Has Marketing of nail products become a dirty word?

[geeg]

What do you think?

A recent post where someone made a general statement ... "don't believe the marketing" made me think.

Marketing isn't always lies.
Marketing is not always dishonest.
I think People/companies with years of industry excellence behind them have every right to market their reputation and their products and systems without expecting people to think it is all lies or hype.

Depending on reputation (which has been hard earned) I think you can believe the marketing.

Those who lie in their marketing or make false claims are soon found out and people do not appreciate it.

 

[mary1981]

Of course all marketing should be honest, we all know some is not, but as Geeg says the dishonest marketing is soon found out and their reputation tarnished. Marketing and reputation is everything in most industries, particularly service led industries. A good reputation is also taken into account when valuing a business's assets. So if a company has built up this reputation why not market it? I certaintly want to learn about the best products and without marketing i wouldn't know about them. We all have business cards, websites etc, lets hope people don't say "dont believe the marketing" when they read our advertising materials!:lol:

 

[Urban Geek]

Marketing is what sells things to everyone. Don't believe the hype is sometimes true as is false marketing but at the end of the day a company which doesn't meet its promises soon loses its following and a good reputation is hard to recoup.

Without marketing I would be very ignorant as to what products and services were out there.

 

[Kim Lawless]

We all have to sell ourselves, so a little exaggeration isn't so terrible. However, you have to have the product to back up the marketing of you'll fall flat on your face.

I've no read the thread in question, but I'm guessing that someone has been stung by a company who promise high end training/products, but don't deliver. xx

 

[spn01]

My interpretation of Marketing is based on the 4 basic principles - the 4 p's
Product, Price, Position and Promotion, each principle supporting the other to effectively sell a commodity or service.

Promotion aka Advertising is most commonly based on the "features and benefits" of a product and/or price and/or position.

Yes there is misleading advertising by companies/traders in all industries, often "over promising and under delivering", these often capture an innital audience and demand is high. However over a period of time the demand reduces - basic 101 in economics "supply and demand" will determine the future of the companies/traders financial and trading position.

On the flip side there are also many companies/traders that "deliver on their promises" and without their Marketing Campaigns we would not know of their great products or to be able to make informed choices.

Therefore IMO a general statement "don't believe the marketing", is a poor interpretation of all Marketing, true for some marketing and incorrect for others.
:green::hug:

What do you think?

A recent post where someone made a general statement ... "don't believe the marketing" made me think.

Marketing isn't always lies.
Marketing is not always dishonest.
I think People/companies with years of industry excellence behind them have every right to market their reputation and their products and systems without expecting people to think it is all lies or hype.

Depending on reputation (which has been hard earned) I think you can believe the marketing.

Those who lie in their marketing or make false claims are soon found out and people do not appreciate it.

 

[uniq12u]

What the issue is, IMO, like in so many things in life, is that it takes a few bad ones to make it harder for others. It's the few who lie and scam about their products that make consumers question all product marketing. No, it's not fair, but as a consumer I don't want to blindly follow. I like feedback from others so I can get some idea as to what is legite and what isn't, what works and what doesn't. I look at it this way, it's just like when people shop to get their nails done. If they have had a bad experience in a NSS, then they will be leary of other places until proven otherwise. Can't blame them! Yes, this makes it harder for me to have a business, but I just have to know that what I do is what is better and in the client's best interest. They can see that when they come to me. There is nothing I can do about those who have been hurt and don't want nail services every again.

 

[CurlyQs]

For me, it's all about the names and hearts behind the marketing. If a company has proven themselves trustworthy and true to their claims, then their marketing statements are very credible to me.

Companies that make claims too good to be true, or choose to put down other products in an attempt to better their own lose me right off the bat.

 

[tigi]

I am a qualified marketeer, its what i did before I became a nail and beauty therapist and i ran my marketing business before i opened my little salon. I firmly believe that marketing is essential in any business.

Its as vital as accountancy, product ordering, training etc etc...

Using marketing to lie or hoodwink customers NEVER goes down very well. Customers as so much more savvy than they were 20 years ago (thank goodness). And the thing about lies , is that they always come back and bite you in the bum!

so, marketing is not and never will be a bad thing , IMO. Its part of life, how would we know about ANYTHING if companies did not market their products?

As the saying goes,

" If you build a bigger and better mouse trap, no one will buy it unless you tell them about it!"

tigi

 

[user 25446]

Marketing by it's very nature will always portray a product or service in the best possible light - same as we all do when attending job interviews :lol:

It serves a purpose to make it known that a product or service exists, but as consumers our responsibility is to look beyond that and see the full picture.

In the nail industry for example, some companies make claims that their soft gels are safer than acrylic and that their products are healthier (in which case I'll take a ton of that as I feel definitely knackered and run down right now). Pretty much any advert suggests by image and presentation that using their product is a fast route to making immaculate nails and frankly, half the fun of receiving any nail magazine each month is spotting the obviously Photoshoped images .

For me the critical point is that nail professionals should have enough education and skill to be able to determine the best product, and that newbie nail techs are not lured into the trap of thinking that one product will give them the ability to make perfect nails.

No one company has the right to say they have all the answers - this is patently nonsense. If this was the case it would be a world first in any industry. However, it's important to look beyond products and see what the company offers as a whole - education, support etc.

I am not really sure what value marketing has today - there is simply so much information and tremendous images thrown at us that I think most of it is ignored. The world has changed from push (advertising) to pull (I need something so lets google and see what's around) - that now the consumers are really in charge. Personally I think this is positive - good products and service will earn reputation and be referred friend to friend and colleague to colleague. The best will always win out.

 

[ris]

Those who lie in their marketing or make false claims are soon found out and people do not appreciate it.

The scourge of the industry is that those same people can easily pop up under different names somewhere else - why not, for instance, somewhere in Ukraine, for a change .

Seems like they are living out the principle ‘after us the deluge’. Or trying to.

 

[ris]

In the nail industry for example, some companies make claims that their soft gels are safer than acrylic and that their products are healthier (in which case I'll take a ton of that as I feel definitely knackered and run down right now). Pretty much any advert suggests by image and presentation that using their product is a fast route to making immaculate nails and frankly, half the fun of receiving any nail magazine each month is spotting the obviously Photoshoped images .
For me the critical point is that nail professionals should have enough education and skill to be able to determine the best product, and that newbie nail techs are not lured into the trap of thinking that one product will give them the ability to make perfect nails.

It's absolutely the same for all other industries and services. The nail industry just follows the established 'routines'.

now the consumers are really in charge.

I don't think so. There's far too much information - a good lot of it being pretty inferoir. You cannot just guess what is right.
No, the consumers are not in charge, alas..

 

[geeg]

For me, it's all about the names and hearts behind the marketing. If a company has proven themselves trustworthy and true to their claims, then their marketing statements are very credible to me.

Companies that make claims too good to be true, or choose to put down other products in an attempt to better their own lose me right off the bat.

I so agree. A great reputation is someting that is earned and I always go by reputation ... reputation is won by the affirmation of thousands and thousands of satisfied users. What better recommendation can one get?

We all say that our best advertising comes from the recommendation of our clients .... to me it is no different with the reputation of a company. When people try to trash the reputation of others or undermine it with false information that just tells me exactly where their motives lie.