While I was browsing external blogs from other classes, Raza Razi‘s blog “Marketing – How Effective Can an Idea Be” caught my eye.  In his blog, he praised the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge due to its low cost and effective marketing strategy.

Smaller corporations often have trouble competing with the larger-scale corporations, but I agree with Raza that there are inexpensive ways for ideas to stand out and gain a point of difference in the consumers’ mind.  There are millions of products on the market, so product differentiation isn’t always possible.  What the companies can do is to market the same product in a way that it has never been thought of before in order to achieve a sort of illusion of product differentiation.  An effective advertisement can trick consumers into thinking that they “need” the product that the company is selling.  Unfortunately, and fortunately, low-budget and unique marketing ideas are often a hit or miss.

In the case of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, a simple idea raised over 100 million dollars!  I think that there is an abundance of clever marketing ideas in this day and age, but it takes more than that to succeed.  Good timing, a clear understanding of the market, endorsements from the right people, and a bit of luck are all essential ingredients for an marketing strategy to be effective.