Marketers: No One Believes You.

Christopher Penn, blogger and creator of the Financial Aid Podcast, has this to say on a recent post about why marketing sucks:

When companies, organizations, or individuals focus only on the short term, whether it’s quarterly results on the Street or whether you can get some action at the single’s bar tonight, the same desperation is created by short term thinking. That combined with a profit above all else mentality has turned marketing into the corporate equivalent of that guy in the bar who smells of equal parts aggression, fear, and desperation - and the target audience stays far, far away.

Yep. I can't tell you how much I cringe when someone says to me "we need to do some of that New Media" or "can you get us some marketing on the internet?" Yikes.

What's worse, Penn's point above makes me cringe even more because it echoes something more sinister.

If you're a marketer, no one believes you will use your superpowers for good rather than evil.

So how do you overcome?

Chris Brogan is a fun blogger to read, and he usually comes up with something that makes me think. His recent post talks about Personal Branding and how important and challenging it is. I think it's even more critical for those of us who purport to be in the business of helping others elevate, define, and create awarness for their brands.

I've blogged before about the fact that I believe that your brand is really created not by you, but by the people that use your product or service or seek you out in the vast online universe. Sure, we can contribute to the conversation about how we'd like to be perceived, but ultimately, someone else is going to make up their mind. If you haven't checked out the interesting Brand Tag site, it's interesting fodder for my point. If you look at the words that people choose, sure, some are super intuitive. But it's amazing how many of these "tags" are words that the companies might or might not have chosen for their brands in the first place, for better or for worse.

That didn't answer my question.

Ok, sorry. My point is that in order to really have people believe that there ARE marketing people out there (I'd like to think myself included) that are honestly, truly dedicated to the good side of this craft, we have to continue to bring people interesting, relevant, different, and compelling stuff and stories.

It's not enough to extoll the quality, value, and convenience of Bob's Buttered Biscuits, we have to dig deep, find the unique elements, and tell THOSE to people without shouting at them to pay attention. You can lead a horse to water, after all...

As a marketing person, I think it's my duty not to whore out any old product and polish turds, but rather to find the diamonds in the rough. The untold stories. The nifty, keen, funny, exciting, exhilirating ones. And to be honest, if someone or something doesn't have ANY of these qualities? Well, that's not a problem that any marketing person - no matter how much of a rockstar they are - can fix.

Are you in marketing? How do you avoid being cast as a deceitful, manipulating liar? Or do you?

Buzzwords that don't work anymore.

Feel free to comment and add yours to the list or argue with mine.

1. Convenient
2. Unique
3. Authentic
4. Exciting
   
5. Quick/Fast
6. Consistent
7. Out-of-the-box
8. Synergy
9. Paradigm shift
10. Value-added
11. Results-oriented (I've never met someone who admitted to aiming for NOT achieving results)
12. Proactive (nevermind that the grammar purist in me still doesn't buy this made up word

You must use a human, accessible voice to talk to people about what you're trying to accomplish. I'm sure I could make this list into a top 100 (and I just might). Whatever story you're telling, it comes off as bogus when it's full of a bunch of trumped-up adjectives.

Honesty and humanity can speak volumes.

Retro Marketing

It's only a matter of time before the big CPG companies look to resurrect their old classics. And they're doing it - remember Brim, Salon Selectives, Underroos? There's a movement underway to bring these brands back to life because of their powerful recall. Kellogg's has announced that they're bringing back the "beloved" Hyrdox cookie.

Which makes me really wonder something.

Does recall still make the brand? We marketers have always touted brand recall as a signal of its success. I'm just not sure that does it anymore.


First of all, it's the quality of the product that ultimately determines whether it has a long or short lifespan. If Brim has a great jingle but tastes like crap, it's destined for the dustbin. Reason #1 why I don't think recall is enough.

This all sounds to me like big companies are finally feeling the pinch of traditional, big bucks marketing and rather than spending the time, money, and effort to innovate something truly powerfully great, they're riding on the coattails of nostalgia in hopes that it will bring them around. (I wonder if Seth agrees with me - I doubt he thinks that Hydrox revisited is a Purple Cow, if a Cow at all).

What do you think? Would the reprise of your favorite Quisp cereal make you rush to the store, or just make you think "hey look, Quisp!" and go on your merry way?

Brilliant Fundraising

Jennifer Leggio should have been on my team all the years I did fundraising for a living. Talk about harnessing the power of social media.

Jennifer has reached out to her network of brilliant minds to auction their brains, services, and other in the name of raising money in the fight against leukemia. She's running a marathon as part of Team In Training and has an ambitious (but at this point, highly reachable) goal to raise $10,000. As of right now, she's already raised $3K. Not too shabby.

It just goes to show - and remind me - how powerful it can be to have conversations. I heard about Jennifer's efforts via Chris Brogan, and now here I am blogging about them. Which means hopefully someone else in turn will find her through me and help her cause.

Now, to check the bidding for some of those brilliant minds...

Dogged Determination

There's no substitute for dogged determination. I can't help but continue to gape in amazement at the NASA team and their multi-year quest to get the Phoenix lander to Mars. I mean, come on. It's NEWS that the thing is going to unbend it's arm. The arm is going to probe beneath the Martian surface to reach the water ice below and bring back lots of yummy subterranean bits and pieces for scientific analysis. All aimed at figuring out if somewhere, in some age, Mars supported life.



It's a lesson in patience, timing, perseverance, and faith. Nothing will test your mettle like slinging a big thing into the deep reaches of space, waiting 10 months, and hoping against hope that it goes where you told it to, not to mention landing on a planet light-years away and still working once it gets there.

There are many times when, in the marketing world, you try something and it doesn't work. (Yes, indeed, we are fallible creatures). Not every strategy is perfect, and despite your best efforts, sometimes you miss the mark. But still, we march on and try, try again to find the thing or combination of many things that will reach that new client or finally crystalize that elusive and compelling message for all to hear. When it happens, it's a beautiful thing. But by no means does it happen by accident.

Successful communication starts with something super important: people. Without them, there is no dialogue. And to forget that they're on the other end is a mistake. But if you don't reach them the first time, don't stop talking. It's a noisy world out there, and sometimes it's a matter of timing before you can be heard just right.

The team at NASA's JPL was an exuberant bunch of kids in that control room, watching the countdown and jumping up and down when they got the confirmation of Phoenix's successful landing. They deserve a round of applause, and a good pat on the back for staying the course when there were more questions than answers.

I'm putting a picture of Phoenix on my bulletin board, and every time I stumble, I'll be all the more determined to make a successful landing.