunity. These are the things we have to offer that our target audience also needs/wants. And these are the things that communications can most successfully focus on.
But what happens if the area of overlap of the two circles is either quite small or non-existent? In other words, what happens if your target audience wants something other than what you are? What then?
In this situation there are really only three choices:
1. Give up on the target audience
2. Get them to change what they want
3. Change what you are
New Haven, in my opinion, needs to very carefully assess who it is trying to attract. The target audiences need to be carefully defined. Then the city needs to understand what these people want and how the city fits into this picture. This should be a completely frank and honest evaluation. Pep talks are fine, but they have no place in this discussion.
Some cities have found that they no longer have a healthy intersection with their target audience's needs and lifestyle. In this case communications alone cannot get the job done. It is simply too difficult to get people to change their fundamental motivations.
And so if we can't change what people want and we're not about to give up, we've got to change what we are. In effect, there has to be an "attractive product" that precedes, or at least accompanies, the communications.
In my view New Haven may well be in this situation. Our city regrettably is largely irrelevant to the after-work lives of many of the people it is trying to attract. The question is how do we change all of that? Good advertising? A sense of pride? Or do we instead focus on more substantive changes? San Antonio built up its River Walk. Baltimore redid its harbor front.
We need to focus on this kind of product improvement, too. Only in the context of this type of commitment to real change and improvement can communications generate a meaningful and lasting contribution.
Charles Mason is president of Mason & Madison, a New Haven-
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