Survival of the fittest
Posted on 31/05/2012
As the window industry faces radical realignment, who will survive?
The window industry is littered with one-time great names. Who could forget retail giants like Thermastor or Stormseal from the 80's, Fersina's national franchise or systems companies like Regency or National Profiles?
Markets change and companies evolve. The last few months has seen a dramatic shake-up in the window industry, but this is just the beginning; more news of consolidation will follow with further mergers and acquisitions in the weeks and months ahead.
In today's market, good is no longer good enough. Traditional ways of doing business is a recipe for failure. Your customers demand higher performance, faster service, and better value while your competitors, hungry for business, are chasing even your most loyal customers.
In this environment companies can't stand still, you have to be top of your game. So what are the keys to keeping ahead of your competitors, creating customer loyalty and winning new customers?
Innovation and Marketing
There are two major factors that set high achieving companies apart. Innovation and marketing. Just consider Apple - it's hard to believe that just 15 years ago this company was posting annual trading losses of $1bn. Innovative products and an obsession with marketing turned this company into one of the most successful companies in history.
In 2012 and beyond, the courageous companies who innovate their products will create tremendous opportunities for their customers who are hungry for new products and USPs. And those companies who step up their marketing will pull ahead of their competitors, many of whom are reacting to difficult market conditions by standing still.
Marketing isn't just for the big boys. Most companies, from Tesco to Carphone Warehouse to Coca Cola all started off as small businesses. These companies became global leaders because they understood the power of marketing.
But just as industries changes, products evolve and markets mature, marketing is also changing. As consumers we are bombarded with over 3,000 marketing messages a day - why should anyone respond to yours? People have different preferences on how they consume marketing messages. Some respond better to press advertising, some to direct mail and others to online marketing. Social media has become a powerful tool in recent times.
Multi-channel Approach
They key is to adopt a multi-channel marketing approach. Relying on one or two methods means shutting out many of your existing or potential customers. Create a consistent message, tone and style across all your channels, from your website to stationary branding.
Every now and then a major innovation has an impact on marketing. In the last few years, this has been social media. For the window, conservatory and glazing industry a new innovation is changing the way people do business.
The Insight Index is the new search engine, product finder and supplier directory from Insight Data.
The Index enables people to easily find suppliers, source new products and information specifically in the glazing industry without spending hours trawling Google to find out of date, meaningless websites.
What is really interesting is how Insight Data are marketing the Index. While it's an online resource for the industry, it isn't just being promoted online. Many installers and fabricators prefer to read a magazine or respond better to direct mail, so Insight have invested £100,000 to drive visitors to the Index using a full array of marketing tools from press advertising and editorial, to direct mails and telesales.
We think the Insight Index is one of the industry's biggest ever innovations and the longer term plans are also really exciting. For companies wanting to promote their business or generate leads, it really is a game-changer - in the months and years ahead everyone will be using the Index to find suppliers and products.
Those companies who are leaders in innovation, both in their products and their marketing, will do much better than those that stand still. In a rapidly changing market, using old methods simply won't work. If you want to be a success story rather than a casualty, it's time to focus on innovation and marketing.
