The legends of marketing have given us the best marketing strategies of all time. These strategies continue to guide and change the lives of marketers and business owners who are steadfast in their belief in the value and effectiveness of their techniques.

Molded by the influence of their time, their vision and contributions continue to impact the marketing world in particular and the business world in general. Before we get down to their all-important contributions, let us define some technicalities first.

What Exactly is Marketing?

The act of influencing and persuading people to buy a product or service is known as marketing. We've been observing this act from the beginning of commercialization, and we've seen how marketing has evolved through time.

Simply put, marketing refers to a company's operations related to purchasing, advertising, distributing, or selling a product or service.

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RELATED READ - 10 Best B2B Outbound Marketing Strategies for 2023

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The Marketing Legends

Marketing legends are not born with outstanding marketing strategies. They are influenced, molded, and formed through their experiences, success, and failures throughout their lifetime.

They have put in the time, developed the expertise, and earned the experience to be creative thought leaders who offer knowledge to help others achieve more in their careers.

Looking at the many marketing thought leaders' backgrounds, overarching principles, and values, the following have genuinely insightful and valuable things to say.‍

1. Philip Kotler: Societal Marketing Concept.

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Philip Kotler is not simply a legend. He is THE legend.

He is respectfully called the Father of Modern Marketing. He is credited with first proposing the societal marketing orientation or concept in an article published in the Harvard Business Review in 1972. The societal marketing concept takes and upholds the belief that marketers have a greater social responsibility than just simply satisfying customers and providing them with superior value.

‍Key Takeaway:

  • Identify key stakeholder groups, including employees, local communities, customers, the wider public, and the government.
  • Consider the impact of their actions on all stakeholders.
  • Make sure that marketing activities do not damage the environment and are not hazardous to broader society.
  • Societal marketing is believed to be the most sustainable marketing strategy.

2. John Caples: The Headline Must Be Simple, Direct, and Something Readers Want.

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John Caples is legendary in direct-response advertising, admired for coming up with one of the most brilliant ad headlines of all time – "They Laughed When I Sat Down At the Piano But When I Started to Play!"

Variations of this line are very popular and extensively used as it really commands attention for the readers to read the rest. According to Caples, "To impress your offer on the mind of the listener or reader, it is necessary to put it into simple and brief language. You have to hit them where they live in the heart or the head."

‍Key Takeaway:
Headlines should catch the reader's interest. Beginning headlines with 'how to,' 'why,' 'this,' 'because,' or 'advice' is a fail-safe method. People are curious to learn what's new and exciting.

And the best way to show them that you have something new and exciting is to tell them right away by stating the benefits in the headline and arousing their curiosity. Don't keep them guessing.

3. Walt Disney: The Tiniest of Details Matter

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With his firm belief that the smallest of details can create a huge positive impact, Walt Disney devoted attention to enhancing the minutest detail providing a meaningful and unique experience that generates loyal followers.

His advice is, "Whatever you do, do it well. Do it so well that when people see you do it, they will want to come back and see you do it again, and they will want to bring others and show them how well you do what you do."‍

Key Takeaway:‍

The tiniest readjustments, an iota of change to how products are marketed, can create an enormous positive impact. Learn from the master of transformation, creativity, and innovation, don't be afraid to experiment and try.

4. Steve Jobs: Create Experiences ‍‍

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Pioneering event marketing, Jobs profoundly believes in the power of storytelling in creating meaningful customer experiences. He wanted to show people who use Apple products are trailblazers, harbingers, brilliant and accomplished.‍

Key Takeaway:‍

The way to get people's attention with marketing is not to talk about features or what a product does; it conveys feelings and communicates what your company is and what your company is about. The marketing content should be something people strive for, aspire and dream of being.‍

5. Estée Lauder: Influencers Make the Brand

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Lauder was the lone woman on Time magazine's 1998 list of the 20 most influential business geniuses of the 20th century.

The foremost reason for the success of Estee Lauder is the free samples. Understanding the power of putting products into the hands of those who could authentically share the brand's message, Lauder provided free products to friends, family, and acquaintances so they could spread the word effectively and enthusiastically.‍

Key Takeaway:‍

Establish relationships with people who can influence your target market. Word of mouth is still believed to be the most effective marketing form. Expand your reach by creating mutually beneficial campaigns and driving positive results. Now, following in the footsteps of these legends, what can we do? What should we do?

Learn from them, create and build marketing strategies, of course!

How to develop an effective marketing strategy?

A client problem should be the starting point for your marketing plan. A successful product or service answers a customer's problem. Find out what your potential clients desire by conducting market research. Use your findings to figure out how to position your offering to fulfill their wants. 

You may then devise a marketing strategy to draw your target demographic to this product. You want to raise brand awareness, generate new leads, and ultimately sell your product or service with this method. To know a customer's pain points and needs, you must:‍

1. Create a profile of your ideal consumer.

Consider the most likely people to buy your goods or have an issue that your product or service can solve. Your ideal consumers could be a specific age group, gender, or income bracket.

Your marketing efforts for your goods will be shaped by determining who your ideal consumer is. Target your ideal customers to get the most out of your marketing spend.‍

2. Provide a solution to a customer's problem.

Consumers have issues that they would like to get resolved. Use your customer expertise to identify a problem you can solve if you deal with clients in a specific industry. Investigate a product concept. Many businesses create fantastic items that are related to their other successful products. Consider why people utilize your current offerings. You might be able to tackle a somewhat different problem as well.

‍3. Apply marketing principles to your product and ideal customer.

You can think about the components of your marketing when you've identified your ideal customer and solved his problem with your product. Consider what you'll need to do to promote your goods by:

  • Developing a pricing strategy for your goods. How are you going to package your goods, and how will they fit into your brand image? Also, consider how customers will contact your company, place an order for your product, and get it. The entire procedure must run smoothly.
  • Knowing what your ultimate marketing goal is. Consider what you want to achieve as a result of your marketing plan before you begin. You can start making your plan once you've determined what you want to achieve.
  • Increasing the scope of your marketing efforts. You might need to add some new marketing initiatives to boost your sales. Your company's brand awareness will grow as you add additional strategies to sell your goods.
  • Build a marketing strategy and a budget to carry it out. It's vital to create a formal marketing strategy. You must budget for each marketing initiative to make the plan a reality. Website/organic marketing and paid marketing are the two essential marketing components.

So get right down to it, who knows? The marketing strategy you will create might be among the best marketing strategies of all time sometime soon!‍

What are the best marketing strategies used by companies?

1. Coca-Coca: Champion a Cause ‍

Consumers believe that brands utilize social causes as a marketing technique, according to 56%. One of the reasons consumers have a low level of trust in brands is this. On the other hand, Coca-Cola has defied the stereotype by promoting "happy."

In Brazil, Coca-Cola developed "The Happiness Track," a red truck that toured the streets and gave away free items to everyone who pressed the red button on the truck. 

To raise awareness, they released a 30-second commercial on YouTube. They replicated the campaign in Armenia and Istanbul once the commercial became a hit. The "sharing is caring" campaign aided the brand's positioning in international markets. They won several accolades for the campaign as well.

Your Takeaway:

Isn't this an excellent variation and marketing evolution of Philip Kotler's Societal Marketing concept?

Support a cause that you deeply care about that is related to your business. Make a genuine effort to promote the cause and include your customers in the process.

2. Nike: Promote Your Values‍

Few brands are as well-known as Nike, known for their tagline "Just do it." Nike's marketing has always focused on spotlighting brand values like conquering adversity and creativity.

Nike relies extensively on storytelling to impart this culture to their audience, with advertising that tells inspiring and motivating stories that give viewers heartwarming experiences. 

Your Takeaway:

Nike excellently follows John Caple's advice with its slogan 'Just Do it", what is more captivating than this header?

Also, the brand is known for innovation and high quality; its values are apparent not just in its marketing but also in its products. Do the same.

3. Spotify: Offer a Different User Experience

Spotify is the world's most well-known streaming music service in the world today, but how did this Swedish company get so popular?

We can find a lot of streaming music platforms out there, but Spotify stands out because it focuses on helping consumers discover new music. Spotify deviates from traditional music streaming platforms by providing a unique user experience.

The company lets users discover songs that would otherwise go unnoticed, reinforcing their affinity with the company. Spotify is the pioneer in using artificial intelligence to construct playlists based on their customers' preferences, such as Release Radar and Discover Weekly.

Your Takeaway:

This is an excellent illustration of Walt Disney's marketing strategy: meticulous attention to detail. How attentively Spotify attends to the needs of music fans!

Users can choose music based on their moods on Spotify. Whether you want to work out, sleep, or even sing in the rain, they got you covered!

4. Apple: Create an experience that grabs people's attention

Apple is among the first companies to sell experiences instead of items. But what precisely does this imply? It implies focusing less on the physical goods and more on the emotions it evokes in the buyer.

Apple achieves this by keeping a veil of secrecy around everything they do, generating movie-like television commercials, organizing Keynotes and product debuts like rock concerts, and ensuring that their support staff and Apple shop employees are courteous and knowledgeable. 

Your takeaway:

Steve Job's influence in the company that he founded, left, and saved is apparent to this day. For Apple, it's all about having and giving heartwarming and lasting experiences.

5. Red Bull: Take Chances

Red Bull is a company that uses never-before-seen marketing tactics to encourage its customers to push their boundaries. 

Felix Baumgartner's leap from the stratosphere is maybe one of their most well-known sponsorships. However, when it comes to their years of sponsorship of high-risk athletes, Red Bull is such a genius at using influencer marketing. 

Your Takeaway:

A very strategic adaptation of Estee Lauder's influencer marketing? How cool is it to drink Red Bull while performing incredible feats?

This amazing person somehow influences millions and millions of people into drinking and loving Red Bull!‍

Final Note

The teachings and insights of the above-mentioned marketing geniuses are among the best strategies of all time. Their marketing strategies will dramatically build and maintain a company's brand and reputation and drive customer engagements.

Engaging customers is vital to business survival, growth, and sustainability in a world where business competition is tough and aggressive. So learn from their insights, mix and match, build and create your marketing strategy.

Need help? As a digital marketing awardee, Ai-bees can provide your company with products and services that allow you to scale and grow your business. Sustainable growth is our brand. Please don't hesitate to contact us and one of our experts will attend to your needs.