Introduction

The productization and marketing are essential aspects of any economic activity, and tourism and the blue economy are no exception. In this topic, the concepts of productization and marketing are discussed in the blue economy as well as the challenges and opportunities that arise. 

Productization makes your services more attractive to prospects. It smooths the service journey from sales pitch to final delivery and makes your business more profitable. And it does so in a way that requires minimal effort. One important productized service would be marketing as it makes branding offerings easily obtainable by creating a neat package that encompasses a brand strategy, logo design, brand name, messaging development, website design and possibly a specified number of templates for emails and landing pages.  

Therefore, marketing is important for your business as it also makes the customers aware of your products or services, engages them, and helps them make the buying decision. With  a marketing plan, it will help your business in creating and maintaining demand, relevance, reputation, competition, etc.  

In consequence, as productization and marketing has a pivotal role to play in making your business a huge success, without understanding the importance of them, it may be a little challenging to manage and run a profitable business in today’s world. To understand the importance of productization and marketing for your business and why it is needed, we need first to explore what is the meaning of both of them. 

The main aims of this Bite Size unit are: 

• Understand what productization and marketing are, and learn how they both interconnect in small businesses. 
• Learn the basics of marketing to create value for your (potential) target 
• Be able to put into value the main elements of marketing. 

THEORETICAL INFORMATION 

Productization 

“Productize” refers to the process of developing or altering a process, idea, skill, or service to make it marketable for sale to the public. Productization involves taking a skill or service that has been used internally and developing into a standard, fully-tested, packaged, and marketed product. 

Productization does not necessarily involve a physical good. Productization can involve taking a capability, intellectual capital, or knowledge and transforming it into a product or service to offer to customers. 

In terms of the blue economy, productization involves developing new products and services that make use of the resources and opportunities provided by the ocean. For example, companies in the aquaculture sector may develop new types of fish feed or innovative fish farming systems that increase production efficiency and reduce costs. Or companies in tourism might come up with a new experiential service for visitors. 

Productization in the blue economy communities is also closely linked to sustainability. As the ocean  is a finite resource, and maritime resources have a huge variety of business applications, it is important to develop products and services that are environmentally friendly and do not contribute to the depletion of marine resources. For example, the development of sustainable fishing practices and the use of renewable energy sources in offshore wind farms are both examples of productization in the blue economy that prioritize sustainability. You can learn more on green practices toward a more respectful relationship with the environment within the “Green Approach” area of knowledge. 

To productize a blue economy-related business, the following steps can be helpful: 

• Identify your target market: Determine the potential customers for your (new) product/service. It could be other businesses (B2B) or consumers (B2C). 

• Develop a product concept: Create a clear and compelling product concept that addresses a specific need or problem within the blue economy space. This could be a physical product, a digital platform or a service. 

• Conduct market research: Conduct market research to understand the demand and competition for your product. Identify the key players in the market and their offerings. 

• Develop a business plan: Develop a comprehensive business plan that includes financial projections, marketing strategies, and operations plans. 

• Secure funding: Identify potential sources of funding to support the development and launch of your product. This could include government grants, venture capital, or crowdfunding. If you wish to learn more about the latter, we invite you to go over the “Crowdfunding” Bite Size. 

• Build a team: Assemble a team with the necessary skills and expertise to develop, launch, and scale your blue economy product. 

• Develop and test the product: Build a prototype of your product and test it with potential customers to gather feedback and refine the product. 

• Launch the product: Launch your product in the market and promote it through various marketing channels. 

• Monitor and evaluate: Continuously monitor and evaluate the performance of your product and make adjustments as necessary to improve its effectiveness. 

By following these steps, you can successfully productize a business/product/service and create a sustainable and profitable venture. 

However, micro-entrepreneurs who work alone typically lack not just knowledge and skills, but also time, which is a critical resource for planning. As a result, new forms of foresight support in micro-entrepreneur enterprises are necessary, such as co-creation and coaching as part of the foresight process. 

More on co-creation on our “Co-creation” BIte Size. 

Marketing 

Marketing is the process of identifying, anticipating, and satisfying customer needs and wants through the creation, promotion, and distribution of products and services. 

Marketing as a discipline involves all the actions a company undertakes to draw in customers and maintain relationships with them. At its most basic level, marketing seeks to match a company’s products and services to customers who want access to those products. Matching products to customers ultimately ensures profitability.  

In the blue economy, marketing is particularly important as it is a relatively new and emerging sector, and many consumers are not yet familiar with the products and services on offer. 

One of the key challenges in marketing blue economy products and services is raising awareness among consumers about the potential benefits of these products and services. For example, consumers may not be aware of the health benefits of seafood, or they may be hesitant to try new products that they are unfamiliar with. Marketing campaigns that emphasize the health benefits of seafood or highlight the sustainability of certain products can help to increase consumer awareness and drive sales.  

Source: https://www.sketchbubble.com/en/presentation-importance-of-marketing.htm l    

In today’s digital world, it is of huge importance to take into account digital & social media marketing, as nowadays it’s an element that has the ability to drive brand awareness, customer engagement, and business growth. 

Social medias like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest have a vast reach and targeting capabilities if you know how to take advantage of it. 

In order to implement your social media marketing strategy effectively, you need to create a social media marketing plan where first, you have to choose your platform that align with your target audience, industry trends, and your available resources; then, you should set your goals and objectives, such as posting once a day for a month, setting up your profiles, or conducting a competitive analysis. As you gain insights and establish a routine, you can establish more specific and strategic objectives. Finally, you should use the analytics provided by each social media platform to assess the performance of your posts, measure engagement levels, track follower growth, and understand your audience demographics. Identify which types of posts generate the most engagement and discard those that aren’t effective.  

By following these steps and consistently monitoring and adapting your social media marketing plan, you can optimize your efforts and achieve better results over time. For more information about this type of marketing, look forward to our “Digital Marketing & Using social media for marketing purposes” Bite Size. 

Marketing Mix 

In the 1950s, Neil Borden popularized the Four Ps (place, pricing, product, and promotion) and the concept of the marketing mix. 

They cover a wide range of aspects that are taken into account when marketing a product, such as what consumers want, how the good or service satisfies or doesn’t satisfy those wants, how the good or service is perceived in society, how it distinguishes itself from the competition, and how the business that makes it engages with its clients. These elements make up the fundamental combination a business needs to market a good or service.  

1. Product 

A product is an item (or goods) that a company intends to sell to clients. The product should aim to fill a gap in the market or satisfy consumer demand for more of an item that is already on the market. Marketers must comprehend the product being offered, how it differs from its rivals, whether it can be combined with another product or product line, and whether there are any alternatives on the market before they can create an effective campaign.  

Your responsibility, as marketer, is to describe the product and its benefits to the customer and communicate it properly. Distribution of the product depends on its definition as well. 

Moreover, you must be as well aware of the life cycle of a product, with a strategy for dealing with products at every point of their life cycle. 

Bear in mind that when referring to “product” service may also apply. 

2. Price 

Pricing is the amount that the business will charge for the good. Companies must take the unit cost pricing, marketing charges, and distribution costs into account when setting a price. 

Businesses must also take into account the cost of rival products on the market and determine whether the price they are proposing is a viable alternative for customers. 

3. Place 

Place takes into account both the product’s availability and the manner in which it will be displayed, with the main goal of always striving to put the product/service in front of customers who are most inclined to purchase them. 

This entails placing a product only at selected retailers and ensuring that it is attractively displayed, in terms of product for the mass market. 

The term “placement” also refers to marketing a product in the appropriate media to attract the interest of potential customers.  

4. Promotion 

Promotion is the integrated marketing communications campaign. Advertising, selling, sales promotions, public relations, direct marketing, sponsorship, and guerilla marketing are just a few examples of the many activities that make up promotion. As for the last option, it is a marketing tactic in which a company uses surprise and/or unconventional interactions in order to promote a product or service. 

Depending on where a product is in its life cycle, several promotions are available. 

When developing the entire marketing plan, you need to be aware that consumers tend to equate a product’s cost and availability with its quality. 

Source: https://www.campaignmonitor.com/resources/knowledge-base/what-are-the-4-ps-of-marketing/  

As an entrepreneur who is starting a business, it is important to get professional help, as there will be many areas where you do not have expertise. That’s why with the help of an expert, things will move forward much more easily and your chances of success will dramatically improve. 

In addition, when possible, it is best for you to hire an agency to create your brand identity, but it is best not to hire one to manage your social media marketing from the start. Individual specialists who have mastered the various marketing platforms and can take control of each vertical should be hired. 

In a worldwide market, you can find specialists that are both inexpensive and productive. Or, in case you can provide some value for them, you can generate win-win situation with some professionals in your ecosystem.

Sectorial info

Examples and Case Studies 

• Zero Emission Services 
• Cádiz Atlántica 
• Blue Growth 
• Navigator Travel & Tourist Services Ltd 
• Travelotopos 
• Greek Travel Pages 
• BIM – Bord Iascaigh Mhara 
• Failte Ireland 
• Sustainable Travel Finland 
• Hotel Kakola 
• Panthos – Deporte de Ocio Inclusivo en Espacios Naturales 
• Garganta de los Infiernos: actividades en la naturaleza 
• Cádiz Atlántica 
• Fáilte Ireland

Additional resources 

• De Pino, F. (2023, March 30). Marketing for hospitality and tourism – 10 tips to stand out. Mediaboom. Retrieved from https://mediaboom.com/news/marketing-for-hospitality-and-tourism/#:~:text=Marketing%20for%20hospitality%20and%20tourism%20is%20the%20network%20of%20strategies,customer%20services%20and%20memorable%20experiences  
• Kenton, W. (2023, January 30). Productize. Investopedia. Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/productize.asp#:~:text=What%20Is%20Productize%3F,%2C%20packaged%2C%20and%20marketed%20product  
• Social Media Marketing for Businesses. (2023, February 21). WordStream. Retrieved from https://www.wordstream.com/social-media-marketing  
• Twin, A. (2023, March 20). Marketing in business: Strategies and types explained. Investopedia. Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/marketing.asp  
• Twin, A. (2023, March 28). The 4 PS of Marketing and how to use them in your strategy. Investopedia. Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/four-ps.asp  

• van Leeuwen, M. (2021, October 7). Productized services grow profits & Scale Your Business. VOGSY. Retrieved from https://www.vogsy.com/blog/productization/  
• What is the importance of marketing for business?: Emeritus India. Emeritus. (2023, March 27). Retrieved from https://emeritus.org/in/learn/what-is-the-importance-of-marketing-for-business/#:~:text=It%20makes%20the%20customers%20aware,%2C%20reputation%2C%20competition%2C%20etc  

Further Readings: 

• Blue Economy Promotional and Marketing Strategy/Plan 
• HOW TO MARKET BLUE ECONOMY FROM THE SOUTH BALTIC SEA REGION?