Bill Morrison (Newterra Marketing Consulting)
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On this episode of Marketing News Canada, Darian Kovacs interviews Bill Morrison, the President of Newterra Marketing Consulting.
Bill states that he has always been in marketing of some sort. He says, at heart, a marketer is how he defines himself. He believes that Vancouver is one of the most competitive markets in the world. The key to being successful is presenting in a way that separates you from your competition.
“Our cell phones seem to annoy us and bother us when a new version comes out. We have had a favourite outfit for some time but suddenly we hate it, there is a reason for this,” says Bill. Thanks to marketing, we somehow convince ourselves we need the newest and best things. Bill told a story of when he wanted a new truck. Instead of admitting he wanted a new truck, he convinced himself he needed a new truck for his growing son, he said his son is so tall and needs the legroom. He later realized his old truck was fine, and he was using his son's height as justification. Either way, he bought the new truck.
When it comes to positioning a product, the most important thing is to make it relevant to the audience. An example of this is, selling homes. It is going to be hard to sell a townhouse to a single bachelor. However, if positioned correctly, it will be incredibly simple to sell a townhouse to a single-family.
An example of bad positioning is electric cars. Bill believes that one of the reasons that Tesla is so successful is because they not only positioned themselves as good for the environment, they also market themselves as a luxury vehicle. Many electric car brands do not do as well because they sell themselves as good for the environment but they forget to highlight the features of the car.
Something Bill enjoys doing is going to the mall and seeing how brands market their products compared to their competitors. He said something he has noticed about men's clothes is that they usually have the most appealing clothes regarding the feel of the material and the front of the store, this is because men tend to care more about comfort rather than appearance. However, in women's stores, the most visually appealing are placed toward the front of the store, this is because women tend to care more about style over comfort.
Bill recently wrote a book called, “Lions in the Grass: A Marketing Insider’s Guide to Mass Persuasion (and Why You Want the Sh!t You Want).” The book is about how marketers use tactics that make us believe we need products that we do not. This book is targeted at both marketers and consumers. It clearly illustrates how we as consumers interpret messages.
Bill is an experienced marketer, and just like any of us, he is also a consumer. Even the marketing genius himself can be persuaded into buying new items. For more information, read his new book.
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