The Accidental Marketer
Power Tools for People Who Find Themselves in Marketing Roles

With technology being built into products of all kinds, many businesses are hiring scientists, engineers, and designers to fulfill strategic marketing and product management roles. The Accidental Marketer is a practical guide for employees who are now responsible for developing strategy. These marketers will be able to immediately and successfully apply the ten tools featured in the book to create powerful strategies that increase sales and profits for any product in any industry.

• Explains how great marketers uncover insights about customers that competitors miss and use new insights to create a range of strategic options for their marketing plans
• Shows how the best marketers execute their strategies through developing innovative branding and communication plans and value propositions

The Accidental Marketer allows any inexperienced marketer to step into a new role and develop an effective strategy.

Preface xiii

Acknowledgments xix

Chapter 1 Who Moved My . . . Customer? 1

Key Question: How can we detect shifts in decision-making power before our competitors do?

Featured Case: The Simple Concept behind Dell’s Success in the PC Market

Power Tool: Influencer Map

Chapter 2 The Fountain from Which Great Marketing Flows 15

Key Question: How can we turn data into insights?

Featured Case: How Holiday Inn Express Inspired

Price-Conscious Travelers to Pay More

Power Tool: The Benefits Ladder

Chapter 3 are You Making Lukewarm Tea? 37

Key Question: How do we capitalize on differences in customers’ needs?

Featured Case: Quidel—How a Medical Diagnostics

Marketer Blew Up Its Average Product and Got a Positive Result

Power Tool: Needs-Based Segmentation

Chapter 4 What Business are You Really In? 57

Key Questions: What business are we in? Who are our direct and indirect competitors?

Featured Case: How Southwest Fooled Other Airlines into Thinking They Were the Competition

Power Tools: Market Tree and Competitor Analysis

Chapter 5 Who Do You Love? 73

Key Question: How do we align in determining which opportunities are most attractive to our organization?

Featured Case: How Enterprise Picked Up the Number 1 Market Share in Rental Cars

Power Tool: Segment Attractiveness

Chapter 6 What Were They Smoking? 93

Key Question: What are our strengths and weaknesses relative to customers’ other options (competitors)—through the eyes of our customers?

Featured Case: How Using an Ability to Win Analysis Could Have Saved Volkswagen Millions

Power Tool: Ability to Win

Chapter 7 The Magnetic Effect of Focus 115

Key Question: How do we prioritize and focus on the most important markets and segments?

Featured Case: Apple Demonstrates How Aiming at a Tight Target Leads to Massive Profits

Power Tool: Strategic Position Analysis (SPA)—A.K.A. The Prioritizer

Chapter 8 Viva la Differentiation 131

Key Question: How can we “change the game” in our favor and maximize our potential in the market?

Featured Case: Three Differentiation Strategies, Including How Nike Convinced Us That Sneakers are a Fashion Item

Power Tools: Differential Advantage with Future State Ability to Win

Chapter 9 A Positioning Statement is a Terrible Thing to Waste 155

Key Question: What image or perception do we want to own in the customer’s mind?

Featured Case: Understanding How the Mind Works to Powerfully Position Your Product

Power Tool: Positioning Statement

Chapter 10 Reinventing a Commodity 173

Key Question: How should we develop our offer to make our positioning come alive?

Featured Case: How Starbucks is Able to Fetch $2.75 for an 8-Ounce Latte

Power Tools: Value Proposition Idea Catcher and Perceived Value Analysis (PVA)

Closing Remarks 197

Resources 201

Index 211

TOM SPITALE has spent the last 20 years studying and unlocking the mysteries of marketing success. As a speaker, consultant and trainer he has launched thousands of strategic initiatives and plans in the Americas, Europe, and Asia for Fortune 500 companies and for lesser-known organizations in highly-specialized markets.

Tom creates tools and frameworks that his clients use in workshop settings, helping them uncover the keys to differentiating their products and services in as little as two days. His goal is to help elevate the role of marketers in the modern organization to be the “orchestrators of company strategy.”

Prior to his consulting career, Tom held a variety of marketing, pricing, and actuarial positions for Walmart, General Electric, and Great American Insurance Company. He is a husband, father, entrepreneur, investor, musician, golfer, sports fan, spiritualist, and cook.

MARY ABBAZIA is Managing Director of Impact Planning Group where she guides global clients to grow profitably. She focuses on developing their marketing skills and creating fresh dynamic strategies. Mary also teaches at Columbia University School of Business’ Executive Marketing Program and at the California Institute of Technology.

Mary started her career at Intel and was Vice President of The BASES Group, where she forecasted new products and services. Over the past 25 years, her passion has been maximizing clients’ potential. She has worked across virtually all industries as a speaker, executive educator, and business coach. Her practical approach and real-life experiences, combined with proven frameworks and tools, give clients real results. In addition, teams gain alignment and common language.

Mary received her Bachelor of Science in Managerial Economics from the University of California at Davis and her MBA from Golden Gate University in San Francisco, CA. She lives in Connecticut with her family and enjoys hiking and learning about differe