What is lateral marketing and how to apply it in a company

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In a context of crisis, where consumer distrust is growing , resources are decreasing, and sales channels are becoming saturated, companies are fine-tuning their strategies to try to escape the noise. This is an ideal growth context for lateral marketing .

The technique devised more than a decade ago is now resurfacing among analysts and experts as an appropriate solution to generate the value that fragile markets need .

Today in MÁSMÓVIL Negocios we go over the principles of lateral marketing , an approach that crosses innovation with traditional promotional precepts, to deconstruct businesses without the need for new resources .

What is lateral marketing for SMEs and freelancers?
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What is lateral marketing?
To understand what lateral marketing is , you first need to know mexico number data what lateral thinking is. In 1967, psychologist Edward de Bono came up with this concept in his book "Using Lateral Thinking . "

In it he defined a type of deductive process that seeks solutions to problems without following the logical guidelines normally used. That is, it seeks alternative paths to resolution based on creativity and avoiding preconceived ideas .

The steps that define lateral thinking are consistent with its definition:

Verification of assumptions or facts assumed by nature.
Formulation of the most appropriate question(s), going from the general to the specific.
Approach problems creatively to see them from different perspectives.
Apply logic.


As you can see, this is a circular methodology, which deviates from the traditional path to end up at the same conclusion point. And this is what Philip Kotler and Fernando Trías borrowed to create lateral marketing in 2004.

This technique is nothing more than the translation of de Bono's technique into the field of marketing , putting forward a series of particularities specific to the sector itself.

" Marketing today is more complicated than ever," the authors explained at the time of publication . " The challenge now is to combat fragmentation, saturation and the avalanche of new developments that appear every day in the markets in which we compete ."



How does it work?
Although theory states that lateral marketing is only useful in saturated or hyper-fragmented markets , the effects of the crisis lead to a situation in which any business can see the set of promises that emerge from the methodology as satisfactory.

In a context like the current one, opportunity costs multiply exponentially , leading thousands of companies to not make investments that would be vital for their growth in the short and medium term.

What lateral marketing proposes is to avoid the practice of the well-known "line extensions" , that is, expansions of product ranges through vertical or traditional marketing techniques .

When innovation is the only alternative to closure , resource optimization becomes crucial, and Kotler and Trías' idea is based mainly on that; the reuse and modification of already available resources .



Step by step
Although each case must be addressed taking into account non-generalizable details, the authors outline a series of steps to follow in order to develop a lateral marketing strategy .



Identification and questioning
You should always start by choosing a product or service . It can be your own or someone else's, in order to better understand your competition or take advantage of ideas that they have not exploited. The choice is crucial, because if you do it wrong, it can ruin your strategy.

For a company, however, it is usually easy to detect which products are selling less well . All you have to do is check the accounts to see where the biggest capital flight is taking place. That will be the target on which to act.

Once the product has been chosen, an approach must be chosen . This will lead to the more general questions that will gradually bring us closer to the specifics.