Catalysts are process accelerators. Marketing catalysts have been used ever since people had to produce results in business, social and political marketing. The simplest way of using catalysts is by discovering the influence of external facts on certain actions that want to be performed and using them to influence the acceptance by the environment.

Basically, it can be said that marketing catalysts are business objects that build a context for the actions that are being influenced that has to be consistent with the environment in order to be acceptable.

The Need of Behavioral Catalysts in Marketing

The research on the root causes of the success and failure of the market expansion of startups developed at The Unicist Research Institute confirmed that 100% of the successful marketing strategies were sustained by behavioral catalysts, while 100% of the failures had insufficient catalysts.

This demonstrated that the success of sustainable marketing strategies in innovative, supply driven or highly competitive markets depend on the use of behavioral catalysts. These catalysts might be entities that exist in the environment or catalyzing objects that are built by the companies.

About Marketing Catalysts

Catalysts are process accelerators. Marketing catalysts have been used ever since people had to produce results in business, social and political marketing. The simplest way of using catalysts is by discovering the influence of external facts on certain actions that want to be performed and using them to influence the acceptance by the environment.

Technologies, threats, installed myths, new utopias, brand attributes, ideologies, influencers, etc. are examples of catalysts that are commonly used. This implies that the use of catalysts is an accepted practice by those who need to influence the environment to achieve results.

The discovery of the behavioral catalysts made by Peter Belohlavek at The Unicist Research Institute, allowed developing the unicist evolutionary approach to business that is the model that allows profiting from the 4th Industrial Revolution, managing the Industry 4.0 concept and developing adaptive digitalization. 

The research on biological and behavioral catalysts demonstrated that all adaptive systems need to use catalysts in order to be alive (living beings) or be sustainable (social entities).

The Building of Catalyzing Objects

This research allowed finding the structure of catalysts and their functionality, which allowed going beyond the use of preexisting catalysts, and building catalysts to ensure the functionality and acceleration of adaptive processes whatever their kind.

Basically, it can be said that marketing catalysts are business objects that build a context for the actions that are being influenced that has to be consistent with the environment in order to be acceptable.

The unicist evolutionary approach to business includes the use of catalysts as one of its core aspects in order to accelerate the speed of processes to foster growth, profitability and sustainability.

The Functionality of Catalysts in Businesses

The researches made at The Unicist Research Institute demonstrated that the evolution of living beings, social entities and businesses require the use of catalysts. Therefore, the success of sustainable marketing fully depends on the use of catalysts.

While 100% of the successful marketing actions were sustained by catalysts, 100% of the failures had insufficient catalysts. The use of catalysts is a must in marketing.

Catalysts are objects that are naturally integrated in any living being. Among the most well-known catalysts in biology are the enzymes that catalyze multiple processes to ensure the survival and evolution of living beings. 

One differentiated characteristic of behavioral catalysts is that they need to achieve the necessary threshold of energy to influence the environment.

Catalysts are Process Accelerators

Behavioral catalysts are process accelerators that allow ensuring the functionality and evolution of adaptive systems of any kind. The concept of behavioral catalysts applies to social, economic and political evolution, to the functionality of any kind of communities or institutions and to businesses.

The 4^th Industrial Revolution introduced the concept of adaptiveness in the industrial, economic and social world. This increases notoriously the market orientation but demands managing environments as adaptive systems, which require the use of catalysts to ensure their functionality and evolution.

Some of the companies that use business objects and catalysts are: Airbus, Amazon, Apple, BBC, Boeing, Dassault Systemes, Dupont, Ericsson, Facebook, General Electric, Google, Hilton, Honda, Hyundai, LinkedIn, Lufthansa, Mapfre, Mayo Clinic, Michelin, Novartis, Open Text, P&G, Pfizer, SAP, Siemens, Tata Motors, Toyota, Unilever, Walmart, Walt Disney World and Youtube.

Levels of Acceleration

The levels of acceleration catalysts introduce in processes, depend on the specificity of their functions.

a) Generic Catalysts accelerate the functionality of institutions or organizations. Their acceleration is (+).
b) Systemic Catalysts accelerate the functionality of functions and roles. Their acceleration is (++).
c) Specific Catalysts accelerate the functionality of processes. Their acceleration is (+++).
d) Conjunctural Catalysts accelerate the functionality of conjuncture driven processes. Their acceleration is (++++).

Catalysts accelerate social and business processes. The functionality of catalysts requires that their work be “redundant” with the causes of the problem they solve. 

Catalysts have to be consistent with the wide context of the environment and consistent with the causes they solve. That is why they are functional as long as they are consistent.

Alliances and Co-marketing as Catalysts

Alliances and Co-marketing processes might work as univocal catalysts where one of the parts catalyzes the other part or biunivocal catalysts where both parts catalyze each other. It has to be considered that most of the catalysts are used to accelerate specific aspects of business processes.

Example: Advertising as a Catalyst

Catalysts are needed to ensure the achievement of goals in adaptive environments. The more differentiated the action of an individual or organization, the more influence is needed to adapt in an environment.

Advertising, as a concept, is a communication to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It adopts many shapes according to the circumstances. Advertising is a univocal communication in an adaptive environment that fully depends on the functionality of its content and its aesthetics, to be successful. For example, it might be a non-personal communication or a personal communication.

Advertising can work as a driver of actions or can be designed as a catalyst for actions. Both concepts differ in their way to achieve results. When advertising is a “driver”, the language should be operational or analytical. When it works as a catalyst, the language has to be ambiguous and the receptors must decide which interpretation suits their needs.

The research through real applications at The Unicist Research Institute, drove to the development of the following types of advertising catalysts:

• That Solve Implicit Weaknesses: These ads accelerate the buying decision process by avoiding dysfunctional objections.
• Conceptual: These catalysts install a new concept in the mind of receptors based on the expansion of the boundaries of existing concepts.
• Categorical: These ads expand the boundaries of accepted categories ensuring their functionality to fulfill the needs of the receptor.
• Conjunctural: They are based on the concepts that underlie urgencies which accelerates buying processes.

Advertising can be designed as a “driver”, which is the most commonly used type of communication, or it can be designed as a catalyst, which is needed in order to introduce significant differentiations and innovations.

Annex

Expert Systems to Sustain Methods

The unicist expert systems are alternative tools for any method that deals with business problem solving or solution building.

They were developed to manage the fundamentals of business processes by managing the root causes of processes to develop solutions in adaptive environments.

With multiple specialized modules to solve specific problems, these systems manage the unified field of the business processes to manage their functionality, dynamics and adaptability. 

Note: The R&D work of this technology/methodology was led by Peter Belohlavek at The Unicist Research Institute.

The Unicist Research Institute