In today's world, marketing plays an incredibly important role in absolutely all areas of life and work. The competition in any market is very high, so every entrepreneur has to think about how to present his product in order to be in demand. Now you can’t just come up with something, put it on the market and enjoy high sales. It is necessary to fight for the market, and to do this is not so simple. However, interesting is the fact that most people use vertical marketing, which operates within the same market, one target audience. This article will focus on lateral marketing, which is the exact opposite of vertical. Naturally, it will also tell about the book of one of the most famous marketers in the world, Philip Kotler, who wrote in detail about exactly how a marketing specialist should act if he wants to competently promote the product. Lateral marketing is a great way to promote a product or service, which, however, requires a high level of creative thinking.
What it is?
The first thing people want to know about is what is lateral marketing. If we take this term in general, then it can be defined as a system of promotion methods that are aimed at effectively combating competition. As a matter of fact, the essence of this approach is thinking outside the box, looking at the problem from a completely different perspective, in order to understand how to advertise a product or service in order to differ from competitors. The methods that are used in this type of marketing, in most cases are not just unconventional, but even unique. That is why not every marketer is able to simply abandon vertical marketing and move on to lateral. However, if you want to be ahead of everyone and succeed, you will have to leave the comfort zone and make every effort. Be sure that lateral marketing is something worth spending your time and energy on.
Origin of the concept
Marketing and advertising are areas of activity that require creative thinking. However, it can have a variety of levels, and therefore there are different types of marketing. If we talk about lateral marketing, then you should start directly with the term itself. What it is? How did this concept come about? As many are well aware, lateral is a word that has roots in Latin. Latus in Latin means “side” - respectively, lateral - this is lateral. But what is the connection with the type of marketing? The fact is that the basis of this type of marketing is lateral thinking, that is, a non-standard and creative approach. Accordingly, the sphere itself is much more creative even in such a creative industry as marketing.
Classic approach
Of course, the definition of the concept has an important role, but it will not be enough to understand the full depth of this approach. Marketing and advertising are an integral part of the production of any product or the provision of any service. Without them, nobody will simply know about your activities. Accordingly, the essence of marketing is to promote goods and services to the market so that more people know about them and, accordingly, more and more people want to buy a product or service. Vertical marketing operates according to the principle of segmentation - for a product a specific market with a specific target audience is selected, then it is segmented according to a suitable principle, and each line of business has its own line of activity. This is a classic approach to marketing - and it is quite limited, as it sets a clear framework, the limits of where you can conduct business.
A New Look
Lateral marketing, in turn, offers to look at the situation from a different angle: do not limit the activity to a specific market, divided into segments, but act in different directions, connecting creative thinking. The purpose of such marketing is to provide a product or service in a new context through an unusual sales method, original communication with the target audience, and identifying the demand that cannot be taken into account when using the vertical approach.
Kotler's book
Philip Kotler is one of the most famous and successful marketers of our time. His highest achievement is the book "Fundamentals of Marketing", which in the advertising field is considered the real Bible. However, this is far from the only book that this specialist wrote - another work is more suitable for the topic of this article - “Lateral Marketing: Technology for Searching for Revolutionary Ideas”. It is in this book that this approach to advertising is described in detail - what it is, and most importantly - what you need to use it. Moreover, even more attention is paid to the second topic - the book tells about creative thinking in the framework of marketing, about unconventional approaches and creative views. If you want to become an excellent marketer, then this book is required for review. Yes, “Fundamentals of Marketing” is the Bible of a marketer, but times are changing very quickly, so it’s important to keep abreast. And Kotler's Lateral Marketing is one of the latest and most relevant books on the subject.
First block
Philip Kotler divided the book into three thematic blocks. Each of them will be described in the article separately. It is also worth immediately paying attention to the fact that this book was co-written with another less well-known marketer - Fernando Trias de Bes helped Kotler to write, but in many cases he is not even mentioned as a co-author. So, the first block is a kind of introduction that talks about how the modern world has changed and what impact this has on marketing. In the framework of these observations, the traditional vertical model appears to be ineffective in modern conditions. The author criticizes those marketers who propose to continue to use only vertical marketing, conduct marketing wars and engage exclusively in positioning.
Second block
The second block presents lateral marketing to the world - the book is literally filled with “cases”, that is, practical examples of different situations in life. In this case, these situations are related to marketing and cannot be resolved in any way using the traditional approach. However, the author demonstrates how simple they can be solved if you use an unconventional approach, which he himself calls lateral marketing. Kotler sees lateral marketing not as an independent movement, but as an addition to traditional vertical marketing - a new direction should make it possible to eliminate all the shortcomings that the vertical approach has in its modern form.
Third block
The third block is the most interesting for professional marketers, as Kotler demonstrates in it how it is necessary to introduce lateral marketing in modern advertising. It is here that a creative, creative approach is described, as well as its combination with traditional vertical methods of conducting advertising activities.
So how does it work?
How does lateral marketing work? If you do not delve into all the creative complexities of this approach, you can simply imagine a few examples of its use, which are extremely simple and understandable for everyone. For example, you can take Red Bull energy drinks - they were the first on the market, but then the emphasis was not yet on the fact that they are energy drinks. They were sold like ordinary drinks, and the competition in the filled market was incredibly high - it was impossible to promote the product using standard methods. Therefore, manufacturers decided not to try to conquer a market dominated by giants such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi - they simply created their new market for energy drinks that restore energy by attracting several types of target audience at once - from those who need to stay up all night , to athletes who need to quickly restore energy. Another example is Bayer Aspirin. As a means to relieve pain, this product was no different from dozens of others, so the competition was high. Then the company's marketers armed themselves with scientific research, which showed that aspirin can reduce the likelihood of a heart attack, and began to promote their product in a completely different direction.