Customer and Product Focus

Successful marketing plans focus on both the customer and the product.

The formal approach to customer-focused marketing is called SIVA … Solution, Information, Value and Access. Marketers are constantly re-inventing terminology and SIVA is just another rewording or re-naming of the four Ps with a focus on the customer.

SIVA is a demand side customer centric alternative to the well-known 4Ps supply side model of product, price, place, promotion.

The customer focus and experience also refers’ to marketing orientations and infers companies should focus on its products, services and activities in an effort to satisfy the customer’s needs, wants and demands.

Product focus is all about innovation and is typically driven by a company’s R&D or engineering departments. Engineers are notorious for creating or improving products without understanding the customer’s needs, wants or desires.

The selling of products or services becomes much more challenging when product innovation drives the marketing process.