Firms often employee hoards of marketing research specialists, strategists, and intuitives as they attempt to settle upon how the famous ‘5 Ps‘ relate to their product/service. These departments sometimes Ivory-Tower themselves from the rest of the firm, unfortunately, given their work is deemed so elite and central to how customers connect with their product. The basics of this marketing work is not to be missed or skipped by small firms, a notion not missed by the latest of street vendors I’ve frequented in Shenzhen, China.
Simple meals are not difficult to source in China as their is an abundance of street vending entrepreneurs and all serve equitable foods at similar prices. The simplest of shops must not serve more than $20/day in my guess, making these operations the smallest of personal businesses. However, each owner has learned how to fan their product to a hungry customer-base.
Shop infrastructure amounts to a light bulb, burners, pots/pans, and wooden chairs for those dining-in. They have also reserved part of their operating budget for powering a jet-like fan tightly connected to their cooking wok, which blasts the gorgeous aromas of their product sky-high into the ambiance of all who pass by. In mastering this simple trick, they've conquered one of the most underdeveloped abilities of micro/small businesses; understanding, finding, and communicating their product’s qualities to worthy customers. Both small and large business leaders cannot stray from the basics of “fanning” their products.
a final dash of Salt…
Lightning Hopkins wrote about fanning-it in his 1961 track titled "Fan It (though possibly about another topic). Though unrelated, it's clear Hopkins and countless Sino-business owners understand it. I say this as a reminder to MNCs to not stray from the basics of product communication amongst their multi-million dollar marketing campaigns.
Mj
