8 Lessons in Strategic Marketing A La Daddy Daycare

I bet you thought the movie "Daddy Daycare" was a kiddie comedy, right? Wrong...It's a marketing strategy film! When Charlie and his friend Phil are fired as Product Development/Brand Managers for a cereal company, they decide to fill a need in their community.

Along the way to success they demonstrate several solid marketing strategies -- equally applicable to online, offline, and integrated companies. Take these lessons to heart when developing plans for your business.

Lesson 1: Research the competition

The future entrepreneurs visited each daycare in the area. While doing so, they got a feel for their daycare competitors. By knowing your own competitors you will be better able to effectively find a way to compete.

Competitor research does not have to be thought of as "guerrilla warfare." In many industries, competitors work together by partnering, cross promoting, sending business to each other, or even manufacturing each other's products.

Lesson 2: Know your customers' values

Charlie and Phil understood that price is not the only important factor for their target market. Based on their own experience and customer research (talking to other parents), they recognized that other concerns besides price played a part when parents choose a daycare provider.

While price is almost certainly a consideration for your customers, don't get caught in the mentality that customers will buy from you only if you have the lowest cost. If you think of your own service/product as a bundle of attributes having a unique value for your customers, you will be more successful.

Lesson 3: Identify opportunities

Charlie and Phil uncovered an unmet need in the market by combining their competitor research and knowledge of customer values. You can do the same when looking to develop new products/services or improve existing ones.

Lesson 4: Develop a positioning based on opportunity

Using knowledge from the first three lessons, they positioned themselves as the quality alternative and focused on providing different benefits than their nearest competitor. In the movie, Daddy Daycare stole all the competitor's customers and drove her out of business.

In real life, customers choose a product/service that best fits their needs. Consequently, competitors can co-exist when each are valuable in different ways to industry customers.

Lesson 5: Create a catchy tag line

The tag line "Who's your Daddy?" helped advertise the new business. Often, a concise, catchy tag line can go a long way in building brand equity, communicating benefits and features, and/or conveying a feeling/mentality your target customers can relate to.

Some examples:

"Just do it." (Nike)

"Life Unscripted" (TLC)

"Naturally sweetened whole grain oat cereal with real berries." (Berry Burst Cheerios)

"Makes anything possible." (Craftsman)

Lesson 6: Spread the Word

Phil and Charlie put their tag line on t-shirts along with their business name. They also printed and distributed flyers that explained their new company's positioning.

A few more ideas you can use to spread the word about your business:

Word of mouth -- give customers an incentive to tell people about your business. Advertising -- use both online and offline methods. Online options include pay-per-click search engines and ezine advertisements. Offline methods include radio spots and newspaper advertisements. Philanthropy -- donate money, services, and/or time to non-profit organizations or conduct your own event.

Lesson 7: Be ethical and above-board

The new business owners cooperated fully with the daycare inspector. They treated him as a source of information rather than "Big Brother". This resulted in not only a better business, but also a valuable ally. In the long run, your own company will be more likely to thrive if you concentrate on improving the business rather than dodging regulations.

Lesson 7A: Subterfuge is a poor long-term strategy

Besides being unethical, subterfuge soils your reputation. In the movie, the competing daycare crashed and ruined a fundraiser event...spilling bugs, freeing animals, and drenching visitors. Short-term, it worked. Phil and Charlie were broke, seemingly with no way to continue with their venture.

In the long run, Ms. Subterfuge had such a poor reputation (from this and other business tactics), her business failed.

Lesson 8: Implement until you're blue in the face

In the beginning, the new Daddy Daycare was a complete disaster. Charlie and Phil did their "homework" and knew they had a good idea. When reality hit theory, however, a few not-so-minor details got in the way. Like all successful marketers, they worked out the kinks (okay...disasters) and kept trying (and trying, and trying) until they got it right.

Keep the Daddy Daycare lessons in mind when developing and implementing your own marketing plan. Don't give up, strive to continually improve, and you're business is sure to be a success.

About the Author

Bobette Kyle draws upon 12+ years of Marketing/Executive experience, Marketing MBA, and online marketing research in her writing. Bobette is proprietor of the Web Site Marketing Plan Network, http://www.WebSiteMarketingPlan.com, and author of the marketing plan and Web promotion book "How Much For Just the Spider? Strategic Website Marketing For Small Budget Business." ( HowMuchForSpider.com/TOC.htm )

Copyright 2004, Bobette Kyle. All rights reserved.

In The News:


pen paper and inkwell


cat break through


Hermey Wants To Be A Dentist

December marked the 40th anniversary of the original broadcast of... Read More

Are You Sabotaging Your Marketing Success?

What?!? Sabotage your own success? Who would do that? Well,... Read More

Are Your Brochures Worth The Paper Theyre Printed On?

Brochures are one of the oldest marketing weapons in the... Read More

Marketing A Misunderstood or Scary Product or Service

What do you do if your business, product or service... Read More

How Much Is Your Popcorn Worth? Powerful Lessons In Marketing & The Psychology Of Selling - Part 4

Let's continue to discuss the various marketing principles that are... Read More

Top 10 Ways to Create and Manage Opportunity

Most of us are used to the concepts of risk... Read More

When Business Cards Arent Enough: Unusual, Unexpected, and Uncommon Networking Tips

There comes a time in every small businessperson's life when... Read More

How To Recognize Your Niche Marketing Agenda

Starting a business, whether it's retail products or services, must... Read More

How to Critique Your Own Yellow Page Ad

Forget what you know about your business Your goal is... Read More

The Marshall Plan -- Or, Customer Aftercare: How To Spend Less & Sell More

My wife likes to shop at the local Safeway. Is... Read More

Integrity and Marketing - Finding the Right Balance

When marketing themselves to leads and prospects there are five... Read More

Slogans: Creating and Using Them In Life, Career and Business

Information is coming at us from all directions nowadays. This... Read More

Making More With Existing Clients

Have you ever put on a jacket you haven't worn... Read More

Why Do They Buy?

A recent issue of Entrepreneur magazine included a marketing story... Read More

The 4 P s of Marketing: Effective Marketing Programs Depend On Them

There is no shortage of marketing programs, many with great... Read More

Increase Repeat Business and Referrals with Direct Mail

So you have been writing mortgages like crazy now for... Read More

Eliminate Your Competitors With 2 Simple Steps

In business, having competitors goes with the territory. There's almost... Read More

E-commerce : The Bottom of Pyramid Approach

For centuries and most of the decades in the 20th... Read More

7 Tips for Successful Postcard Marketing

Simple low-cost postcards have become a valuable business tool for... Read More

Mobile Marketing a New Age Strategy

More and more companies seem to be looking for new... Read More

How To Bond With Customers So That They Stay With You Longer

How many of your customers are loyal customers? More importantly... Read More

Profitable Marketing Programs (Part 1)

Deciding whether a particular marketing program is profitable to your... Read More

How to Measure the Benefit Your Product or Service Offers

Measuring the benefit of your product or service means putting... Read More

Keep Costs Down and Keep the Marketing Strategy Simple

One of the biggest mistakes we could make as business... Read More

Target Your Market

Your market is not everybody, as so many small businesses... Read More

Features and Benefits Brainstorming

This is it what I use BEFORE I begin to... Read More

Take The Test: Does Your Marketing Copy Sell?

Your marketing materials must grab your prospect's attention long enough... Read More

Is Most Marketing by Small Businesses KILLING THEM?

I just collected my mail. As usual, more than 80%... Read More

Deciphering Marketing Lingo: Whats the Difference between a USP, Single Message and a Tagline?

Maybe you've heard these different marketing terms, maybe you haven't.... Read More

Customizing Booklets By Industry or By Company

Customizing booklets can be done by industry or by company."110... Read More

21 Must-Have Web Site Elements

Your Web site should be the cornerstone of your client... Read More

Testimonials - FREE Quality Advertising FOR YOU!

Every business person who has any kind of product or... Read More

The Testimonial Writing Machine

Almost every small business marketer knows that they should gather... Read More