Marketing: Establishing Your Brand in the
U.S. Market
RON MONFORD
•Chairman, US Chamber Small Business Council
On International Trade
and
•President and CEO
Mind Over Machines, Inc.
Slide footer
•Agenda
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Strength of U.S. Small Businesses Community
Challenges Faced by Small Businesses
Why Is a Brand Is Important in the U.S.?
What Matters to the U.S. Market About Turkish Products?
How Should You Target Your U.S. Buyer?
What Tactics Work Best to Reach Your Buyer?
How Important is a U.S. Web Presence?
Examples of Good Websites
How to Use the Web to Market Your Products
Slide footer
•How Many Small Businesses Are In the
U.S?
•
•
•
•
17,000 businesses with greater than 500 employees
100,000 businesses with greater that 100 employees
5.8 million businesses with less than 100 employees
18.6 million businesses with less than 5 employees
Slide footer
•2005 U.S. Imports From Turkey
Source: U.S. Dept of Commerce
PRODUCT
VALUE ($)
PERCENT
MINERAL FUEL, OIL
$533 M
10.3 %
APPAREL, ACCESSORIES
$525 M
10.2 %
IRON AND STEEL
$460 M
8.9 %
KNIT APPAREL
$418 M
All Others
$3.2 Billion
GRAND TOTAL
$5.2 Billion
Slide footer
8.1 %
62.6 %
100%
•How to Approach U.S. Buyers
• Americans place a high emphasis on how a product is
positioned
• Americans are very price conscious
• Americans place a premium on a brand
• America is actually many different markets that are NOT
united but very different
Slide footer
•What is a Brand and Why Is It Important?
•
•
•
•
•
Product Name
Logo
Tagline
Product Story
Website
Slide footer
•Famous U.S Brands Around the World
Slide footer
•Who is Your Market in the US?
•BUSINESSES
▪
▪
▪
▪
•CONSUMERS
Vertical Industries
Geographic Regions
Large vs. Small Companies
Resellers vs. End Users
▪
▪
▪
▪
Gender Groups
Age-Specific Groups
Ethnic Groups
Common Interest Groups
Know Your Audience!
Slide footer
•What Matters in U.S. Market About All Products
•
•
•
•
•
High quality
Product works as advertised
Unique features or benefits over other similar products
Convenient to purchase
Price matches perceived value
Slide footer
•What Makes Turkish Products Desirable?
• Is it the ONLY product of its kind?
• Is it the BEST one out of a group of similar products?
• Is it the MOST WIDELY used by a certain group of
customers?
• Is the NEWEST one of its kind, where the other
competitive products might be out of date?
• Is is more INNOVATIVE than the others?
• Is it more ECONOMICAL than others?
Slide footer
•Why is a Web Presence Important in the
U.S. ?
•
•
•
•
•
•
All U.S. businesses have one
Provides credibility for you and your product
Offers convenient information about your products
Offers a low-cost way to inform buyers of new products
Provides easy way to collect information from buyers
US consumers use the web to research products
Slide footer
•U.S. Web Usage Trends
• 5.1 Billion web searches in the U.S. in 2005
▪ 2004 searches totaled 3.3 billion
• 207 Million people in the U.S. connect to the Internet
• Online searching is the primary tool people in the U.S.
rely on to do research about anything
• Google is the #1 Search Engine
▪ In 2005, 48.8% of all searches were done on Google
▪ 21.4% of all searches were done on Yahoo
▪ 10.9% of all searches were done on MSN
•
Source: Nielsen/NetRatings
Slide footer
•Most Visited U.S. Websites
• Top Three
▪ MSN.com
▪ Yahoo.com
▪ Google.com
• Other Top US Websites:
▪ Passport.com
▪ Aol.com
▪ Ebay.com
Slide footer
•What Makes a Website “Good”?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Simple, not cluttered
White background
Clearly describes your products, shows relevant photos
Makes it easy for buyers to find what they’re looking for
Provides brochures and ordering instructions
Provides way to collect names and contact information
from buyers
• Lists retailers that sell your products
• Allows visitors to contact you by email
Slide footer
•Three Examples of Excellent Websites
Slide footer
Slide footer
Slide footer
Slide footer
•How to Market on the Web
• Collect names and email addresses of potential buyers
from a form on your website
• Register your site on the search engines (Google, Yahoo,
etc.)
• Offer a free email newsletter to interested buyers
• Place ads on search engines
• Send press releases to buyers through email
• Link to other websites
• Display customer testimonials on your website
Slide footer
•Advertising on Search Engines
• Free, keyword listing
▪ Automatic, you do nothing. Takes 2-4 weeks for inclusion
• Paid inclusion listing
▪ Special fee to have your website included in 1-2 days
▪ Important if you have products that change often
• Paid placement ad
▪ Costs vary. Ads appear on top or side of results page
Slide footer
•Examples of Successful Web Ads
• Anheuser Busch (Budweiser Beer)
▪ Advertises its beer on Friday afternoons on the financial news
site, Marketwatch.com. The target audience is stock brokers.
Ads let them know it’s almost closing time and time go out for
beer.
• McDonalds
▪ Advertises breakfast meals in the morning hours on Yahoo’s site
and ESPN.com (the sports news site)
Slide footer
•A U.S. Marketing Plan Should Contain:
• Product Descriptions
▪ brochures, manuals, other literature needed for your product
• Product Price List
▪ Include special volume discounts or deals
• Product Packaging
▪ Does it meet government standards or regulations for labeling?
• Product Promotions
▪ Will you advertise? Participate in trade shows? Send mailings?
• Product Distributors
▪ Who will sell your product in the U.S.? Where will it be sold?
Slide footer
•How to Be a Success in the US Market,
which is:
• Competitive
▪ Show how your product is different from the rest
• Crowded
▪ Show how your product solves a specific need
• Confusing
▪ Show how your product suits a specific audience
• Collaborative
▪ Show how your product can be combined with other
complementary products to appeal to wider audience
• Cost conscious
▪ Show how your product has value
Slide footer