New marketing innovations from free CDs to free drinks

Prince, a famous American musician, has experimented with many styles of music since 1978.

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As marketers, we are trained according to established methods, to measure output, for product services we have a specific evaluation system in mind. Most marketers, when they discuss strategies and tactics, are apt to refer to 4 p: products, prices (price), location (place), promotion (promotion). If we sell widgets today, we're used to selling widgets tomorrow. If competitors enter the marketing market, their usual strategy is to try to cut prices, find new channels, push better products, or promote them in new or more interesting ways. In short, we already have a concept that is tested, real, and how things work effectively.

A recent article on musician Prince shows us an interesting lesson. This course applies to multiple products and multiple products. Most notably, the fact that Prince used the British Sunday mail system to distribute 3 million copies of his new album, containing copies of his CDs. His British record agency declined to do so.

What would you do if your collaborators, competitors, or suppliers decide to completely change your business laws? If competitors decide to distribute their products for free and find another way to make a profit, can you block the impact from them? The internet is thought to murder the music industry, but in fact it just changes the distribution pattern. Prince may have found a way to really murder the music brand.

Consider the Apple iphone, how quickly it changes the relationship between the consumer and the phone. Consumers can buy the product at at&t or Apple stores and activate it at home. Anyone who has been told to activate a mobile phone by a 22-year-old salesperson will know how to control the overall process. Apple opens a door to a door that could eventually change the entire ecosystem of the mobile phone industry.

Prince has always been an innovator in breaking idols. There may not be such people in your industry, but that doesn't mean the rules won't change in a moment. In all areas of marketing, new opportunities to change the rules of the game are emerging. You have to pay close attention to every example of the economy as a whole. Today's free CD may mean tomorrow's free drinks (someone might sell a spot on the jar).

Controlling the network channel may mean you can feel the pulse of the changing market. The network is an effective indicator of the impending change. Be aware of what you should do with your product and how your competitors will use the web. Keep track of blogs and other social media closely, and focus on trends. Be aware of the signals from all channels and see where the opportunities and threats are. Build a scorecard that runs your business on this basis.

Prince distributed 3 million CDs free of charge. He has been paid for. And it's going to be a concert sale. Apple reshaped the mobile phone market by reshaping its music portable player.

What can you do?

(Original: July 26, 2007; compiling: Shi Ying)