The "X" Factor in Marketing

I have been living in a suburb called Kingsford since the first time I came to Australia. This is not the most beautiful suburb in Sydney however as a student I found it very convenient to live in Kingsford. It is only ten minutes away from the University of New South Wales (UNSW). Therefore, this suburb is packed by a lot of different international restaurants and students.

In Australia it is very common to see local bars and pubs in each and every suburb. Australians are very familiar with alcoholic beverages, particularly beer. Therefore, drinking beer with the companion of a couple of friends will be a regular routine in Australia.

There is an interesting phenomenon of a local bar called Churchill’s bar. I assume this bar has been established for a substantial period of time. Therefore, it should have a strong locality exposure and brand in the area. However, the reality showed an interesting contradictory. Approximately four years ago this bar was practically sleeping even during the weekends. The locals somehow prefer to go to the city and enjoy the better designed and more luxurious bars.

Until approximately June 2006, when the last world cup was on, this bar started to wake up from the long time sleep. At the same time Australia went into the world cup for the first time in the last 32 years. Therefore, a lot of Australians were involved in supporting their beloved country in the world cup. The bar was practically crowded from midnight until 7 o’clock in the morning.

After the world cup, the bar started to be diligent in advertising itself in the local newspaper and create a lot of different events in order to attract the locals. Moreover, approximately in the beginning of June 2007 this bar renovated the venue and becomes even more attractive and convenient. Somehow it is always more crowded than some years ago every time I pass the bar.

I realize this example exhibits the luck factor in marketing which sometimes is equally important in business. However, it is the management ability to sustain the good time after the luck is also important in order to wake the sleeping brand up. As I stated before the suburb is packed with a lot of international residents. The bar even advertised in the international magazines in different languages. They start to realize that their market is no longer limited to the local Australians.

A friend of mine told me that success is a combination of luck, courage in taking risk, and the great level of competency. Do you believe it? Let us discuss this “X” factor in marketing.

MarketingFirst

David Herlambang