3 Marketing Lessons from MBKHD
4 min read.
Disclaimer: I didn't reach out to MKBHD about this blog post, all photos and videos are theirs. I'm just appreciating the marketing lessons found in the video.
I've been following Marques Brownlee for quite some time now. He is one of the gods of tech reviews on YouTube, for those who don't know him.
Recently, he published a video titled "Why Did LG Phones Really Die?" on his channel MBKHD - as a tech fan, I jumped on the notification to watch the video, but what mesmerized me was not the history of LG's smartphones Marques told the viewers about; it was the number of marketing lessons in there that must be in the mind of every marketing professional. You'd be surprised how often marketers forget the points I'm listing below.
ONE - Be simple, clear, and easy to remember:
LG did many exciting things, but one of the points MKBHD highlighted was the fact that their smartphone names could've been much simpler, just to make it easy to remember and clear to understand.
"I'm not saying naming your phone 'LG V60 ThinQ 5G | Dual Screen' made it a worse phone … I'm just saying it didn't help"
while before that he mentions that the most basic art of marketing is "naming stuff" and he gave a clear and straightforward naming example,
"iPhone 12 Pro does more than iPhone 12, I know 12 is newer than the 11."
TWO - The importance of characterization
If your customers can't tell what solution your product is really good at that they can't live without it, you might need to rethink your marketing strategy.
I'm a Blackberry user. Yes, they still have phones - I use it because I write many emails and need to feel the buttons. I use my phone for work, not for entertainment. Hence, Blackberry.
Here is how Marques explained it
"many pointed out [about LG smartphones] found it kind of difficult to characterize LG phones… which is not necessarily a bad thing, it's just forgettable. It honestly feels like a washer and a dryer … the marketing of their smartphones was right along the same lines as the marketing of their other appliances."
How to characterize your product? The easiest way is to pinpoint the challenge or problem it solves and make your product the ultimate solution to this specific problem - people will remember you for it.
THREE - The balance
Many marketers want to go with "crazy ideas" right off the bat, thinking they will make a dent in the market share, which might be the case but IT. IS. NOT. SUSTAINABLE.
You need a clear marketing strategy that works and then go crazy. Simply because you can't bet on crazy. But you can bet on a proper long-term strategy and plan.
Marques puts it clearly when he says,
"Samsung is a perfect example of this. They have their money-making flagships, so those don't take big risks. So, they crank out all kinds of risky, unproven foldy ideas in other product lines just to kind of see what sticks."
Get your house in order, then go for the dent, so people will remember you and build trust.
There you have it.
These were my 3 favorite lessons that every marketer needs to hear over and over again.
MKBHD did a fantastic review that everyone needs to watch and see how crucial LG was to the smartphone industry. And if you're into it - the marketing lessons in there.
Watch the video and let me know what other lessons you learned.
Diya.
P.S. I enjoy helping people achieve online impact using creative digital solutions. diya.studio is still in development to build a space where anyone can learn how to do digital marketing and communications, better.
