How bow hunting reinforces my marketing skills

How Bow Hunting Reinforces My Marketing Skills

One of my passions in life is archery and bow hunting. The more I reflect and meld my work-life balance, I can see how my life flows into my work. From one passion, drives another, so in my case, I can see how my bow hunting skills and techniques help and reinforce my marketing skills. All of the skills and steps that I go through, before and during a bow hunt, are all of the skills and steps needed in marketing to bring products to market with the highest degree of success.

Research your environment:

Before every bow hunting adventure, I have to map and research the environment I will be hunting. This means learn the lay of the land, learn the topography, location of all natural elements (trees, rivers, swamps, etc.) and how to access the location. This directly relates to the first step of launching new products, by getting market research and knowledge. In this step, market research discovers the overall market, the direction of the market, the scope of my customers, the general state of the competition and how to get access to the market.

You need to know how to get into the market in order to position yourself correctly, without upsetting your target customer. Knowing the landscape in bow hunting, also means knowing where you can and cannot hunt. For marketing, this notes the legal implications of the market you are going into and what territories or patents are already in existence, as this is becoming a more and more important part of business and hunting. This is to define your target market, product potential and boundaries, setting your potential market, scope, placement and product. This sets you jump-in location for your market. It sets you in a position to not upset the general balance of the market or environment, particularly with one's own products. 

See patterns/trends and know your target:

After scoping out the general environment for lay of the land, I like to research the land more in depth to see the patterns of the prey. I want to know what they do, how they do it, in what way do they do it, where do they go, what routes do they take to get there, what time of day they do certain activities and everything else they do on a daily basis to get my target’s patterns and trends. This is to effectively promote, position and place my stand for the coming hunt.

In marketing, this is simply the voice of the customer (VOC). Learning about your customer: how they buy, where do they buy, what do they search for in order to make a purchase, what types of products do they look for, why do they look for a particular product, what names do they search for, and more, are all important in the data gather stage of any marketing experience as this sets your positioning and placement and in general your market acceptance of your product.

Note competition:

While I gather information to learn more about my target and their patterns, I am also looking at competition. In bow hunting, this means finding which prey are competing in the area as well as what are the predators competing with me. If I see for my prey is abundant and have a scarcity for food source, I position myself in a manner close to the food source for a higher possibility of interaction. If I see that there are very few prey and lots of other predators or people hunting in an area, I may look for areas away from that particular location or areas on the periphery of that location which would be safer and less pressured.

Just as important as knowing your customers and your market, it is important to note your competition and your customer’s competition. Knowing the competitive landscape allows one to see what pressure the customer faces from the scarcity of resources or what pressure the customer gets from the potential competition to be faced. Being able to differentiate, find a particular niche, and set yourself away from the competition increases your value proposition to your customer, just as finding a market that is saturated with customers and few suppliers. In each specific case, you need a good judgment of your competition and relate that very linearly to the target market.

Position yourself correctly:

After learning the environment and my prey, I now have the very important task of setting up my stand and finding the proper location. For the best chance for success, I need to find a spot which will: allow me to be within reach of any prey with my bow, allow me to have good views with shooting lanes, able to adjust for changing environmental conditions (ex. wind), have a location which supports my stand and my weight, and be camouflaged.

In marketing, seeing the entire general market landscape, for positioning in the market, is key when setting your positioning. Similar to hunting I need to have a position in the market which gives me the ability to reach my entire target market. If I am in a very large market or location, I need to centralize my location with access and distribution to the entire market, or if I am in a niche or narrowed market, I need the ability to find these particular customers as well. This is learned through the market research already done, distribution strategies or in positioning your sales force. In highly competitive or changing markets, this also means that you have the ability to be fluid and change within the market depending on the economy or preferences and have enough foresight to see how preferences changed with changing conditions. This positioning is adjusted and refined through your product requirements, price, prestige, packaging, purchasing power and confirmed through market research (VOC, sales management, etc.).

One also needs to be after the right customer – one who realizes the unique positioning as an advantage fitting the customer profile and fitting the company profile. Aligning the market potential to the company and the opportunity to the risk is the final objective for positioning. One would not want to pay for a product which wouldn't pay dividends or be a burden to manufacturing or distribution. Lastly, one would need to position themselves correctly in a way which keeps their competitive advantage and not cannibalizing one's own product. Having this advantage gives one the ability to move, adjust, and innovate in order to target the customer in the best manner.

Using the right tools:

In any hunting experience, using the right tools can greatly improve your chances for success. Picking a bow with the right draw weight is essential – not too heavy so you can’t pull the string back, but not so light that you give away the power to make your shot lethal. Also, picking the arrow with the right characteristics is important – using lighter arrows for open areas where longer shots are needed and using heavier arrows for bigger prey and harsher environments. Last, all equipment must be fitted for your exact size, which will provide consistency, accuracy, and reliability to the shot being made.

This aspect of marketing is all related to the business channel need and matching it to the customer and competitive situation. This means that you are using the correct media source to reach your target market. Whether it is online, through distributors, or with direct sales, these channels need to work together and be sufficient to support your market efficacy. An effective channel strategy will find dividends in providing a consistent amount of service, provide reliable delivery and get feedback from customers.

Patience:

Every time I go out I do not have a 100% success rate – which is why they call it hunting. There is the possibility for failure and missed opportunities. When I do go out though, I give myself the best possible chances, by creating the best situation possible. I do not have erratic movements to create instability in my environment. I wear camouflage attire to blend in with the environment. I wait patiently for opportunities and trust that the data and analysis that was done up front will help track in my prey. If needed, I have the ability to call in prey, attract animals with decoys and use scent attractants to aid in this pursuit. All the while I patiently wait, observe and note any changes in the environment around me - constantly searching for and receiving feedback.

After gathering all market research, implementing a new product strategy and collecting all of the right information, a product goes to market. This is where promotion comes into play. Attracting the market through a clear message, a properly placed invitation, or a sample and proof of concept will help aid in the initial attractiveness to the market. The customer will take note of this change in their environment and come closer to see what the initial offering is, similar to the decoys, calls and other attractants. What makes the customer stay is a company's consistency within the competitive environment, making the customer keep wanting to come back for more, coming closer, and feeling comfortable with your presence in the market– inviting them to come back for more. The initial offering and promotion may get a customer close and one can take a long shot to get them  with a long shot promotion or new business deal, but having the patience for them to take another look, to accept your products, to see others that enjoyed the benefits, to see consistent and good service – all of that attracts customers more and makes each shot with a new product a higher and higher percentage shot.

Create your own opportunities:

Many times the opportunities may be close, but the weather may change. The wind may blow in a different direction, the rain could change patterns, the river could floor, and a storm could knock down trees. In these cases, one must adjust, and if needed, move. If a wind is unfavorable to hunt on my position on a certain plot of land, I need to move or hunt a different spot to create a better opportunity for myself. I must not move constantly as I lose my strategic and environmental avantage, making my prey uneasy and possibly scaring them from the environment I have set up in, losing the entire opportunity.

After your initial product offering and promotion, one must keep in very close contact to the newly launched environment. Noticing the changes in the market: competition changes; new product introductions; new technologies being assimilated; and changing customer preferences. Market research after a launch is just as important to the success of the product as the research done before the launch. This creates the required fine tune adjustments to optimize the marketing strategy, creating the best outcome and acceptance in the market.

In Winner Take Nothing, Ernest Hemmingway states, "When you have shot one bird flying, you have shot all birds flying. They are all different and they fly in different ways, but the sensation is the same and the last one is as good as the first." In hunting, as in marketing, the fun is in the success of the end game, one does not want to stop at one, nor miss at any. In both cases, going through each of the steps listed creates the highest opportunity of success. Similarly, the passion and care taken in each marketing or hunting venture relates to the execution, research and coordination of each plan.

-thePonderingNick