Mutual values, content and visual design

[Tom Merilahti]

The traditional way to manage marketing, often by using media advertising, which drowns easily in the masses, is caused by strong agency traditions, credibility and measurability.

On ther hand the desire of the corporate management to get quickly measurable results limit the use of more effective methods and tools. Too many are happy with measurable “good” results instead of utilizing all the existing opportunities in order to achieve brilliancy.

It seems that the desire, knowledge and guts to ask for the best possible solutions are simply missing. The threshold towards new, integrated methods and activity plans must first be surpassed.

In traditional marketing communication, in where the media space or time
bought by a corporation, to a high price, the wanted message is forwarded by a single advertiser to the target group.

Depart from this, Multilateral Marketing Communication (MMC) offers a huge amount of opportunities in where every available resource – corporation, community and individual - marketing method and media - can work in an effective interaction towards one another and the target groups, and achieve multiple goals simultaneously.

Factual Connections, multiplicative effects, added value and cost effectivity.

A MMC program can be designed and put into practice multilaterally
together and separately with several collaboration partners, combine
resources, split expenses and win positive reputation at the same time.

The key words of MMC are factual connections, multiplicative effects, added value and cost effectivity.

A MMC program is built-up of a mutually accepted values, business content and activities supporting each partners corporate communication and/or brand marketing.

A mutual value base offers the collaboration partners the first option to jump in the same bed, and to effectively glue together activities, products, services and the marketing of these in order to touch the target groups emotions.

Mutual values, content and visual design

To start the process require that you realise the factual connections and have an ability to think and visualize multidimensionally and goal-directed. The objective can be to show social responsibility for instance. Social causes and activities can function as the starting point for both corporate communication and brand marketing.

Exercise, healty food and safety

MMC operations (value base, content, and visual design – marketing communication and activities) can be associated e.g. with exercise, healthy food and safety, which are put together from a football
assiociation, junior soccer (football), rye bread (Fazer) and Volvo. This can be utilized together and separately with the media under a “mutual sun shade” (project name and visual design). The objectives would be added value, multiplicative effects and cost effectivity.

Co-Branding, CSR, Co-Promotion, Sponsorship, Cause Related Marketing, Cross-marketing…

The concept of MMC includes a multitude of different opportunities such as co-advertising, co-promotion and
compositioning. In compositioning it’s a question of building up marketing concepts of products and/or services, represented by different organizations that complement one another, which are executed with mutual resources.

The concept can include event marketing, cross-promotion (e.g. exchange of media space), product placement (e.g. movies, books, theatre) and sponsorship, and its utlization together with several collaboration partners. As an example, sponsorship without the support of other marketing communication vehicles is charity.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Cause Related Marketing are strategic tools for positioning and differentiation.

By using these tools, a corporation or brand can be connected and associated in a natural way with a charity organization or cause with matching values. The objectives can be to point out social responsibility and bilateral
benefit. CSR is a great tool to show good corporate citizenship.

A last quote

What is needed in the world of today is strategic and innovative thinking, ability to perceive the factual connections between different methods, corporations, communities and their objectives, and guts (SISU
in Finnish) to connect these in a startling way into effective MMC wholes that work.


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