It is a marketing economy - and the consumer is in charge! Last month I presented the Two-Sword business strategy that establishes marketing as being equally important to manufacturing to assure survival and success going forward. In his excellent new book Brand Warfare: 10 Rules For Building The Killer Brand, David F. D'Alessandro tells us why.

"The old economy was a product-push economy. Manufacturers made what they wanted to make, at the cost structures they liked. And then salespeople pushed those products off onto a gullible public. The new economy is a marketing economy, with the consumer firmly in charge." Emphasis added.

Consumers have more choices, and are more knowledgeable. We now live in a global economy of over-capacity in everything. We also live in a global community where the power of Information Technology, and the Internet have given consumers access to instant in-depth information about products, services and brands. The end result is the consumer has more choices than they have ever had before, and they are more knowledgeable than they have ever been before.

When the consumer is in charge - arrogance kills. David F. D'Alessandro makes the point in Brand Warfare that "When the consumer rules, arrogance kills." What he refers to is almost what we have seen happen in the bicycle industry. "Not surprisingly, many of the brands that ruled in a world in which consumers had less power are also-rans today." "It's a pattern repeated over and over: Big companies that mismanage once-strong brands suddenly find themselves slipping in consumers' eyes."

How do you compete when the consumer is in charge? D'Alessandro frames the question this way: "Clearly, the arrogant old dinosaurs offer plenty of lessons in how not to win friends and influence people. But that leaves another question open: How do you compete in a world in which consumers have infinite knowledge and choice?"

You can join the "battle of the brands." It should come as no surprise that D'Alessandro feels strongly that the answer is in joining "the battle of the brands" because he feels that no matter how well you do in competing on price, developing product features or enhancing service or information systems, "consumers will never notice if there isn't an appealing brand out in front whistling for their attention." However, before you start to think of brand names, or hire high-powered agencies to develop brand names - you need to sit down and develop a good sound marketing plan to drive your business planning process. As a part of your marketing plan you need to find out as much as you can about your target consumers, and what they want and need relative to your products.

Start your business planning process today! I urge you to start your business planning process as soon as you finish reading this. You can call your process strategic planning or business planning - it really doesn't matter, as long as you start and commit to the process of planning the future of your company and business - because if you don't someone else will determine your future, and you may not like the results!

What business are you in and what markets should you serve? To plan your own future you will need to establish your company Mission and Scope. Mission and Scope refer to the nature of your company's product lines and activities in terms of your ability to serve your markets. You need to answer the basic questions: "What business are we in?" and "What markets should we address?" It is in answering these basic questions that you will determine if your Mission and Scope will include building your own brand or brands, or in seeking and forming alliances with the strongest and smartest brands you can find. The answers to both questions will be much easier to validate and finalize after you have completed a Situation Analysis based on Marketing Research.

A good marketing plan based on solid Marketing Research. All good, or for that matter even adequate, marketing plans begin with a Situation Analysis that provides you with the facts needed for planning. The facts are gathered through Marketing Research.

What is Marketing Research? According to the Marketing Problem Solver, the textbook by Cochrane Chase and Kenneth L. Barasch that I referenced in last month's column, "Marketing research (MR) is the systematic and objective search for, and analysis of, information relevant to identifying and solving any marketing problem. MR increases your ability to draw meaningful conclusions and make decisions on alternative marketing approaches; it also gives some idea of risks and consequences associated with alternative strategies and plans."

Is Marketing Research worth the time, effort and cost it takes to collect it? According to the Marketing Problem Solver "The value of specific marketing intelligence must be determined in terms of the risks involved in making marketing decisions, including the degree of uncertainty, investments required, and potential profits at stake."

New and affordable U.S. bicycle marketing research is now available! Good Marketing Research has been hard to come by in the bicycle industry and that is exactly why the National Bicycle Dealers Association has expanded its research offerings covering the U.S. market under the Retail Data Capture (RDC) research umbrella to include a broad range of separate research reports that are now available for sale. Please note all prices are in U.S. dollars.

Brand new for this year, and priced at only $499, is the Annual Report: U.S. Bicycle Market 2000. This is an annual report of approximately 24 pages, covering U.S. bicycle market statistics and trends for the last four years, including RDC information and data on the top product categories, bicycle brands, consumer research, retail research, and market projections. It sells for $499, or $399 for NBDA members. This report is available as a .pdf file and can be e-mailed immediately!

The RDC Full Annual Subscription is a monthly report of 140-150 pages per issue, on specialty retail bicycle sales, including a monthly and year-to-date analysis, nine product categories, and 13 or more brands, available for $8,000 per year. Monthly Excel data files on CD-ROM that allow companies to do their own analysis are available at additional cost.

Also available are the following individual monthly reports covering an overall analysis, bicycle brands, and bicycle product categories:

• RDC Monthly Analysis includes a monthly analysis of RDC panel retail sales. 12 issues, six to eight pages per month, $749 per year.
• RDC Product Category Report includes RDC bicycle sales by category, all nine complete product category reports, 12 issues, 20-25 pages per month. Price: $2,900 per year.
• RDC Single Category Report includes the single product category report, two to three pages per report, select from a list of seven single product categories, for $399 per year.
• RDC Single and Sub-Category Report includes one category report monthly, two to three pages per report with three sub-categories, select from a list of two product categories, price $449 per year.
• RDC Selected Brands Report includes monthly RDC brand report covering any three selected brands. 12 issues, hard copy or .pdf, approx. 20-25 pages per month, price $3,499 per year for three brands. Monthly Excel database files on CD-ROM available at additional charge.

Of special interest to component manufacturers is the RDC Component Report that includes a monthly RDC report by component, by brand, model and product category. Select any three components: tires, rims, spokes, hubs, cranksets, pedals, brakesets, brake levers, transmissions, shifters, handlebars, stems, seatposts, saddles. 12 issues. The basic price is $2,000 per year for three components in12 hard copy reports and $500 per year for each additional component. Also available at additional charge are monthly Excel data files on CD-ROM.

U.S. Adult Cycling Market with key market trends! Finally, there's the Cycling Consumer of the New Millennium, a comprehensive research report on the U.S. Adult Cycling Market with key market trends for the next decade! The Executive Summary for suppliers with printed report, user guide and CD ROM is available for $399 or $299 for NBDA members. The full report for bicycle industry suppliers complete with database, printed report, and CD ROM is available for $2,995 or $2,495 for NBDA members.

For more information on purchasing any of the RDC research reports or becoming an NBDA Associate Member, visit www.nbda.com or e-mail info@nbda.com.

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