How I see marketing.
When it comes to marketing, each of us looks at it with different intentions, from a different place, in a different context. So we each end up seeing a different animal, and then we wonder why we argue over semantics. Ha. Let me be bitter. Add words such as irrationality, bias, nudge and the famous “it depends”, and it all becomes a nightmare for an aspiring marketer trying to understand what marketing actually is. “Where is the quiet place that doesn’t move all the time?” I hear them beg. What is the bigger picture? Is it what Gad Saad likes to say: marketing is life and life is marketing? Hopefully it’s more practical than that.
At least some of these questions shouldn’t be in your head after a business or marketing degree. Does that happen? Meh. Most of the books have outdated concepts and lack critical analysis (a bold statement, I know). Who chooses the books? Hmm. Many professors are out of touch with reality, and that’s fine until it isn’t. I expect them to at least critique something, even if they’re wrong. It’s not always the professors’ fault: sometimes what academics mean by marketing isn’t relevant to real-life businesses. In reality, marketers are often responsible only for promotion, rather than the full marketing mix of product, place, price and promotion.
I find it profoundly fascinating how interconnected we are, yet how rarely we sit down at a modest round table to discuss the things we disagree on. Disagree, not agree: agreeing happens all the time. It’s always amusing to see someone on a podcast, or anywhere else, disagreeing with another person’s opinion. I mean, why not invite them and discuss it? If one hour isn’t enough, make it ten. You want the views, huh? Yeah, I get it, incentives run the world. But still, why?
In recent years it has become easier to find high-quality information about marketing, but unfortunately the amount of bad information has grown even faster. Maybe it’s a filtering process you just have to go through. Yet does it ever end? Possibly when we’re sure we have separated the noise from the clear voice: the signal. That’s where the work of marketing scholars like Byron Sharp, Jenni Romaniuk and others becomes crucial. They bring structure and sense to marketing discussions and help us make sense of the chaos. Mark Ritson is another valuable resource, with his practical experience and his ability to connect different topics in the field. Priceless. I’d never finish if I started listing everyone who has contributed to this field.
What should the marketing process look like? I think you should be clear about the business objective. Wow! Who would have guessed? Knowing the objective, we can work backwards to understand the consumer, create a robust strategy, and choose the mix of tactics we think will achieve it. Most of the marketing industry is obsessed with the third step. It’s crucial, but it won’t work if you don’t get the first two right. Being tactical is valuable too, though, so don’t shy away from learning the tools of tactical work. It can be hard to connect these two worlds, but this is how it works: you must know how the business operates and also be an expert in the tactical side of marketing, such as customer acquisition channels.
But then, reluctantly, I have to admit that “it depends” is the right answer in marketing, because above all, no two industries are the same. We must start by understanding the industry, the company, its capabilities, its finances, its business model and its objectives before deciding how marketing can help the business. Unfortunately, marketing can’t save a failing business.
People need people, books need people
- How Brands Grow, Byron Sharp
- Incerto, Nassim Nicholas Taleb
- Strategy in Polemy, JP Castlin
- Gut Feelings, Gerd Gigerenzer
- Alchemy, Rory Sutherland
- The Art of SEO, Stephan Spencer, Eric Enge and Jessie Stricchiola
- Web Analytics 2.0, Avinash Kaushik
- The Consuming Instinct, Gad Saad
- Good Strategy/Bad Strategy, Richard P. Rumelt
- Eat Your Greens, Wiemer Snijders
- The Halo Effect, Phil Rosenzweig
- Marketing and the Bottom Line, Tim Ambler
Quotes
“Marketing is too important to be left to the marketing department.” David Packard, co-founder of HP
“The best marketing doesn’t feel like marketing.” Tom Fishburne
“Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” Jeff Bezos
“When Aeschines spoke, they said, ‘How well he speaks.’ But when Demosthenes spoke, they said, ‘Let us march against Philip.’” David Ogilvy
“A lot of advertising is geared to persuasion rather than building mental availability. Persuasion is about assuming you’re in the room and you’re arguing your point, whereas mental availability is about getting into the room. And so that’s the big challenge: most organisations are failing to get into the room, but they’re spending all their money on arguing as if they’re already there.” Prof. Jenni Romaniuk, International Director, Ehrenberg-Bass Institute
“All models are wrong, but some are useful.” George E. P. Box
“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” John Wanamaker