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Taking the Broad
Definition of Marketing
"We must be
working on the vision of where we want the company to be in two years"
from the desk of Peter Fillmore
November 2000
When Ezenet, a Toronto based company, raised $50 million in new
equity it was a small company just over 20 years old, with a small but
high quality customer base. Ezenet delivers software and services,
positioning itself as a leader in providing integrated solutions for
banking and financial institutions. What amazed me was the fact that they
only established their marketing department in 1999. How did this story
unfold? I chatted with Daniel Ezer, VP Marketing. When he assumed
the position last year they had “sales” but no marketing.
“My first task,” he said, “was to fully understand our products and
services, not as technology, but in terms of ‘what do we offer to our
target markets?’ This meant a series of meetings with our staff as well as
some customers to get a deeper understanding of how people actually use
our offerings, and what impact is created.” In fact the early years had
created some good market positioning, even though done informally. Here
are my observations:
The early priority is “sales - Early market development is often
done in the laps of early customers. Sell a reasonable promise, then
deliver. Creating a track record with these customers is the best form of
brand building. By being attuned to their needs, and buyer behavior, you
can become a thought leader in your field, as well as gaining some
essential testimonials.
Become a trendsetter - The early customer relationships should be
founded on listening and two-way learning to understand the value chains
faced by your customers. Acting on these insights creates new business
models as well as new technology. “We were an ASP (application service
provider) before the term was defined,” said Ezer. The company was also a
leader in Internet banking, designing web sites for banks back in 1995.
Then build marketing based on market understanding - “Our first
goal was to communicate our message to investors,” said Ezer. “We were
able to clearly articulate where we were going and what we do well.” This
worked, resulting in the $50 million special warrant financing through the
CDNX, the largest to date in CDNX history. The company had gone public in
March 1999.
The second step was to position the company in the marketplace - Marketing
must be ‘strategic,’ meaning we must be working on the vision of where we
want the company to be in two years,” commented Ezer. They had to complete
developing the collateral & the Website. They added a PR agency – working
with them to develop a media strategy & media relations plan. Building the
marketing organization has been step by step – the first hire was a
marketing assistant, then a marketing coordinator. Roles in PR and
investor relations continue to be handled by outside specialists. One
positioning theme is to emphasize their many years of experience, and the
fact that their services are now deployed in all of Canada’s Schedule 1
banks. These notions are embedded in the tag line “Innovation through
experience."
The Human Resources - Good HR strategies make staff more motivated
and effective, and build a strong company culture. There is also a big
marketing implication, since everything your people say to customers and
outsiders shapes the perception of the company. Ezenet has a strong dotted
line from marketing to HR, with specific efforts to help all their people
deliver a consistent message. “Anything the outside world sees - that is
‘marketing,’ said Ezer, “in the end, it all determines what our public
thinks of Ezenet. We look at everything that comes out of the company – it
is an elusive goal, but we believe it has to be pursued constantly.
Facing Competition - The long years of early business building have
created big barriers to entry for competitors – to sell in the banking
marketplace, you must have credibility with the banks. It is necessary to
develop good products, and have early references in the buyer community.
Niche definition needs thoughtful attention and debate. “At Ezenet, we
have few competitors,” commented Ezer, “but we considered them while
defining our niche. It isn’t enough to say we provide software and
integration for the financial industry. We also add that we do it with the
latest technology, and we do it as a business partner.
The value-creation connection - With two Canadian client bases,
small trusts (software & services, plus run the client’s network), and big
banks (rapid design of special software, let the bank operate it), they
now have the positioning strength to sell to a big market of small US
banks. They have just opened their first US office in North Carolina, with
future locations planned, and a strong marketing culture to back up the
sales effort.
Your comments, questions, and suggestions for future articles are welcome
fillmore@westpark.com
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