Why is most marketing today so bad ? No artists
01/28/10 03:07 PM Filed in: Management
Marketing | #socialmedia
The
popularity of social media did not happen overnight although a lot
of marketers like to believe that it did. It was a natural
evolutionary by-product of the Internet controlled by people who
want to be heard. During this recession the working middle-class is
stressed and suffering. We were all told that if we did a good job
that we would be rewarded with a chance at the American dream.
Unfortunately, that's not the case anymore.
MBA's come out of top tier business schools with a "process" to market new products and make existing brands stronger. The problem is that this "a process" when marketing today is an art. The best marketers today are artists who have a knack for a new answer, a new connection or way to get things done that have never been thought of before. In times of recession though artists can struggle and way too many people are content to just collect a check and leave the canvas painting to someone else.
Marketers today and too often follow the rules and as thus that's all they get to do. They get tired of trying to convince others that marketing, and the organization, have to change. It requires too many Power Points, too many meetings and after a while it get's really draining. But we are all hired to take intellectual risks because that leads to remarkable art. Taking a risk with a unique social media program before it became main stream is a risk a lot of companies were not willing to take because they wanted to just show up on time, use outdated marketing methods and spend money in hopes it would work. Guess what? Today it doesn't work anymore.
When you do rather than think you become part of a machine and in a machine the three words that can kill an entire organization are "it's not my job". Think about it for a minute. You are working on a major presentation for a client tomorrow and as you work on the Power Point deck you notice that some of the slides are out of date or could be presented better. How many people would throw a rock in the water to create ripples and say "way a second here" vs. how many people would just finish the deck send it out and go home for the night ?
Over the last year, here on this BLOG, I have seen social media over-promoted and overhyped but does that mean that you should pass on social media? No. Because even though social media may not lead to conversion it is a powerful media to listen to your audience and respond to their questions or issues regarding your product. Today consumers demand that from brands and companies.
Today's marketers need to be creative problem solvers and artists. I realize that we can't be a genius all the time and even Einstein was stumped at a 9th grade algebra problem but marketers have to think more like consumers than marketers today if they are going to add value to the organization. If you're just doing what's already been done than you can be replaced by someone who will work for less money than you earn right now but if you can show your value through out of the box thinking and creative problem solving while bringing people together you can light the candle of inspiration and create some art.
* The inspiration for this story came from Seth Godin's new book "Linchpin"
MBA's come out of top tier business schools with a "process" to market new products and make existing brands stronger. The problem is that this "a process" when marketing today is an art. The best marketers today are artists who have a knack for a new answer, a new connection or way to get things done that have never been thought of before. In times of recession though artists can struggle and way too many people are content to just collect a check and leave the canvas painting to someone else.
Marketers today and too often follow the rules and as thus that's all they get to do. They get tired of trying to convince others that marketing, and the organization, have to change. It requires too many Power Points, too many meetings and after a while it get's really draining. But we are all hired to take intellectual risks because that leads to remarkable art. Taking a risk with a unique social media program before it became main stream is a risk a lot of companies were not willing to take because they wanted to just show up on time, use outdated marketing methods and spend money in hopes it would work. Guess what? Today it doesn't work anymore.
When you do rather than think you become part of a machine and in a machine the three words that can kill an entire organization are "it's not my job". Think about it for a minute. You are working on a major presentation for a client tomorrow and as you work on the Power Point deck you notice that some of the slides are out of date or could be presented better. How many people would throw a rock in the water to create ripples and say "way a second here" vs. how many people would just finish the deck send it out and go home for the night ?
Over the last year, here on this BLOG, I have seen social media over-promoted and overhyped but does that mean that you should pass on social media? No. Because even though social media may not lead to conversion it is a powerful media to listen to your audience and respond to their questions or issues regarding your product. Today consumers demand that from brands and companies.
Today's marketers need to be creative problem solvers and artists. I realize that we can't be a genius all the time and even Einstein was stumped at a 9th grade algebra problem but marketers have to think more like consumers than marketers today if they are going to add value to the organization. If you're just doing what's already been done than you can be replaced by someone who will work for less money than you earn right now but if you can show your value through out of the box thinking and creative problem solving while bringing people together you can light the candle of inspiration and create some art.
* The inspiration for this story came from Seth Godin's new book "Linchpin"
