The vast majority of people think in stereotypes. There is nothing wrong with this, because they were taught this from childhood. However, there are individuals who have special, non-standard thinking, thanks to which they achieve success in life. In psychology, such thinking is called lateral. Let's take a closer look at it and find out if it can be developed.

The term “lateral” (lateralis) translated from Latin means “lateral”, “displaced”. Thus, lateral thinking is the ability to think non-linearly, outside the box. With this type of mental activity, a person uses those approaches to the problem being solved that logical thinking usually ignores.

Thanks to a non-standard approach, a person gets the opportunity to find a creative solution to a problem or come up with a fundamentally new idea. Many inventions and discoveries in various fields of science and life belong to people with unconventional thinking.

Lateral thinking has much in common with divergent thinking. Psychologists distinguish two styles of thinking - convergent and divergent. Convergent thinking works in a linear way - a person conducts an analysis and builds a sequential chain of facts, coming to one specific conclusion.

Divergent moves in many directions rather than just one and uses creativity to find new ways to solve a problem. People with divergent thinking are able to think creatively and outside the box, which significantly increases their mental capabilities.

The concept of lateral thinking was made famous by psychologist Edward de Bono. It was he who proposed simple but effective techniques to help you learn to think outside the box.

Edward de Bono and his concept

Edward de Bono (1033) is a British psychologist, doctor of medicine, a specialist in the field of psychology, physiology and creative thinking. He is the author of many popular books on the topic of thinking, in which he proposed special techniques that allow anyone to develop the ability to think in new ways.

The most famous of these books: “Water Logic”, “Beauty of the Mind”, “Serious Creative Thinking”, “Courses for the Development of Thinking”, “Lateral Thinking”, “Teach Yourself to Think”, “The Birth of a New Idea”, “Six Thinking Hats” , “Six figures of thinking”, “Beauty of the mind”, “Why are we so stupid?”, “Brilliant!”.

Dr. Bono sought to create a new information system with the ability to self-organize. Modeling such a system, he came up with the concept of a pattern, which is widely known in psychology, sociology and other related fields. A pattern is a sample, template, cliche. A pattern is a structure that integrates variability and constancy in various processes and stimuli. The scientist studied patterns and looked for methods to restructure them.

He developed exercises for developing lateral thinking, allowing you to perceive any tasks facing a person not as difficulties, but as interesting puzzles.

Lateral thinking process

Marketer Philip Kotler studied the methods proposed by Edward de Bono and proposed an adapted technique that allows you to abstract from the usual logical thinking. The technique consists of three steps:

1. Select focus. First of all, you need to choose a specific idea and focus on it. This idea will serve as a starting point. Without it it is impossible to create something new. It is necessary to constantly think about the problem, analyze it from different angles.
2. Break the pattern. Now it is necessary to break the logic of the idea formulated at the first stage, thereby breaking the usual pattern of thinking. This will be a shift, a deviation from generally accepted standards. The resulting judgment may seem strange or absurd. This is normal, at this stage of work this is how it should be.
3. Establish a logical connection. Now the illogical or even absurd judgment obtained at the second stage must be rationalized. This step is the most difficult and requires a lot of effort, but it is thanks to it that you can get something fundamentally new. The third stage of the operation is the most creative and important.

Thanks to this technique, you can create new creative ideas and concepts that will later be brought to life.

Lateral thinking methods

Let's look at the methods of lateral thinking proposed by Edward de Bono.

Method 1: Six Thinking Hats

The brainstorming method is familiar to many. In theory this is a very effective method, but in practice it often gives unsatisfactory results. This happens when brainstorming is done incorrectly. The mistake is that one group member comes up with ideas and another discards them without any analysis. As a result, the discussion reaches a dead end, and the problem remains unresolved.

To eliminate such a mistake and avoid losing a valuable idea, you need to use the “Six Thinking Hats” technique. Each hat has its own color and characteristics. By changing hats, the participants in the discussion change the direction of their thoughts. By changing hats, you can look at the problem from different angles.

To implement the method in practice, you will need six multi-colored hats or other objects that will symbolize hats. Each hat represents a certain perspective from which the problem being solved is viewed.

• White– informational: what we have at the moment, what we currently lack, various facts, figures, all kinds of information related to the problem being solved.
• Red– emotional: any feelings and emotions related to the problem being solved, intuition, premonitions.
• Green– creative: generating new ideas and proposals, searching for non-standard solutions.
• Black– critical: doubts, difficulties associated with the implementation of the proposed idea, searching for shortcomings and shortcomings.
• Yellow– optimistic: considering the advantages of the idea under discussion, the benefits it can bring, the positive aspects of its implementation.
• Blue– organizational: the hat of the facilitator, who brings together everything that was achieved as a result of the discussion, carefully recording all the proposed ideas that may be useful.

Each participant in the discussion can wear any hat and express their thoughts in accordance with the direction given by the color of the hat.

Method 2. Synectic assault

Synectics is a combination in the process of solving a problem of elements of various kinds, sometimes not even compatible with each other. Dr. Bono argued that using this technique helps break down existing thinking patterns and look at a problem with a new perspective. To implement the method, it is necessary to make several analogies:

• Straight: think about how people most often solve such problems.
• Personal: imagine yourself in the place of the subject facing the task, try to look at it through his eyes (this could be a client, buyer, user).
• Generalizing: briefly, literally in a nutshell, describe the problem.
• Symbolic: fantasize and imagine what approach to the problem a real historical or fictional character would take.

The use of this technique activates creative thinking, helps to break away from stereotypes and come up with an unconventional solution to a problem.

Method 3. Random word

This technique can be used during a brainstorming session when the discussion reaches a dead end and the participants in the discussion stop coming up with new ideas. In this case, you need to ask each group member to name some random word that comes to mind. Now you need to try to connect this word with the problem being solved.

In the process of searching for connection, new thoughts will begin to emerge, which will again intensify the discussion and lead to fresh ideas and solutions. The technique is convenient to use in cases where it is not clear where to start solving a problem. It can be used not only in a group discussion, but also alone.

Method 4: Going beyond

As you know, any project has limitations in time, finances, and resources. Often these restrictions interfere with the successful implementation of plans. It is not always possible to remove them, but nothing prevents you from trying to imagine what ideas can be brought to life if these restrictions are removed. The mind, not limited by boundaries, is capable of generating very interesting ideas.

How to develop lateral thinking?

The ability to think outside the box and creatively can be developed. Edward de Bono offers many effective methods in his books. The scientist recommends:

• always look for new ideas in everything;
• do not get hung up on stereotypes and clichés that people use to solve everyday problems;
• question any ideas;
• try to generalize different alternatives and solutions;
• think about not only complex problems, but also simple ones;
• solve various lateral thinking tasks and puzzles more often;
• look for non-standard ways to use old, worn out things;
• apply a creative approach to everyday activities;
• enjoy the process of thinking and finding solutions.

Nonlinear thinking develops most easily in children. Their minds are not yet clogged with patterns, they trust their intuition, and are not afraid to seem funny, inventing and saying all sorts of absurd things, from the point of view of adults. All these are good prerequisites for the development of lateral thinking.

The ability to think outside the box, to combine traditional approaches to solving problems with non-traditional ones, allows you to find and implement fundamentally new ideas in professional and everyday activities.

The main task of marketers is to identify needs and satisfy them with appropriate offers. Next, you need to find and systematize potential consumers who have this need. With the help of marketing strategies, existing and potential consumers are segmented and brands and (or) enterprises are positioned. marketing lateral market sales

This process leads to over-fragmentation and oversaturation of the market. At the same time, only new varieties of existing goods and services appear. The thing is that companies, working from the top down, tend to consider the market as fixed. This is the so-called vertical path or vertical marketing. However, there is another way to create new products - outside the existing market. This is where lateral marketing comes into play. The main difference from vertical marketing is that the old market is not expanded, but a new one is created.

Lateral marketing is a technology for creating fundamentally new products and ideas outside the boundaries of the existing market. “It is this approach that allows companies to achieve greater success, since the result of lateral marketing is the creation of a new market, and therefore greater profits.”

In a nutshell, the idea of ​​lateral marketing consists of connecting entities that are not connected in principle. For example, coffee + computer = Internet cafe; "adult" doll = Barbie doll; mobile phone + camera and video camera + computer = smartphone; audio listening + books = audio books, etc.

The fact is that in the process of segmentation, markets for goods and services are divided according to some important attribute. As it continually divides, we eventually begin to have a "one-man segment" or a segment so small that it does not generate significant profits. For example, cookies: sprinkled with powder, cinnamon, white chocolate, dark chocolate, with filling (coconut, plum, etc.) and so on. This is the so-called “Vertical Marketing”, when a logically correct change occurs that does not lead to the creation of a new product category. Lateral marketing creates a new product category, and initially it is not logical. For example, “A flower does not wither”, “Phone without a wire” and so on.

The classic interpretation of the concept of “innovation”, in accordance with the concept of Joseph Schumpeter, is “any change that generates income” and “a new combination of existing resources.” And lateral marketing is precisely the creation of new combinations from apparently completely unrelated objects, and at different levels of marketing activity - at the market level, at the product level and/or at the level of other elements of the marketing complex.

The essence of the work of marketers is creativity aimed at increasing sales. Lateral marketing approaches, based on the ideas of E. de Bono, are precisely designed to search for new ideas not by waiting for inspiration, but through the use of special technologies.

By using lateral marketing at the market level and pricing, communication or distribution policies, the enterprise does not change the product. At the market level, new consumers may be added, the range of uses for a product may expand, or, in the simplest case, the frequency of use may increase. At the level of other parts of the marketing mix, the way the product is offered to the consumer is changing - at a new price, in an unexpected place or using original promotion concepts.

» Lateral thinking

© Elena Butivshchenko

Unpredictability and humor - marketing of the future

When solving problems, we often come across our own “psychological inertia.” It can be caused by the fear of invading an unfamiliar area, fear of becoming a laughing stock because of an idea that is too unusual - “crazy”, the desire not to make a mistake, an eye on names and authorities, and other factors that inhibit creativity. Psychological methods help to remove them by neutralizing psychological barriers and stimulating the process of generating ideas, without which a fruitful search is impossible. Here we turn to an independent interdisciplinary field of knowledge - productive thinking.

Dropping the load

What can make a person look differently at a familiar product, thing, product, person or day of life? Perhaps many, based on their many years of experience in family life, will confirm that over the years you get used to your spouse. And how difficult it is sometimes to look at your soulmate not as a domestic creature in sweatpants with outstretched knees, but as a man who once captivated the heart with his masculinity. This everyday example illustrates the attitude of buyers who are loyal and accustomed to the product, but do not experience acute feelings or fresh emotions about it.

Why fight if loyalty has already been acquired? The answer is simple - because a new, unfamiliar product will enter the market that will excite and delight, attract and make people fall in love with it. And then all the foundations and habits that cannot compare in strength with new love will fly to distant lands. Question: how can you fall in love again with your homely, familiar husband? Answer: seeing him in a new, unusual quality. For example, if you happen to be at a conference and listen to his inspirational report, you can discover his new face. In business, you can consciously resort to lateral thinking techniques. The reason why you should think about your life views is obvious: in consumer markets, 80% of new products fail, in the B2B sphere - about 40%.

Marketing classic Philip Kotler recognizes the marketing crisis. I would like to give Kotler his due; he himself admits that the principles and models of marketing developed in the 60-70s have stopped working today. Perhaps one of the reasons is that most innovations are developed traditionally. Only minor changes are made to the product related to smell, size, packaging design, and calorie content. And all because logical thinking tells us how to deepen, say, an existing hole. With the help of lateral, a hole is dug in a new place.

Our minds prefer conventional and predictable solutions to problems. Lateral thinking seeks solutions to difficult problems using unusual methods that are ignored by ordinary logical thinking. Lateral thinking tools challenge the normal functioning of the self-organizing system of the human brain. Today, better and better customer service is the basis for business success, but not the only requirement. Creativity and innovation are the main sources of lasting and global success in today's changing world. Lateral thinking techniques were developed in 1968 and published in Edward de Bono's book Mechanisms of the Mind in 1969. These techniques are simple, powerful and persuasive.

Comparing lateral thinking with traditional logical thinking, we see that, in contrast, lateral thinking does not imply a mandatory step-by-step movement of thought, in which an error in the starting position or any one action will inevitably lead to an incorrect conclusion.

Lateral thinking allows you to make “leaps” in any direction and allows for error as an intermediate step. Why? It gets rid of stereotypes and creates new models - original, creative, because it attracts intuition. This way of thinking consists of creativity plus humor. It is paradoxical, but effective. The brainstorming technique is based on a lateral approach.

Most businessmen are unable to think originally because they are unable to free themselves from the tyranny of logical reasoning. Their imagination is blocked. Edward de Bono created techniques for maintaining a “phone line” with the subconscious mind, in case this cluttered repository has something to tell us. Edward himself often listens to music, takes long hot baths, and works in the garden. He isolates himself in his country house, watching birds and taking long walks outside the city. Also taking vacations as often as possible to let the brain fallow: no golf, no cocktail parties, no bridge - no concentration, just cycling. During the time he does nothing, his brain receives a constant stream of “telegrams” from the subconscious, and they turn into raw material for his advertising messages. However, it takes more than that to realize the results of the subconscious mind: hard work, an open mind and uncontrollable curiosity.

World practice has already demonstrated striking examples of effective discoveries in lateral marketing. One London construction company was having trouble getting potential clients to come and view its homes. Then the director thought about how to make the houses themselves meet people halfway. A life-size model of the building was built. He was then loaded onto a barge and sent on a journey down the Thames. From time to time the ship dropped anchor off the densely populated shores. As a result, 26 thousand people visited the house in three months.

"Start" for new ideas

A method that is widely known and used everywhere is “brainstorming,” but there are several other effective psychological techniques that can be used alternately. Here are nine of the most effective ideas generation techniques.

Brain attack - a method of collective generation of ideas. Direct brainstorming is the collection of the maximum number of ideas, the selection of which is carried out by expert specialists, usually in two stages. Criticism of the proposals made is excluded. Promoting the emergence and expression of the maximum number of ideas. Encouragement of ideas in the form of bold and unusual designs and free associations. The expressed plans and ideas are combined and improved. The method is especially effective when discussing the general idea, strategy and concept of advertising

Synectic Assault - modification of the brainstorming method. Mainly it makes it possible to find the most original solutions, but does not allow solving very special creative problems. It differs only in the organization of the work of a creative group assembled to solve a specific problem (“synectics” - the unification of heterogeneous elements). Elements of criticism are acceptable. It is necessary to perform four techniques based on analogies:

• direct analogy (“How are problems similar to this one solved?”);
• personal analogy or empathy (“Let’s try to enter the image of this subject and reason from his point of view”);
• generalizing analogy (“Let’s formulate a figurative definition of the essence of the problem in a nutshell, in one phrase”);
• symbolic analogy (“How would Marshal Voroshilov, Bin Laden, Ivan the Fool try to solve this problem?” Call on any historical figure or fairy-tale character to help you).

Mass brainstorming allows you to significantly increase the efficiency of generating new ideas in a large audience. Group discussion has a strong psychological saturation and has long been used abroad, in particular in the USA. When using the method, much attention is paid to the discussion procedure.

Programmed discussion is a type of group discussion method. In this case, the discussion is conducted on strictly pre-established points. The use of methods requires high skill of the creative team leader. It is advisable to use it after preliminary processing of the problem, starting, for example, with a brainstorming session. The procedure involves participants thinking about the problem and recording (forms, workbooks) specific steps to solve it.

Deterministic discussion - a type of group discussion method. The results are reflected on pages with two columns for and against.

Focal object method transfers the characteristics of randomly selected objects to the one that is placed in the focus of attention of the participants. Unusual combinations, new qualities. They stimulate a chain of associations necessary for creative solutions.

Method of morphological analysis - the method of “morphological box” or multidimensional matrices is based on the principle of systematic analysis of new connections and relationships that arise in the process of matrix analysis of the subject or topic under study. Advantages: the ability to solve complex problems and find many original ideas. In the process of discussing a problem, its main characteristics are first identified, building “axes”. Then, possible combinations of “elements” are mentally “strung” onto each of them. As a rule, the most unexpected options come into view. For example, when reflecting on the characteristics of the image of the hero of an advertising film, his charm can be chosen as the “axes”, and actions can be taken as the “elements”.

Heuristic question method - method of key or control questions. Heuristic questions were used by ancient Roman philosophers in their scientific and practical activities. They recommended asking and answering seven key questions: “Who?”, “What?”, “Why?”, “Where?”, “How?”, “With what?”, “When?”. Advantages: simplicity and efficiency. The search for original ideas is intensified by questions asked during the discussion of an option: “What if we do the opposite?”, “What if we change the character’s age?” etc.

Organized Strategies Method to a certain extent helps to overcome the inertia of thinking. It is based on the principle of self-government of the individual when choosing new strategies for solving a creative problem and the principle of detachment, i.e. consideration of an object, subject, process each time from an unexpectedly new point of view.

The results of such brain perturbations and lateral thinking are to find a connection between two different concepts. Kotler and Trias de Bez give a simple example of asking a question and finding a solution. Let's say you can take a flower and focus on one of its qualities - “the flower withers.” And then carry out a lateral shift of this quality, that is, put forward some kind of provocative idea - “flowers do not fade.” A discrepancy has formed, a logical gap, and now it needs to be eliminated. In what situations does a flower never wither? If it is made of fabric or plastic. “Innovation is the result of the interconnection of two ideas that, in principle, have no obvious and immediate connection,” write Kotler and Trias de Bez. Italian entrepreneur Ferrero Rocher was about to launch a new chocolate product on the market. Instead of working on a new flavor and packaging, he created a new concept - a chocolate egg with a toy inside. After him, many began to copy the idea, transforming it - candy in a toy, a candy toy, etc. There is a lot of other evidence of the work of the subconscious: Internet cafes; mobile payphone; “BF” glue, capable of gluing the edges of the wound; gift of mobile phones and receiving the main profit from payment of communication bills; selling razors at a minimum price and receiving the main income from the sale of blades.

Often, non-standard solutions come to the minds of natural innovators - not necessarily directors and brand managers. For example, an entrepreneur from St. Petersburg, Vladimir Denisov, invented a medicinal marker. “If you use iodine or brilliant green in the traditional way, you have to wrap cotton wool around a match and dip it into the bottle. There is always a risk of getting your hands and clothes dirty,” says Vladimir Denisov. While studying at the Military Medical Academy, he found an unusual use for the familiar marker and came up with a device that made it easy to store and apply medicine. The healing felt-tip pen consists of a body, an adapter, a cap, a storage unit and a solid porous rod. The solution contained in the capillaries of the storage device impregnates the solid rod. Denisov patented his invention and called it “lekker” - from the words “medicinal marker”.

Of course, lateral marketing, as well as other traditional methods of swinging your consciousness, do not exclude each other, but only complement and strengthen. It is important to understand at the right moment that it is time to make a strategic decision.

Reference

Lateral (English) - lateral, transverse, directed to the side.

Lateral thinking is from the creative field, it is a method of non-standard approach and problem solving. The term itself (describing the principle of an entire scientific concept) was proposed in the late 1960s. Edward de Bono, now one of the world's most respected experts in the field of creativity, "management guru".

Five methodological tips from Edward de Bono

1. Get away from clichés and established thinking patterns.
2. Question what is acceptable.
3. Summarize alternatives.
4. Grab new ideas and see what happens.
5. Find new entry points from which you can push off.

Elena Butivshchenko, member of the Ukrainian Marketing Club, marketing director of the company “KONTUR-2001”

© E. Butivshchenko, 2008
© Published with the kind permission of the author

The second technology of creative marketing - lateral marketing - is creation of new products outside the existing market and product category on the principles of implementing lateral shifts in a sequential chain of logical thinking in the process of creating an idea about a new product.

Lateral thinking refers to the category of non-standard problem solving. A number of universal techniques of lateral thinking that allow one to overcome stereotypical problem solving were developed by E. de Bono. Logical, or vertical, as E. de Bono called it, thinking is built on many cliché elements - standard elements borrowed from other projects. Lateral thinking is directly related to intuition and creativity. And if the correctness of each step is a necessary condition for logical thinking, then with lateral thinking there is no particular need for this. Lateral thinking does not seek to create doubt for the sake of doubt, but emphasizes the need to transform stable images, updating them. The main task is to show that different ways of performing a particular function are possible. In this sense, group work on a project is useful, since then the existence of alternative options becomes more clear.

E. de Bono offers the following options for avoiding clichés:

• 1) “trimming” and dismemberment of cliché elements, i.e. removing everything unnecessary and unimportant;
• 2) abstraction and extraction - isolating and extracting the most essential part from a cliché element (the reverse operation of the previous one);
• 3) combination - combining cliché elements from several sources, resulting in a new element that has not previously been found anywhere.

Combination can be expressed in the simple addition of some functional unit or multiplication of functions, which can be considered as a cliché element. Functions differ in that they describe the purpose of objects in an ongoing process. Abstracting a function can help you find different ways to perform it or change your thinking about it.

E. de Bono called these different ways of working with cliché elements “the basis of any information processing system.”

The result lateral marketing is usually creation of new product categories and markets.

In table 6.6 provides a comparative description of classical (traditional) and lateral marketing.

Distinctive features

Table 6.6

Factors that determine distinctive features	Classical marketing	Lateral marketing
Conditions of use	Stages of growth and market entry	Stage of maturity and market saturation
Type of selected product strategy according to the degree of product renewal	Strategy of differentiation and variation	Strategy for creating fundamentally new products
Principles of technological design of the process of creating an idea for a new product	STP principles (segmentation, target segment selection, positioning)	Carrying out lateral shifts by placing an obstacle in the middle of a sequential chain of logical thinking, as a result of which the train of thought changes
The initial stage of creating a product idea	Consumer choice to create a product to meet his specific needs	Selecting a product to change its vision
The result of the technological process of product renewal	New products within the base market and (or) product category
Intensity of competition resulting from renewal strategy	The intensity of competition and market saturation are increasing	Instead of capturing part of the market, new markets free from competition are created

In its most general form, the lateral method of creating new products can be described as follows: a product is taken and completely transformed to satisfy a new need or a new consumption situation that was not previously considered for this product.

What is the technology of lateral marketing proposed by F. Kotler and F.T. de Bezaume?

Here's how they defined the following main stages of lateral marketing:

• 1) selection of the focus in relation to which the lateral shift will be carried out;
• 2) provoking lateral shear to generate a rupture;
• 3) thinking about ways to bridge the gap.

As noted above (see Table 6.6), the initial stage of creating an idea about a product is the choice of a product as an object of attention, and this again violates the creative logic of classical marketing. The focus of a product can be any of its components (any component of the product’s marketing mix). The object of lateral shift (focus) can be, for example, any characteristic of a product or any component of a sales policy, promotion policy, etc.

Lateral shift is a non-standard form of thinking. For example, when making a shift in focus “fabric - material for covering”, you need to imagine the situation “fabric - material not for covering”. Or another example: “a coating material is created by weaving threads” is transformed into “a material created not by weaving threads”, but by looping. In this case, by means of negation, we end up with a new product category related to fabric - knitted fabric. Perhaps this is exactly how the creation of new textile production technologies (non-woven, knitted) went at one time, and in the future new ones will be born. Proposals to create a material using looping technology or an adhesive method are the third stage of lateral marketing - thinking about ways to connect the gap that occurred as a result of substituting a negation particle. How can one provoke non-standard thinking, i.e. create a break in the logical chain? To do this, F. Kotler suggests the following six methods:

• 1) replacement - situations of product consumption, composition of raw materials, production technology, payment terms, conditions of sales and promotion of goods, etc.;
• 2) inversion - changing the meaning by turning it over or rearranging words in the purpose of the product, the conditions for its acquisition and consumption, etc.;
• 3) Union- consumers, products, distribution channels, etc.;
• 4) hyperbolization - exaggeration or understatement of utility, consumption size, after-sales service, etc.;
• 5) exception - utility, one or more elements of a product, means of communication, etc.;
• 6) reorganization - changing the sequence of utility elements, goods, means of communication.

When using any of the above methods for creating lateral shifts, a mandatory condition that must be met is presence of a gap in a chain of logical judgments, i.e. distortion, change of meaning. Otherwise, the policy of innovation will be carried out in the field of existing product categories and markets.

The main directions of possible changes in the commodity policy of enterprises in this case will be the following:

• 1) change in need - an attempt to provide for a different utility of the product;
• 2) change of purpose - the choice of those consumers who were not the potential target market for a product or service;
• 3) change of time - selection of new moments of purchase, use or consumption to which the company’s offer can be adjusted;
• 4) a change of place is a change in the point of purchase, area of ​​use or consumption where the product or service is not currently used;
• 5) change of circumstances means offering events and activities where the product was not previously considered;
• 6) change in type of activity or work experience.

Let's give an example. Changing circumstances: applying holiday symbols to textiles made it possible to offer them as souvenirs. Change of purpose: Potential buyers of textile materials use them as covering or insulating materials. The appeal not to the target audience - designers - changed the need, provided for a new usefulness of textile materials - their use for decorating premises and gave birth to a new product category - interior textiles.

Changes at the market level can lead to changes at the product level. An example of product inversion: replacing “freshly made pizza” with “not just made pizza” led to the idea of ​​frozen pizza, which created additional markets for pizza makers. An example of reorganization: first a purchase (payment for goods), then incentives through a system of discounts (cumulative discount cards). An example of packaging exaggeration: fifty-liter bottles of water gave rise to the idea of ​​​​using them as water fountains, equipped with taps and placed on stands in the middle of offices, etc.

The ideas of lateral shifts may sometimes seem nonsensical, but they are thought provoking and should be practiced. Non-standard and original solutions are especially welcome in this approach, since they allow us to create a new category of goods and markets.

Current page: 1 (book has 11 pages total) [available reading passage: 3 pages]

Philip Kotler, Fernando de Bes

Lateral marketing: technology for searching for revolutionary ideas

Edward de Bono

and to all creative geniuses.

Philip Kotler

To the three main women in my life:

my mother Toya,

to my wife Maria del Mar

and my daughter Blanca.

Fernando Trias de Bes

Editor M. Sukhanova

Project Manager M. Shalunova

Technical editor N. Lisitsyna

Corrector E. Aksenova

Computer layout M. Potashkin, Y. Yusupova

© Philip Kotler and Fernando Trias de Bes, 2003

© Publication in Russian, translation, design. Alpina Publisher LLC, 2010

All rights reserved. No part of the electronic copy of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including posting on the Internet or corporate networks, for private or public use without the written permission of the copyright owner.

Introduction

These days, the percentage of new products that are doomed to fail on the market has increased incredibly. Even 20 years ago the picture was more favorable. Why has it become so difficult for new products to make their way?

Let's try to consider the range of possibilities available today and draw conclusions.

For example, in the breakfast cereal category there are dozens of subcategories and varieties addressed to different consumer groups. Special cereal flakes are produced for those who are watching their weight and for those who need fiber to improve digestion; for those who like the taste of fruit, chocolate, honey, and for those who are interested in the shape of the product (flakes, stars, rings, etc.). Could there possibly be a type of breakfast cereal that is not yet represented among this plethora of offerings?

In the dairy products category, more than fifty different yogurts compete with each other on store shelves. We will find here plain and vanilla yoghurts, with pureed fruit and with pieces of fruit, low-fat and completely fat-free, as well as mousses. Is further increase in diversity conceivable?

In any developed country there are several dozen television channels, although just ten years ago their number rarely exceeded three or four. Is there any room for growth in this market?

Out of ten sales promotions, only one leads to an increase in demand by more than 5%, whereas several years ago this was the minimum achieved by almost any promotion. Why?

Marketing today is a far cry from the marketing of the 1960s or 1970s. There are products on the market to satisfy almost every need. Demand is not just saturated - it is satiated.

In most developed markets, strategic marketing fundamentals (i.e., segmentation, targeting, and positioning) are beginning to lose their effectiveness as mechanisms for generating competitive advantage that could be developed into business expansion opportunities and new products.

Companies can further segment the market using ever finer differences, but the end result of this process is markets so small that they are unprofitable to serve. The need for a fundamentally new approach to creating meaningful market offerings is becoming increasingly clear. We've reached a turning point where marketing needs a radical overhaul of its idea generation system.

Lately we have seen the emergence of business concepts that were developed not through endless vertical segmentation, the technique of yesterday, but through some other creative process.

How did the concept of a cereal bar that you can eat in the morning instead of breakfast cereal with milk come about?

What creative process led to the idea of ​​setting up supermarkets at gas stations?

How did you come up with frozen pizza that could replace fresh pizza delivered to your home?

What line of thought led to the invention of a chocolate bar with a toy inside?

What system was used to generate the idea of ​​yogurt that a working woman could put in her purse and eat in the office in the morning?

The most successful marketing ideas are based on a paradigm that does not boil down to simply defining your market and then endlessly segmenting it or repositioning the product. Real breakthroughs start in lateral thinking and based on it lateral marketing.

The purpose of this book is to define the basic concepts and formulate the theory of lateral marketing - the opposite approach to vertical marketing. Edward de Bono, a world-renowned expert on creative thinking, recommends lateral thinking as an ideal way to generate new ideas. We believe that now, when classical marketing thinking no longer works as successfully as before, it is very important for companies to develop non-standard approaches to solving marketing problems.

We are not talking about abandoning classic marketing, not at all. Existing marketing theories still play a critical role. Our task is to offer a broader view of the possibilities of marketing thinking, allowing us not to be limited to the strictly sequential logical procedure on which modern marketing is based.

Adopting lateral thinking as an additional platform for discovering new marketing ideas will allow you to generate ideas entirely on your own, rather than in response to consumer wishes expressed directly by consumers or extracted by researchers from survey data. These new ideas will help the company better cope with the increasing uniformity of products and the problem of hyper-competition.

Evolution of markets and development of competition

The last decades of the twentieth century. were successful for most companies in developed countries. This was facilitated by political stability, steady demographic growth and an increase in life expectancy. The improvement of marketing mechanisms also played a significant role here. Marketing departments could spend large sums of money developing and introducing new products, educating and informing consumers to persuade them to trial, repurchase and build brand loyalty.

But at the beginning of the 21st century. success has become more difficult. Why? Below we will look at the main reasons for this.

1.1. Concentration in the distribution of consumer goods

In the 1950s In the USA and Europe, distribution of consumer goods was mainly carried out by small independent firms. Today, as a result of the emergence of innovative distributors such as Wal-Mart or Ikea, as well as mergers and acquisitions, this business is increasingly concentrated in the hands of giant corporations, many of them international. Hyper- and supermarket chains control more than 80% of food retail trade. Another significant share of the food market belongs to large franchise food chains - McDonald's, KFC, Subway, Domino's Pizza. A similar picture is observed in all industries.

Thus, power shifted from producers to distributors. The distributor manages the shelf space and decides which manufacturers to cooperate with and how much space to allocate to each of them. He charges distribution fees, commission fees, and actually imposes the terms of sale and promotions he wants on manufacturers.

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Distributors are responding to change by focusing their business. Distribution channels are concentrated in the hands of a relatively small number of companies with enormous power.

1.2. Reducing the number of competitors while significantly increasing the number of brands

Many manufacturers could not withstand the onslaught of retail giants and either disappeared or were swallowed up by the “sharks” of their industry. Although there were significantly fewer manufacturing companies as a result, they continued to introduce new brands to the market, and in ever increasing numbers. Table 1.1 shows the growth in the number of registered brands in the three countries between 1975 and 2000.

Table 1.1. Registered brands in the US, UK and Germany from 1975 to 2000.

The increase in the number of brands is due to three factors:

1. The need to adapt products to the specific needs of certain segments (consumer groups) and even niches (small groups), resulting from segmentation strategies.

2. Reduce vulnerability. The more brands a company has, the more difficult it is for competitors to attack it. It is much harder to beat many brands at once than just one that dominates a given category. In addition, the atomization of the market prevents new competitors from entering them.

3. A large portfolio of brands strengthens the position of the manufacturer in negotiations with the distributor. A high discount offered on one brand is offset by a low discount on another.

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Multinational companies and corporations are gaining strength. There are fewer players, but more brands.

1.3. Reduced product life cycle

Time to market for new products has been significantly reduced. Why?

Firstly, it has now become easier for companies to introduce new brands to the market, especially if they have idle production capacity. They can change the product's ingredients, additives, features, design, or packaging with minimal changes to the manufacturing process, planning to recoup all development costs within the first year of sales and hoping that the product will remain profitable for several more years.

Second, consumers' willingness to try new brands advertised to them is growing. They will easily abandon their previous brand for a new one that they like better. But, disappointed in this new brand, they will just as easily abandon it.

Thirdly, the situation in consumer markets is similar to an arms race. Each new brand takes away sales from existing ones. Companies whose brands have suffered are also forced to release new brands, since they have no other way to restore their position. In response, other competitors will release even newer products, and so on in the cycle.

In hypermarkets, new brands are taking up more shelf space, and the resulting competition is fierce. Manufacturers are moving from brand management to category management to make better use of the limited space available to them.

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Bringing new brands to market is becoming cheaper. The speed at which new brands are introduced is currently increasing, and the lifespan of new products on the market is decreasing.

1.4. Cheaper to replace than to repair

Durable goods don't last as long as they used to. If a device breaks, it is usually easier to replace it with a newer model than to repair it. Consider the following examples.

A new laser printer costs approximately $180 and can be delivered within one day. Repairing your existing printer will cost almost $120 and take about two weeks. Does it make sense to repair an old printer, especially since it may break again?

A new electric razor costs less than $60, and you pick it up right after you make your purchase. To repair an old razor, you will have to pay about $100 and wait two to three weeks. Any workshop will recommend you buy a new razor.

It is often cheaper, faster and easier to buy a new product than to repair an old one. The result has been a culture in which durable goods are viewed as disposable. If, for example, previously VCRs and televisions lasted 7–8 years, now they are replaced every 2–3 years. Because of this, the frantic release of new products is intensifying.

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The manufacturing process is so efficient that replacing a product becomes cheaper than repairing it. This spurs the release of new products.

1.5. The revolution brought about by digitalization

Today, everything can be translated into zeros and ones: images, sounds, voice, text and data. Everything is reproducible. True, we do not yet know how to digitize smell and taste, but this is apparently only a matter of time.

Digital technologies have led to the emergence of a whole range of new products: computers, interactive TVs, PDAs, digital phones, smart dishwashers, microwave ovens, toasters, etc. Technology extends to the simplest products: books are produced with sound, and dolls sing two dozen melodies. Satellite positioning systems have made it possible to create a number of new services, such as searching for stolen cars, missing people and animals.

Finally, there is the Internet, which provides virtually free contact between millions of people and each other. The Internet's revolution in information, consumption and communications continues; We are only at the initial stage.

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The digital era has made it possible to create a number of new products and services. Advances in technology increase the pace of innovation and the number of new products. The Internet contributes to the emergence of new brands and forms of doing business.

1.6. Increase in the number of trademarks and patents

More and more new products are being created to replace products that have only been on the market for a short time. As technology improves, new products are further upgraded. During the 1990s. The number of annual filings with the US Patent and Trademark Office has nearly doubled. It becomes difficult to register a five letter (or shorter) product name as most of these letter combinations are already taken.

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The increase in patents and trademarks has led to increased competition in markets.

1.7. Increased diversity within product categories

Go to the supermarket and write down the names of all the yoghurts that you can buy there, dividing them by taste and packaging. There will likely be more than 50 varieties of yogurt on your list: plain, sweet, vanilla, with fruit pieces, assorted flavors, low-fat, low-fat, yogurt mousse, etc.

Take a look at any automobile magazine and count how many different types (variants) of cars and brands are mentioned there: station wagons, minivans, SUVs, small cars, diesel and non-diesel, three-, four- and five-door, with different engine power. There are currently more than 450 models and brands of cars on sale in Spain.

Look through the Yellow Pages and adult education brochures in your area and make a list of all types of amateur courses. If a few years ago courses were mainly offered in European languages, drawing, dance, music and some sports, today there are also rarer varieties - tai chi, acupuncture, Japanese and Arabic and much more.

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1.8. Hyperfragmentation of markets

In the pursuit of differentiation, companies continually identify and create new segments and niches, leading to highly fragmented markets. The logical conclusion of this process is a market with completely individualized products and marketing, unique to each individual consumer. It has become very difficult for companies to find market segments that provide high ROI. The release of each new product only slightly increases profits; there is no significant growth. Profits are “spread” across the market in an increasingly thin layer.

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Markets are fragmented into small niches that are less profitable.

1.9. Saturation and fragmentation of advertising distribution channels

The average resident of a large city receives about 2,000 advertising and information messages every day, of which only a few linger in memory until the end of the day. Advertising, once the most effective mechanism for creating a brand and promoting new products, is threatened by its own development: the more there is, the less attention it attracts.

Today, it is not easy for a brand manager launching a new brand of chocolate to communicate this event so that the information is taken into account by potential buyers. More recently, he could have counted on the fact that after advertising was shown on a limited number of TV channels that were watched by the majority of the population, several million people would decide to try the chocolate bar. Now anyone who might be interested in an offer can watch any of a hundred TV channels, listen to any of two hundred radio stations, read any of a thousand magazines. In addition, many TV viewers have the habit of switching to another channel during commercial breaks, and some do not watch TV at all - they sit at the computer or go somewhere to play sports or have fun. The media consumption habits of modern audiences are very diverse, and in order to convey their information to them, companies must use many media and advertising distribution channels at once. This may result in excessive advertising costs.

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1.10. Reducing the impact on consumer consciousness

From what was said in the previous section, it is clear how little chance advertisers have of gaining a place in the minds of consumers. It feels like “mission impossible.”

Consumers have become incredibly picky about both products and their advertising. They ignore the bulk of advertising, not believing that they are missing something important. They learned to look and not see, to listen and not hear.

Walk into a doctor's office and watch someone looking at a magazine while waiting in line. Although such a reader may encounter more than four dozen advertisements along the way, he or she clearly reads only a few of them. It only takes half a second to skip an ad.

The problem for the advertiser lies not only in the huge number of competing products, brands and advertising, but also in the fundamental closedness of consumer consciousness to commercial communications. A brand that does not have novelty or special qualities will be ignored. To overcome this attitude, companies advertise their products with claims that they are “new”, “improved”, “new taste”, “more natural”, etc. These are all attempts to attract the attention of consumers by “breaking through”. » saturation of consciousness with the help of novelty.

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Consumers have become picky. They are increasingly ignoring commercial communications. Maybe the only way to get their attention is through novelty.

Conclusion: competition in markets has increased significantly.

Modern marketing is more complex than ever. This doesn't mean there weren't problems before, just that the problems today are completely different. The challenge now is to combat the extreme fragmentation, saturation, and storm of new products entering the markets every day (see Figure 1.1).

Rice. 1.1. Problems of modern marketing

These thoughts lead us to an obvious and straightforward conclusion: if (1) innovation and new products are the core of competitive strategy, and (2) among new products only a small percentage succeed, shouldn't it be a priority to find ways to create and launch more successful products? In fact, this is one of the main tasks lateral marketing.

We start with an idea for a new product. The process of its emergence will be analyzed in the second chapter.

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Summary

Innovation is the key and basis of modern competitive strategies. New products are brought to market with extraordinary speed, but a significant proportion of attempts fail. To survive, it is absolutely necessary to understand the modern innovation process. To do this, we will break down the marketing process into its components, analyze it, and determine what kind of innovation it can provide.

Strengths and weaknesses of traditional marketing thinking

Below we take a quick look at the basics of traditional marketing thinking and note its strengths and weaknesses in today's environment. This will allow us to further understand how lateral marketing differs from traditional marketing, and learn how to simultaneously apply both complementary ways of thinking.