MANAGING PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS | CHAPTER 19 563
reps to use their time efficiently; (4) motivating the sales professionalism. No single approach works best in all cir-
force and balancing quotas, monetary rewards, and cumstances, but most trainers agree that selling is a six-
supplementary motivators; (5) evaluating individual and step process: prospecting and qualifying customers,
group sales performance. preapproach, presentation and demonstration, overcom-
10. Effective salespeople are trained in the methods of analy- ing objections, closing, and follow-up and maintenance.
sis and customer management, as well as the art of sales
Applications
Marketing Debate Marketing Discussion
Are Great Salespeople Born or Made? Corporate Web Sites
One debate in sales is about the impact of training versus se- Pick a company and go to its corporate Web site. How would
lection in developing an effective sales force. Some observers you evaluate the Web site? How well does it score on the
maintain the best salespeople are born that way and are effec- 7Cs of design elements: context, content, community, cus-
tive due to their personalities and interpersonal skills developed tomization, communication, connection, and commerce?
over a lifetime. Others contend that application of leading-edge
sales techniques can make virtually anyone a sales star.
Take a position: The key to developing an effective
sales force is selection versus The key to developing an
effective sales force is training.
Marketing Excellence unless people are throwing up profiles, so I wanted to
make an application that would allow people to do that, to
share as much information as they wanted while having
>>Facebook control over what they put up.” From the beginning,
Facebook has kept its profiles and navigation tools rela-
tively simple in order to unify the look and feel for each in-
dividual. Within the first 24 hours the Facebook Web site
was up, between 1,200 and 1,500 Harvard students had
registered and become part of the Facebook community.
Within the first month, half the campus had registered.
Initially, Facebook’s Web site could only be viewed
and used by Harvard students. The early momentum was
tremendous, though, and Facebook soon expanded to in-
clude students throughout the Ivy League and other col-
leges. The initial decision to keep Facebook exclusive to
college students was critical to its early success. It gave
the social Web site a sense of privacy, unity, and exclusiv-
Facebook has brought a whole ity that social media competitors like MySpace did not of-
new level of personal marketing to the world of business. fer. Eventually, in 2006, Facebook opened up to everyone.
The social networking Web site fulfills people’s desire to Today, Facebook is the most popular social network-
communicate and interact with each other and uses that ing Web site in the world, with over 500 million active
power to help other companies target very specific audi- users. The site allows users to create personal profiles
ences with personalized messages. with information such as their hometowns, work, educa-
Facebook was founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, tional background, favorite things, and religious affiliation.
who was a student at Harvard University at the time and It encourages them to extend their network by adding
created the first version of the Web site in his dorm room. other users as friends, and many people try to see how
Zuckerberg recalled, “I just thought that being able to have many “friends” they can accumulate. To interact with
access to different people’s profiles would be interesting. Facebook friends, users can send messages; “poke”
Obviously, there’s no way you can get access to that stuff each other; upload and view albums, photos, games, and
564 PART 7 COMMUNICATING VALUE
videos; and “tag” or label people in their photos. They can Facebook’s growth and influence have been incredible.
post comments on friends’ “walls” and create status up- In one survey, college students named Facebook the sec-
dates viewable to everyone. In summary, Facebook is ful- ond most popular thing in their undergraduate world, tied
filling its mission to “give people the power to share and only with beer. And Facebook is not used only by under-
make the world more open and connected.” grads. Of the 150+ million users in the United States, 29
Facebook has become a critical marketing compo- percent are aged 35 to 54, while 25 percent are aged 18 to
nent for just about any brand for several reasons. First, 24. Overall, women represent the fast-growing segment.
companies, sports teams, musicians, and politicians can Facebook also tends to have a more upscale, educated,
create Facebook pages—a place to communicate to desirable demographic than competitive social networks,
and with their fans. Facebook pages offer groups and and therefore it charges more for its advertising ads.
brands a way to personally interact, build awareness, In 2010, Facebook surpassed Google as the top Web
communicate, and offer information to anyone who site in the world based on unique visitors per month and
takes an interest. Companies use Facebook to introduce also ranked number one for number of pages viewed per
new products, launch videos and promotions, upload month. Facebook has become an important part of con-
images, communicate to consumers, listen to feedback, sumers’ everyday lives and therefore a critical component
and create an overall personal look and feel. Even politi- in personal marketing strategies.
cians from around the world—from the United States to
the Philippines—use Facebook to push their campaigns Questions
and communicate with supporters on a local, personal- 1. Why is Facebook unique in the world of personal
ized basis. marketing?
Facebook also offers targeted advertising opportuni-
ties. Banner ads—the company’s major source of 2. Is Facebook just a passing fad or is it here to stay?
income—can target individuals by demographic or What are the company’s greatest strengths and risks?
keywords based on the specific information they have 3. Discuss the recent privacy issues that challenged
placed in their profiles. adidas, for example, uses Facebook. Will privacy restrictions limit its ability to
Facebook to promote specific labels within the company, offer personal marketing opportunities?
target consumers regionally, and give the brand a Sources: John Cassidy, “Me Media,” New Yorker, May 15, 2006; “Survey: College Kids Like
personal touch. The head of adidas’s digital marketing iPods Better Than Beer,” Associated Press, June 8, 2006; Peter Corbett, “Facebook
group explained, “Wherever our fans are, we’re going to Demographics and Statistics Report 2010,” I Strategy Labs, [Link]; Brian
Womack, “Facebook Sees Fourfold Jump in Number of Advertisers Since 2009,” BusinessWeek,
use Facebook to speak to them and we’re going to try to June 2, 2010; Kermit Pattison, “How to Market Your Business with Facebook,” New York Times,
speak to them in a locally relevant way.” November 11, 2009; Facebook, [Link].
Marketing Excellence >>Unilever (Axe and Dove)
Unilever—the manufacturer of several home care, food,
and personal care brands—understands the importance
of using personal marketing communications to target
specific age groups, demographics, and lifestyles. As a
result, it has developed some of the most successful
brands in the world, including Axe, a male grooming
brand, and Dove, a personal care brand aimed at women.
Axe is the most popular male grooming brand in the
world and Unilever’s best seller. The brand, which offers a
wide range of personal care products from body spray to
body gel, deodorant, and shampoo, was launched in 1983
and introduced in the United States in 2002. Axe targets
15- to 25-year-old males who are interested in improving
their appeal to the opposite sex and “keeping a step
ahead in the mating game.” Most Axe ads use humor and
sex and often feature skinny, average guys attracting
beautiful girls by the dozen. The result: the brand is
