Diary of a programmer with no clue about marketing

Re:Diary of a programmer with no clue about marketing by ekianjo on Wednesday November 06, 2013 @09:48PM (#6687152)

I'd add that Marketing is about value creation ultimately. You have to start with the right mindset, i.e. that you product has no value per se, and that marketing is everything you are going to do around your product/service to create the perception of its value. Your customers don't know how time you spent on it, they don't care how complex it is, they don't even want to know how it works (at least not until they are interested to buy it). You have to somehow create the need (that may be either a true need, or a perceived need) and your product/service has to be a presented as perfect fit (whether true or not) for it. Sometimes products/services create new needs as well so you need additional engagement to focus on the need itself if it's not obvious.

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Re:Diary of a programmer with no clue about marketing by zaidf on Thursday November 07, 2013 @02:04AM (#6688032)

We operate with this mindset for each of the roles in our org:

Sales: assume the product sucks and your job is to convince customers to buy a really shitty product

Product: assume that there is no sales and your job is to create a product that people cannot stop raving about after using it for few minutes

Client Services: assume the product sucks and your job is to still keep the customer satisfied

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Re:Diary of a programmer with no clue about marketing by WA on Thursday November 07, 2013 @06:29AM (#6688801)

You working for Red Bull?

Edit: To clarify: Red Bull is, for me, THE epitome of marketing. They sell a tremendously unhealthy product (bacon-smell car) as something that is healthy, basically by connecting themselves with extreme sports. Red Bull IS extreme sports and lifestyle. How insane if you think about it.

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Re:Diary of a programmer with no clue about marketing by annnnd on Thursday November 07, 2013 @10:09AM (#6689682)

Seriously, have you seen what they do in extreme sports? I think a bit of Red Bull won't kill those guys, but lack of concentration might. :)

I agree with you though.

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Re:Diary of a programmer with no clue about marketing by Brakenshire on Thursday November 07, 2013 @08:48PM (#6693929)

Red Bull is extreme sports, bottled for the sedentary.

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Re:Diary of a programmer with no clue about marketing by billmalarky on Thursday November 07, 2013 @09:51AM (#6689593)

Curious, is Red Bull any more unhealthy than Coke?

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Re:Diary of a programmer with no clue about marketing by WA on Thursday November 07, 2013 @10:11AM (#6689707)

I don't know, probably not. But Coke's marketing is more towards lifestyle in general. Red Bull is explicitly associated with "being active", "sports", even "high endurance" and "extreme situations". But in these situations, you won't need a Red Bull. Red Bull establishes a fake image that, to some degree, is the exact opposite of the actual product.

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Re:Diary of a programmer with no clue about marketing by eric_cc on Thursday November 07, 2013 @11:01AM (#6690080)

> But in these situations, you won't need a Red Bull.

It's pretty easy to attack a product with the argument that "you won't need" it. There are only a handful of things that humans truly need.

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Re:Diary of a programmer with no clue about marketing by tbomb on Thursday November 07, 2013 @11:42AM (#6690379)

I think what he means is this: When I'm tired from snowboarding, skateboarding, or really any of the extreme sports they sponsor; Do I feel like grabbing a Red Bull, or do I want water (and 5 minutes to catch my breath)?

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Re:Diary of a programmer with no clue about marketing by eric_cc on Thursday November 07, 2013 @12:49PM (#6690941)

I understand but that goes for just about every marketing campaign. If I want a threesome, the answer is not to saturate myself with a can of Axe.

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Re:Diary of a programmer with no clue about marketing by AznHisoka on Thursday November 07, 2013 @04:44PM (#6692623)

Ha! That's a hilarious analogy. What would you do instead?

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Re:Diary of a programmer with no clue about marketing by ekianjo on Thursday November 07, 2013 @02:12AM (#6688065)

Haha, I like your way of putting it. I'll save your comment and re-use it when I have the chance :)

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Re:Diary of a programmer with no clue about marketing by ekianjo on Thursday November 07, 2013 @02:17AM (#6688080)

Just one thing I wanted to add. If anyone has a startup idea "Marketing as a Service", HN is probably a good place to start your service since we see this as a regular need: people making applications they have no clue how to market. There's probably a ton of unmet needs in this field.

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Re:Diary of a programmer with no clue about marketing by RyanZAG on Thursday November 07, 2013 @02:30AM (#6688129)

Lots of people have had that idea, but it doesn't work because you just end up with "Sales as a Service" to use your words.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6686977

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Re:Diary of a programmer with no clue about marketing by kreilly on Thursday November 07, 2013 @08:56AM (#6689274)

Marketing as a service has been around for years. They are called Ad Agencies.

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Re:Diary of a programmer with no clue about marketing by ekianjo on Thursday November 07, 2013 @09:38AM (#6689506)

That's not really what I meant. Ad agencies only do a very tiny part of what I call Marketing. If you think that's only it, you are reducing Marketing to a very small chunk of what it actually is.

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Re:Diary of a programmer with no clue about marketing by melindajb on Thursday November 07, 2013 @01:47PM (#6691462)

As a marketer who is also a founder I'd love to hear more about your idea.

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