Whether a person has knowledge depends not on what books he reads, but on how to learn the knowledge in the books. This is why some people can get 650 in the college entrance examination, and some people can only get 400 in the same textbooks and exercises.
Sometimes, even if your knowledge level has surpassed most people, you will still encounter "scratching your head".
For example, as mentioned above, you are a catering brand and want to create your own characteristics. Is it a service type or a taste type? Or the environment? Still healthy?
Even if I get it: we should implement the strategy of fostering strengths and avoiding weaknesses for key competitors.
However, who are the main competitors? What are its advantages? What are its advantages and disadvantages? What are your strengths? What is your weakness?
You probably don't know either. ...
And this is the biggest problem-we may not even know the "status quo".
The so-called "dry goods" are mostly examples with known conditions.
For example, everyone knows that Starbucks is characterized by brand culture, and its main competitors (KFC and Mc) are relatively low-priced, so it is easy for us to analyze why Starbucks rarely plays hard and wide.
Another example is Xiaomi. Everyone knows that it is characterized by low price and high allocation, so it is easy to analyze why its high-end machine is difficult to succeed, why there are few offline channels, and why it is mainly aimed at first-and second-tier cities.
However, once it comes to yourself, the situation is not so clear, and many of them are "unknown conditions."
Richard Rumelt, a famous strategic management expert, once gave a lecture in his strategy class, and his students (a dean of the School of Management) made this evaluation of his class:
"In my opinion, you only talk about one question in each class, and this question is' What happened now'.
Yes, the so-called "making strategy" is not only to decide what to do, but more importantly to understand the "status quo". (This is also the most time-consuming and labor-intensive)
If you don't understand the present situation, strategy is empty talk.
For example, the former Evergrande Ice Spring made such a mistake:
Why do you still can't do marketing after reading so many dry goods?
Its positioning is very clear-"not surface water, but deep volcanic mineral water" (in line with the positioning theory); In order to highlight the "health value", it also makes use of people's thinking of "wrong attribution"-the secret of Changshou Village (in line with psychological theory).
However, what was the "status quo" at that time?
Evergrande didn't understand ...
Of course, now we know that people did not pursue "healthier water" at that time, because no one in the market thought they should drink "healthier water", let alone "volcanic mineral water".
So what did people pursue at that time? There is nothing to pursue, most people think that as long as it is mineral water, it is the same.
Therefore, from today's perspective, Evergrande Ice Spring should first arouse people's sense of lack of "healthier mineral water", instead of directly giving goals. (Dig a hole first, then fill it)
Just like melatonin, it first created a sense of scarcity through soft writing (everyone wanted to buy it, but they couldn't), and then it gave the goal-advertising everywhere and distributing goods everywhere.
Why do you still can't do marketing after reading so many dry goods?
Yes, the reason seems simple, but if I ask now, "What is the current situation of mineral water market?" I don't think anyone can give an accurate and objective answer because most people don't have the time and energy to do in-depth research. (Of course, it is ok to talk casually or analyze from a certain angle. )
On the other hand, we think that theory is useless, not because it is useless, but because we often don't know "what kind of theory should be used in the current situation."
After all, all theories can be established and have a relatively strict prerequisite, and if you don't know what the current conditions are, how can you make good use of them?
It's like you've learned some martial arts moves, but what's the point if you can't even see your opponent?
Therefore, only by understanding the current situation can we link the "current situation" with the "theories and cases in dry goods"-apply appropriate theories or learn from the schemes adopted in the cases.
04. How to find out the status quo?
Since the "status quo" is so important, how can we understand it objectively?
The answer is: no.
No one can be absolutely objective, because everyone (no matter how awesome he is) is in a state of "the blind touch the elephant" to some extent-it is also an elephant. If someone touches his ear, he thinks the elephant is flaky; A man touched his nose, and he thought the elephant was an elephant. A man touched his leg. He thought the elephant was a pillar. ...
Even the seemingly comprehensive five-force model only cuts into the status quo from the perspective of "competition pattern" and does not represent the comprehensive status quo. (For example, it can't reflect the "consumer live story")
Why do you still can't do marketing after reading so many dry goods?
Another example is the popular "big data". Although there are enough multidimensional data to touch an elephant in detail in theory, in fact, each user's behavior data is separated: users from different platforms are not the same people, and they will never get complete data.
Therefore, we can only see some characteristics of people when "searching for information" from Baidu index;
Why do you still can't do marketing after reading so many dry goods?
Baidu index =
Only from the Ali index can we see some characteristics of people's online shopping;
Why do you still can't do marketing after reading so many dry goods?
Ali index =
Only from FooAds can we see some characteristics of people when they are "socializing online" …
Why do you still can't do marketing after reading so many dry goods?
FooAds↑
They are all separate data and cannot be "comprehensive" ...
However, there is no need to be depressed.
It's not terrible for blind people to touch elephants. No one can guarantee that he will not touch the elephant's ass, but as long as there is still a chance to adjust the direction in time, it is not a failure. (In fact, no matter which angle you cut into the present situation, you will always find something. Even if it is not comprehensive, it is still a kind of value and achievement-at least it can improve a certain part of the whole. )
What is really terrible is not knowing that you have been touched by an elephant by a blind person.
Many people are often "hesitant, determined to win, and there are countless ways in their hearts"-thinking that they have mastered everything, and then marching forward, clamoring for who to beat or surpass all day. (For example, Evergrande Ice Spring mentioned above and Gree who wants to be a mobile phone, including ourselves, of course).
Determination is not equal to strategy, and charge is not equal to victory. ...
There is no other shortcut to understand the status quo. The only way is to leave room for continuous exploration and practice, and always maintain a state of awe-knowing that you don't know yet, being more cautious and less wrong.
As for theories and cases, they can only help you think and never tell you the answer directly. (including the so-called "current situation analysis", research methods and this paper)
So, please go on and explore the unknown that no one can tell you.
Finally, I want to share a sentence with you: the most important thing is often what you don't know.