In 1908, the breakfasts evolved.
The electric toaster was introduced that year and families now relished eggs, toast and bacon. It was a big change from porridge, which had been the staple breakfast for decades.
Meanwhile, the California Fruit Growers Exchange was a collective of citrus growers whose main crop was oranges. But the producers faced a serious problem. Consumption continued to fall, they were selling at a loss, and many began cutting down orange trees to stop the glut.
They didn’t know how to monetize their orange crops. Back then, families didn’t cook or cook with oranges, like they did with apples and lemons. If you asked your grandparents what they remembered about oranges back then, they would tell you that they usually had one in their Christmas stockings.
But you couldn’t build a profitable business around an annual purchase.
So the California Fruit Growers Exchange enlisted the help of a smart marketing team. They did their research and talked to people. They asked questions about orange consumption and listened to the answers.
The best marketers are the best listeners
The marketing team came back with two recommendations.
First, they told the producers to change their name to something more memorable. They suggested Sunkist. The unusual spelling meant the name could be trademarked and the fruit could be branded.
Second, and most important, they came back with a powerful marketing idea. It could be summed up in just three words:
“Drink an orange.”
It was a brilliant solution. Just show people that they can squeeze oranges and drink the juice. Orange juice tasted refreshing and doctors endorsed its health benefits. And it would take three or four oranges to fill a glass.
Sunkist suggested its customers pair orange juice with a plate of eggs, toast and bacon. Soon orange juice became a breakfast ritual.
Orange consumption jumped 400%.
Marketing is not always advertising
This remarkable acumen to sell orange juice – not oranges – has allowed citrus growers to monetize their vast investment in orange groves. And they did it by leveraging a new use for their existing product.
Which goes to show that marketing isn’t always about ads and ads.
Smart marketing is about finding information. It’s about turning that insight into strategies to monetize the technology already at your fingertips.
The way to grow your business is to find new ways to engage your customers. Systems that already exist provide a gateway to this business growth. They help you define market segments. They help identify value-added managed services such as network security. They help you analyze the valuable stream of data provided by your technology to understand how customers are using your products. Or could use your services. Importantly, this information helps you identify and bundle those profitable deals.
Some service providers have doubled their ARPU just by implementing this monetization strategy.
So the question is: are you making full use of the advantages and opportunities of the network in which you have already invested?
Marketing isn’t always about ads and advertisements.
It’s about leveraging information to drive growth.
Squeeze the juice out of your investment.
It’s there for the picking.
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