Best regards, yours truly

I realized something in the aftermath of attending a two day international sports marketing seminar - marketing is simple. Marketers are simple too. And this is where most get it wrong.

My cues for this sunday - Marketing is simple but it's not easy. Marketers are simple but not dim witted people. A proper marketing campaign can't be done by anyone. Marketing is not just sales. Communications and marketing - two separate things or...NOT. It never stops. Pissed off marketer.

Marketing is a leap of faith sometimes and you gotta have faith. George Michael sang about it so it's got to be true.

Marketing is simple

In the realm of sports you hear and see attitude towards marketing that can only lead to a major gangfuck. Demands are vague at best and the time to actually make those happen and the desired outcome have a correlation below 0.1. They don't compute. Marketing in my opinion is a lot to do with KNOWLEDGE. Know your customers. Be customer oriented and instead of being obvious be the guy on the extra mile for them. Customer oriented - result driven. When you know what the customer wants you can communicate it correctly. And this is the hard part. Surveys and research helps but what if that's not an option (resources just don't exist). The major misconception that the customer wants a good and cheap product is the bad manager problem. And also to assume that your customer is a slacker looking for the quick buck is just short of being abusive. The Bad manager problem. Due to nature of this sports industry the marketer will be in the mix with the customer - listen what they want and where they are. In short - be easily available where they are with the procuct they want. In marketing assumption is a father, a mother and a brother of all fuck ups. Knowledge is the king.

Marketers are simple

If you have trouble tying your shoelaces don't bother. Marketers are not scholars but more streetwise like Brooklyn Tony in Nassim Taleb's Black Swan. In short the story is about odds of getting heads a hundred times in a row. Academic tells the probability - Brooklyn Tony tells that the coin is fixed if that happens.  Like Brooklyn Tony, a good marketer sees through the smokescreen and wastes no time on things like probability of something that won't happen unless it's fixed. It's of utmost importance to be simple to be able to convey the message to the maximum audience. It can't be complex or it goes waste. Like one entrepreneur genius stated - if you have to write it down it's not a vision.

Campaigns. Anyone.

Marketing campaign without planning or values or strategy. Sure. Can do but it will either suck or promote something random. A campaing is a logical thing with a timeline. It always has a start and an ending. This calls for preparation and planning. I have mentioned before the seven P's. Proper Planning and Preparation Prevent Piss Poor Performance. You can't wing it. Or you can but you're a just lost if you do. No matter how your business do. How you start a campaign relates to how it's going to make it's goals. Have a red line anyone can follow. They need to "get it". They need to "connect". We want to have impact on sales but customers are the reason we exist.

Not just for sales

We want to sell our product. But we also want to deliver something - experience, learning etc. To have this carved in our corporate souls - that's important. We want the income but we want them to pay with a smile on their faces because they get more in the exchange. Because their gain is ours. We want our customers to be happy. Genuine thing. This is the fan management part of it all. Get them involved. Be inspired by them. Don't think rip off.

The separation of marketing and communications

To put it short - DO. NOT. SEPARATE. The thing we communicate should be marketing oriented and aiming for the same goals. Marketing - add in a paper. Communication - press release. Yes and no. It's impossible to tell one from the other. In short. It's no use to even try. If you communicate different messages to different shareholders you're not being multifaceted or dynamic. You're just plain obvious about not knowing your way around the marketing land. This doesn't mean they all need to know the same thing. That's stupid. We are talking about the general vibe of your product, your company. Reliable. They all want that. Innovative. Same. Do they all need to know that the fifth floor toilet (men's) is out of order? Customer. Nah. Employees. Most likely the appreciate the info. HOW you say it important comparable to WHAT you say. Segmented image is not a complete image. You don't want that. If you but your soul into many pieces you will end up like Voldemort.

NEVER. QUIT.

It's an ongoing process. During a campaign you plan your next moves. Always be on the lookout for ideas. We have so many brilliantly crazy marketing actions made in the past that are just art. But this art is by nature disposable and not made to last. We move at the speed of life which is pretty hectic these days. Marketer never stops.

Why we won't have it all, then.

It's mainly a leadership issue. Or the lack of it. If the management suck ass 24/7 - it's a steep hill to climb. It's not personal but take a moment to consider - the budget is slim, resources limited and the execution was supposed to happen yesterday. And the input from others is a joke. Honestly. You expect this to happen. Marketing is a thing every man and his dog has an idea about. Marketing is just like any other special field, it takes a specialist. The fact that you know coca cola is a brand doesn't make you one. The frustration of being good at your field and have some dipshit tell you how to do your thing. But...That's going to work. Shouldn't be but can be. Adaptation but what about the motivation. Not happening. Management just need to figure out whether they wish to be below mediocre or something that makes a difference. Depends how you treat your people and your marketing. That's where you end up. Treat like shit and that's the very thing that shall be yours. And your brand. Keep the faith. And have that exit plan near.

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