2009 Marketing Perspective

I've spent a lot of time this fall talking to people about marketing. Mostly to small businesses, but to people at agencies and various media (advertising) venues.

One thing that seems consistent, and it has me formulating a resolution for myself this new year, is that people all approach their problems from their own perspective. My resolution is to try to neutralize that in my own approach.

What I mean by one's own perspective, and how it manifests itself, is that to a soldier every solution tends to be a military one and to an evangelist every solution tends to be a spiritual one. In marketing this tendency leaves businesses, particularly small and medium businesses, vulnerable to both the isolation of their vertical industry and the manipulation of the various advertising sales people they encounter.

To be sure, small business owners are pecked to death by sales people. To the newspaper ad sales people, every marketing problem is solved with a newspaper ads (preferrably a contract for regular newspaper ads), the Advo sales person will solve all advertising problems with cooperative mailers, the local radio and tv with their respective media.

What happens, beyond the need to plan and decide when and where to spend those precious marketing dollers, is that these various advertising sales people offer up their creative resources as a part of the package. Now, in addition to a fractured media plan, you have fractured messaging and a complete lack of graphic standards. Each element is judged independently of the other advertising and generally given a pass if the logo and phone number are correct.

For my cohorts in Mercy's masters program this is immediately flagged as a non-integrated approach and a huge loss of opportunity (and likely money). The problem with assuming a single perspective or multiple perspecitves taken seperately is that there is no synergy. The sum of the parts is at best going to equal the investment, but rarely every exceed it. The newspaper ad sales people are not concerned with coordinating the message of your ads with other media... they'd prefer you spend more on newspaper and less on everything else. Every ad sales person has that perspective (that's what they're paid for).

Since it's the end of the year, you should take a breather. While you're at it, take a couple steps back. Don't look at your marketing from the perspective of your business, and certainly don't look at it from the perspective of the people who sold you the time, space, location... etc. Try to approach your business as a customer or prospective customer. Try to put some new eyes in your own head and re-introduce yourself to your business and brand. Realize the full-effect of the advertising, not merely the amount of it.

The main caveat to all that I've said, and this is a challenge I make to myself in 2009, is that for a marketer all problems have marketing solutions... God, grant me some perspective.