So these days I am preparing for my MICA GD/PI and for the case study preparation, dad gave me
Telenor's (Uninor, India) Marketing Guide to understand how the company carries out the process of Marketing and CRM globally. So while I was flipping through the booklet's pages, I found something called the '3V Model'. It was a method which Uninor followed to maintain focus on its business priorities and way of working. While it was being successfully applied within Uninor, I thought that it could be extended to almost any business out there, no matter how big or small, online or offline.
Now, if you are dreaming of having a business / venture / start-up of your own or already have one, this model is a must-know to maintain your sight on your venture's purpose of existence. It is easy to dream up big business ideas but if you don't know the purpose of existence of your venture, it is bound to fail.
So here are the '3Vs' you must keep in mind before coming up with the next 'Facebook' or 'Google' :
1.
Value Customer : (V1) Who to serve?
It defines what customers are most valuable to your business. Who you should target in order to build your business profitably. Afterall, if you target the wrong audience, they most likely won't be interested in your services and hence, you are bound to fail.
Example : A pizza chain like Dominoes needs to focus on their 'right' consumers - the youth. If they started putting more focus on -say, senior citizens, their campaign would fail as they seniors simply aren't the pizza generation and hence, they are the 'wrong' consumers.
I must admit that I've also had big dreams of having businesses of my own. But with time, my common sense asked me the question - 'Who are you planning to build this thing for? Yourself?'. Just because you like the idea doesn't mean everyone is going to like it. Build your businesses based on the needs of your consumers. The reverse isn't true.
2.
Value Proposition : (V2) What to offer?
The second most important question. You define what your product / service is. That is because people will come to you
only if you have something valuable to offer to them. They will come to you only if you solve one of their problems or make their lives a bit easier than yesterday. They will come to you only if your brand is unique in relation to other related offerings.
Time is of essence in this generation. Capturing people's attention with your product is what really counts. But remember - you need to have a product which has the potential to do it.
Example : I have seen many designers (including me) starting a design blog just because they know design stuff and can spew out design gyaan at others. But the problem is, there are literally
thousands of design blogs out there, each churning out the same type content. Hence, these wannabe bloggers fail terribly. They do not get the expected number of visitors, lose heart and then stop blogging. It
happened with me. This was because I was offering the wrong thing. People did not want more of design gurus. They already had enough of them.
It is a headache knowing and coming up with something that people really want. Seriously. But there are ways.. I'll tell you when I get to know of it myself.
3.
Value Network : (V3) How to deliver?
If my interpretation is correct, it refers to the 'Place' and 'Promotion' part of the 4 Ps of Marketing. OK. So you've got a product (or service), you've researched upon the justifiable price and all, and are ready to sell it. But
where and
how do you plan to sell it? Seriously, just because you have a nice product, it does not mean that people will suddenly wake up from their sleep one day and realise that you have come up with something that could solve their problems. You have to
tell it to people! You need to promote it, not everywhere and anywhere, but only at the place where your target consumer is.
Example : Since we are using their model, lets take up the case of Uninor only. In India, they are famous for their low prices and quality of service. They may not have as many subscribers as Airtel or may have been hit with the recent 2G spectrum verdict, but they are still adding customers like hell.
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| Source : Operator-wise net subscriber addition (Jan 2012) |
And this is because they are doing something right : the place and promotion. They are targeting the semi-urban and rural areas aggressively as it is where their concept of low prices would be most effective. They are doing localized promotion. In short, they are 'delivering' their product in the right way.
So this is about the innovative 3V model. I am sure it'll help you think about the 'why' and 'how' of your business plan and weed out the unnecessary ideas.
I'm no businessman to talk about starting businesses but all I can say is that this does bring some clarity in the flow of our thoughts. Share this post if you like it!
