Summer vacations as a child were always the best. Trips to the Jersey Shore (way before MTV's version came along), capture the flag outside, impromptu games of baseball in the street—life as a seven year-old growing up in the suburbs of Philadelphia was great! Among these great memories, one that still resonates today is setting up my curb-side Kool-Aid stand. Within a matter of minutes, I was able to transition from a lazy kid playing Mario Bros. on my Nintendo to beverage retailer extraordinaire!

My business model was simple...

• My product offering was based on whatever brand of the sugary mixture my mom happened to have in stock that particular day
• My marketing program consisted of a hand-drawn sign indicating that the product in demand would be offered for a $.25 coin
• My sales plan consisted cold (and often loud) calling to any passing customers
• And, unless my friend down the street was inspired to do the same thing on that particular afternoon, my competition was non-existent

Sure, my total sales may not have amounted to much after the two batches of Kool-Aid ran dry—but, hey, life was good! And, as far as I was concerned, I was $4.25 richer than when I woke up that day.

Now fast-forward 20 or so years to the present.

As a marketing professional, I have learned over time that business is, unfortunately, not as simple and straight-forward as I may have perceived it to be when I was seven. Market dynamics, fierce competition and material pricing have a way of taking a fairly simple concept—selling product A to customer B—and adding just a few layers of complexity. Rather than dwelling on these complexities, however, my hope in this post is to help simplify things.

So at the root of the issue is this question: "How can I best align my product offering with the needs of my customers?" A natural response to this question is to first look inward. What can I, as a business, do well? What can I make well? What are my core differentials in my industry? Starting out, these are all great—and necessary—questions to ask. However, once you have established the framework of your offering, I would argue that your plan moving forward should consist primarily of outward-looking initiatives. As, to some extent, this is when true marketing strategy development begins.

I'm not sure if this term has been coined yet in marketing circles, but I would like to throw out the phrase, "heads-up marketing." As the name implies, this strategy is focused on staying attuned to what is going on in the marketplace. What are your customers saying, what are you competitors doing, what trends are growing within your industry? "Heads-up marketing" is about listening. But of course, it is also about responding. "Heads-up marketing" allows your customers to dictate (to some extent) what your strategy is—not the other way around. Conversely, "heads-down marketing" presumes that a company puts significant focus on developing its own capabilities and then expects the market to simply line-up to purchase its latest and greatest widget. While some may perceive "heads-down marketing" to be a key driver for innovation, the reality is that it requires you to fly blind without proper bearings and market context.

Sure, "heads-up marketing" sounds simple enough. You may even think that your company is already doing this via tactics such as a Contact Us form on your website, a top-notch customer support call center, or even with the development of a corporate Facebook page. And, to some extent, you are correct. Such communication vehicles are great listening posts to solicit input from your audience. The question, though, is to what extent do you allow outside input to drive your internal strategy moving forward? Also, to what extent are you willing to invest in more comprehensive listening posts (i.e. market research) to gather intelligence that can even better craft your strategy? Companies that are active listeners in the market are better equipped to respond to market shifts and customer demands in a timely fashion. Furthermore, companies that are dedicated to a "heads-up marketing" strategy are more likely to define a targeted customer value proposition, which leads to stronger customer relationships.

In support of the above, I would like to reference a book that was recently authored by George Day and Christine Moorman. The book, Strategy from the Outside In, speaks in great detail about the value of "heads-up marketing," even making the assertion that only companies that operate with an outside-in view from the C-suite to the front lines can expect to maximize and profit from customer value. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in exploring this topic further.

So whether you are just starting out with your own Kool-Aid stand, or if you are managing the marketing department of a billion-dollar company, ask yourself this question: Am I allowing customer input to help drive the development of my marketing strategy?  If the answer is no, realize that you run the risk of manufacturing yourself into obsolescence. Be mindful of what is going on in your industry, and allow your findings to influence what you take to market, and how.

With a "heads-up marketing" strategy in place, you can feel confident that the strategic decisions you are making are based on meaningful input and that you're not just "drinking your own Kool-aid."