5 Define the Marketing Problem

Find a Marketing Problem That Needs to Be Solved 

Before beginning any marketing plan, one must identify the marketing problem, usually described as the customer pain point.  Pain point is used a few times previous to this reference.  NOT SURE WHAT THIS MEANS? Pain Point is defined here, but it already appears undefined in previous chapters.

Pain Points

The pain point can often be identified by looking at the following:

1. Customer needs:  Needs are the basic requirement, the most minimal requirement, that defines the problem the customer wants the marketer to solve.
2. Customer wants:  Beyond the basic need, the customer’s basic requirement to fulfill the need and solve the problem.
3. Customer desires: These are the wishes that the customer wants to address based on the social and cultural context that the customer lives within.

Finding Problems

The marketer is in the business of discovering problems and providing solutions with a product or service. Marketers find problems, needs, wants, and desires in several ways:

1. They observe people in their daily lives
2. Through personal experience
3. Using primary research, including interviews, focus groups, and crowd sourcing
4. Discovering needs through secondary research sources

Finding Pain Points First vs. Creating New Products First

We are always addressing what came first: the chicken or the egg. This is the same issue for marketers: did I create a product looking for a solution? Or did I find a pain point that needs a solution?

Either can work.

Personal Computers – Product Looking for a Solution

At the dawn of the personal computing age, very few people could figure out how the average person would be using a PC. So the PC was invented and it languished until the invention of VisiCalc, the first spreadsheet software. The computer did not solve the problem but was there when the problem was identified, and it could be made functional with an add-on piece of software. So in this case, the computer was looking for a solution, and then someone found a problem the computer could be applied to very effectively and profitably.

Spanx, Problem Finds a Solution

The person who created Spanx* did not like the way she looked. She cut off the feet of control top panty hose, pulled the hose up over her torso, liked the look, and created Spanx. Here the problem was identified first, and an existing product was adapted to solve the problem.

The Process of Problem and Solution

A) The customer’s perspective

1. The customer defines the problem: “I don’t like the way I look”
2. The need: to find a way to look better
3. The desire: I want to solve the problem with clothing

B) The marketer’s perspective

1. The marketer observes that people are cutting off the feet of panty hose and pulling up over their torsos what is left over
2. The marketer starts by asking a question: why are you pulling up panty hose around your torso?
3. The marketer thinks: how do I make a product that addresses this specific problem so people don’t have to cut off the toes of pantyhose?
4. The marketer calls vendors and comes up with a dedicated product solution.
5. The marketer then develops messaging, figures out how to sell the product, and puts the product into a test market.

Next Steps

Once you have identified your problem and a proposed solution, it is time to get into the analysis of how you will profitably position the product within the marketplace.

Begin with a PEST analysis found in the next chapter.

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sara_Blakely