It is not enough to have a good product (or service). You also need to find a good way to let people know about it — that is, to market it properly.
In the past, a good product would sell by itself because the market was small, or rather local, and people communicated directly with each other. Marketing was deemed too expensive, and it was mostly associated with advertising, which is only half of the whole truth. Then, as the market became one big global neighborhood, marketing (and advertising) became easier and less expensive. Many resources were allocated to marketing, often forgetting the product. As such, quality and performance fell behind as the balance shifted away from science and weighing more heavily on marketing.
A user’s testimony for a product carries more weight than a Ph.D.
This worked up to a point, but our market is becoming local again, and people talk directly to each other using social media. And, believe me, a user’s testimony for a product carries more weight than any Ph.D. from any university. Right or wrong, people love personal stories more than reading encyclopedias.
I believe we have reached a point where we have come to realize that science and marketing need to be in perfect balance for any business to remain sustainable in the long run. Some players are looking for ways to up their science, others to up their marketing, but we are all working toward the same goal. Have a good product that works, and find an effective way to communicate this to potential customers. We all try different approaches, some more successful than others. The real failure comes when we stop trying.
