Sir Isaac Newton defines demand creation thus: Everybody continues in its state of rest, or of uniform motion in a straight line, unless it is compelled to change that state by forces impressed upon it.

Customers are normally in a state of rest with no awareness of a new opportunity or internal problem and they must be influenced to change that state.

Demand creation is about moving from a reactive to proactive approach. If this is done correctly, it would be difficult for the competition to compete.

Demand creation is nothing but a process to achieve the desired state and to acquire a pre-defined market share for a product and / or service offerings. Demand creation isn’t a single event; it is a series of events, which must be consistently driven and supported.

Well. Demand Creation in the Google search produced about 11,100,000 results. I was surprised. Thinking about the definition spelt above, I assumed the process of demand creation could ideally involve the following steps.

Step 1 – Dream – One may need to dream passionately about one’s product and / or services, what are their specific features and capabilities that can produce desired value-ads.

Step 2 – Desire – From such dreams one may develop a deep desire to meet the unmet needs of the market place by exploiting the value-ads.

Step 3 – Define – In this step, one may define the value-adds very clearly and bring out how best these value-ads can meet the unmet needs of the market place. This is a very important crystallization stage.

Step 4 – Design – After defining; one may have to a design or customize a specific offering for the identified customer in market place. Hence each product or service has to be customized (tailor made).

Step 5 – Deliver- After design comes the delivery step. In this step, one will actually test the efficacy of one’s product and/or services and if need be one may need to modify the offering in the delivery.

Step 6 – Document – Once the product and/or services have been tested and accepted in the market place, the experience of the chosen customer in market should be documented.

Step 7 – Demand – With such proven product and / or services and with the happy experience of the market place adequately documented, one may demand more openings for his product and / or services in the market place.

I view the Step 5 – Deliver - is an important step in the entire demand creation process, as only here we have the first direct interaction with the chosen customer in the market place by offering our product and / or service.

This delivery in turn has three stages.

Stage 1 - Define the value proposition

One will need to define the proposition offered to customers. Clearly, customers’ requirements will vary between segments. One must create propositions that customers use and want.

Henry Ford, for example, did not invent the motor car but he produced a car that was within the economic reach of the average American. As a result, Ford Motors transformed the automobile from a luxury toy to a mainstay of American society. One should follow the example set by Henry Ford and create products and / or services that provide real value to customers.

Stage 2 - Develop the business case

Before embarking on any new strategies – products and / or services – one should carefully consider the costs and benefits associated with it. The opportunity for revenue generation may not lie with charging customers for using services they can access through traditional channels but in generating new products and / or services.

Stage 3 - Marshall the resources

Once one has defined the functionality and assessed the cost-benefit case, it will need to consider how the resulting recommendations should be implemented. This is best done via a structured process.

Firstly, a comprehensive assessment of the current capabilities in respect to people, processes, and technology should be undertaken.

Secondly, future state requirements need to be defined in relation to the proposed strategy.

Finally, the future state roadmap or detailed transition plans need to be developed. Once these steps have been worked through, the delivery (implementation of the required changes) can be carried out.

I believe demand creation if attempted sincerely could produce wonders in the market place.