Math problems

These days, according to Bubuwit, all marketers are obsessed with measuring results, so let’s do some math (blame it on Sudoku problem-solving) but actually, some story problems.

Problem No. 1. Angry customers say with a headline, “Your brand sucks.” What is the cost to your acquisition campaign? How much did you waste? How much business did your advertising drive right to your competitors’ ads? How many people believed on the negative stories?

Problem No. 2. You spent P3 million to develop a new product. Two grouchy customers post negative reviews on the blog. More bad reviews follow. In fact, with 125 reviews, the average is 1.5 stars (the lowest rating you can get is 1 star). One of the same grouchy customers posts negative reviews on three other sites. Customers never show up. How fast will this product die? How much development investment was lost because we didn’t prepare for positive word of mouth? What are the ripple effects on the rest of our products?

Problem No. 3. You pay for an e-mail campaign to 1 million opt-in (Bubuwit hopes) e-mail addresses. You get 1-percent click-throughs, and close 10 percent of them giving you 1,000 new customers. But 10,000 people don’t remember opting in. So they get angry and decide never to buy from you again or patronize your product. And they each tell five friends that you spammed them. Two thousand of those people were current clients who are now mad at you. And they each tell five friends. How many prospects do you lose forever? Was the potential lifetime value of these customers greater than the new accounts you acquired? What is the lost revenue from current customers who left because they think you are spamming? What happens when people start blogging that you spammed them?

Now, do your math. Bubuwit suggests you need to put those assets in the balance sheet and your business plan. This is a bottom-line issue whether in the fundamental quality of your products and services, the reliability and courteousness of your service and/or marketing team, or a specific marketing effort.

AdMix: Marketing by mathematics

This columnist isn’t a good mathematician, and swears it couldn’t be happening. But because of the high spirits soaring during the 3rd World Sudoku Championship recently held in Goa, India, of which this columnist was part of the Philippine team (not as a participant but as mere observer), perhaps marketing by mathematics as a topic could be better than solving the Sudoku.

From artisan to ‘art-repreneur’

Lino Dalay did not have a clear business plan when he started setting up shop almost a decade ago on a narrow street in Paete, Laguna, the country’s wood-carving capital.

Bubuwit Squeaks: Math problems

These days, according to Bubuwit, all marketers are obsessed with measuring results, so let’s do some math (blame it on Sudoku problem-solving) but actually, some story problems.