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Marketing is about helping customers understand your value proposition and drive demand for it. Marketing is not even about selling or making a sale. It's supposed to be about creating customers who want to buy your product. However, most marketers today would probably find this definition alien and unhelpful. They are so caught up in tactical execution that they have forgotten why marketing exists in the first place. However, a car manufacturer has understood marketing so much better than anyone else that its principles can be studied as a separate academic discipline: Porsche Marketing Strategy (PMS). Read on if you want to understand why some brands succeed while others fail. Because these principles will help you measure your marketing performance against the masters.

The marketing team at Porsche must have been feeling bold. The German sports car maker was facing an uphill battle. Its competitors were growing faster than the market and stealing attention with flashy digital ads, social media initiatives, and other expensive marketing campaigns. Meanwhile, the recession forced Porsche to slash its marketing budget by a third. Rather than continue throwing money into a black hole, the company decided to double down on its strengths – its cars. As a result, Porsche has now achieved record sales in a stagnant market – thanks to a new Porsche strategy called "marketing as service." If you are struggling to stand out from your competitors or breakthrough with your marketing efforts, you're not alone. According to research by Fractl, 92% of marketers find their company's current approach to marketing ineffective. In this article, we will explore how Porsche slashed its advertising spending while doubling its sales volume – with three easy steps that can be implemented by any company in any industry.

What is Porsche's Strategy?

Porsche's Strategy is the practice of being a differentiated brand so well that you transform your customers into advocates. Porsche is the exemplar of a car manufacturer that has always focused on building a brand as opposed to merely building cars. This is why you will have heard of it even if you have never driven a Porsche. And if you have heard of it, you will likely have an opinion. And if you have an opinion, it is likely to be positive. And if it is positive, Porsche has almost certainly added value to your life. This is the essence of marketing. A brand that creates value for customers builds equity in the marketplace and earns a disproportionate return on investment. That is the essence of Porsche's Strategy.

The Importance of Being Different

Porsche has always been about doing things differently. It has always been about challenging the status quo. When it started out, British manufacturers dominated the sports car market. There was a strong preference for hand-building cars. And engines were still being built with side valves. On the other hand, Porsche built its cars with an engine designed for mass production. It used a single overhead camshaft, which had only been used on airplanes at that time. It also used electric fuel injection, which was still a novelty in the car business. Porsche also built its cars with a focus on lightweight design. This is why it became a pioneer in the use of aluminum and why it has always focused on performance.

A Strong Brand Equals Strong Relationships

Porsche is a brand that people have a relationship with. That relationship is based on a deep sense of trust, admiration, and belonging. Porsche customers enjoy a sense of belonging to a select group. It is not just a car brand. It is a way of life. It is about being different, challenging expectations, and being confident about who you are and where you fit in the world. And when the time comes to buy a new car, people who have had this kind of relationship with Porsche are willing to pay a premium. They are not just looking for the best car at the lowest price. They are willing to pay a price that is higher than expected because they have an emotional attachment to the brand. This is why Porsche has been able to charge a higher price than its main competitors for as long as anyone can remember. It is also why Porsche can make cars that only a select few can afford. It is why Porsche can charge a price that is at least 50% higher than its main competitor.

The Importance of Being Premium

When Porsche started out, it wanted to provide a premium product at a premium price. And so it decided to build a car engineered to a standard that most manufacturers would not have been able to meet. It invested in a highly skilled workforce. It made use of the best materials that could be found. And it used the best available technology. And in doing so, it was able to provide a car that was light years ahead of anything else in the market. It wasn't just a car. It was a state-of-the-art machine built to excel in all conditions and for decades after. That is why the Porsche 911 is still being produced 50 years after it came onto the market. There is nothing else like it in the world. It is a beautifully engineered piece of machinery that has stood the test of time. But the real beauty of the Porsche 911 is that it has been marketed as if it is a piece of art. It is as much about the design, the feel, and the experience as it is about speed and performance.

The problem with traditional marketing

Traditional marketing is expensive. It requires a large upfront investment, but you don't know what you're getting in return. That's why many brands are launching flashy campaigns that promise tremendous results without any data to support those claims. Companies want their marketing dollars to produce massive returns. Still, they don't always clearly understand how their campaigns are actually performing. For example, Porsche could have continued to run multimillion-dollar campaigns with TV ads, print ads, and other traditional marketing efforts. But, without clear insight into which campaigns were driving results, the company would have been throwing money away. With its new clarity and transparency, Porsche could see which campaigns were bringing in sales and which weren't performing.

Conclusion

Some brands are born great. Others have greatness thrust upon them. And some brands don't seem to have a natural place in the scheme of things. The latter type of brand is what marketers often try to create. They are trying to place their brand in the minds of the customer in a way that makes it stand out from the crowd. And that takes marketing strategy. That strategy needs to understand what makes the market tick and how to position the brand in such a way that it stands out from the competition. And it needs to understand what makes the brand special. Porsche's strategy is one of the best examples of how to build and market a brand. So long as you remember that it is not just about cars. It is about having a strategy for building a brand that customers will love.