Aceda chief executive Suzy Teele told a Business Day gathering at Indiana University of Pennsylvania recently that the core problem for any business is how to get and keep customers. Citing "Marketing Imagination" author Ted Levitt, former chairman of the marketing department at Harvard Business School, she said in her keynote address, "The purpose of a business is to create and keep a customer." The way that is done is through a marketing strategy.

"Marketing has, in some cases, evolved into developing obscure, trendy, artsy, obtuse messages that do more to feed the egos of the agency and the CEO than motivate a customer to buy," she said. "Somewhere along the way, we forgot that the purpose of a business is to create and keep a customer."

Teele has three marketing strategies:

Know thy customer: "Know everything about the person or business that is most likely to buy your product or service and then communicate directly to [him, her or it]," she said. "Many companies make the mistake of ... throwing a bunch of spaghetti on the wall to see what sticks. It's a huge waste of money. And because the company doesn't know its customer, it can't craft a compelling message about its product."

Be Unique. "Consumers or businesses purchase for only two reasons," she said. "To solve a problem or to fulfill a need. It could be a basic need like water or a need for something that's not needed but desired, like a soft drink. The bottom line is this: The product that is perceived to be the best at fulfilling the need or desire of a buyer, which is within or near an expected price range, is the one that is purchased."

The perception of a "best" product is achieved through positioning and branding, Teele added. This requires succinctly describing the unique value of your solution in a way that appeals most to your target audience and separates you from the competition. It isn't easy, but it's essential.

"Effective positioning leads to the most important thing that a marketing person should do, which is build a brand," she said.

Build your brand. A brand, says Teele, is an image or word that comes to mind when you hear a word. A brand also is a promise that the product will perform as expected.

"The most important impact of a brand is to shorten the sales cycle," she said. "This is critical because the cost of sales in many industries is the single largest expense that a business incurs. "

Doing business in China

A delegation of Chinese business and government officials recently had to cancel their CEO Club speaking engagement on doing business in China because of the SARS virus scare. In their place, a panel of local experts on Chinese trade pinch-hit at the May 6 event.

"The SARS situation is pretty bad -- in fact it's horrible, horrible," said Chinese native Heidi Zhang, an international law attorney with law firm Cohen & Grigsby in Pittsburgh, referring to the form of pneumonia called severe acute respiratory syndrome. Assuming SARS is brought under control, she said, Chinese businesspeople are eager to conduct business globally.

"Chinese companies are very aggressive -- they'll come to you," Zhang said. "I've seen many companies here with a special piece of technology. Then the Chinese companies hear about it and seek it out."

Adds Kevin Coleman, former chief strategist for Netscape and now senior fellow with an executive think tank in McMurray called the Technolytics Institute: "It's a significant market for the U.S. In 2012 to 2015, it will become the largest economic engine in the world."

Coleman says China's GDP in 2003 is estimated at $1.3 trillion with a growth rate of 8 percent in 2002. Its population is estimated at close to 2 billion people. But while such a figure doesn't automatically translate into a huge market opportunity for U.S. companies, consider that at least 16 million Chinese currently are using the Internet, up from close to 4 million in 1999.

Of that group, an estimated 44 percent are accessing the Internet from their homes. Forty-seven percent are connected at the office. Moreover, the Chinese are expected to spend roughly $3.8 billion in e-commerce this year.

Direct communication is important when trying to do business with China, Coleman said: "There is nothing that replaces face-to-face communication with the Chinese. That is so important. Take the time and spend the extra money."

"If you don't follow up, they won't continue contact with you," Zhang added. "You need to contact them."