“Marketing is Useless”

“Marketing is Strategic”

“Marketing Drives Sales”

“Marketing Creates Brands”

“Marketing Defines Products” …

A tug of war that nobody wins
You don’t have to have been in the industry for very long, to have heard these and other sweeping generalisations.

And you’re most likely to hear them, when marketing, sales and advertising/PR teams are under pressure, competing for scarce budget, or, when post mortems are being conducted over why a particular target or campaign failed to live up to expectations.

The fact is that Marketing is but one arm of a team effort that involves other disciplines in a company, and no single discipline can ever be superior to the others. It’s a pointless tug of war that nobody wins.

A refreshingly objective analysis
How pointless such point scoring can be is beautifully illustrated by marketing blogger Geoffrey James in his column “5 Dangerous Marketing Myths”

His analysis of these so-called ‘myths’ prompted the team here at Imagine Creative to wonder: “At a time when demographics are shifting, markets are less well defined and Gen X, Y and Z consumers are harder to target, does Marketing need to be smarter and more empathetic?”

The answer is a resounding YES!

But equally, Marketing also needs to be better at measuring and interpreting consumer response.

The information gathered from customer surveys, consumer responses, focus groups and field testing should be a feedback loop that informs and energises all links in the product chain from R&D, Design and Manufacturing right through to Marketing, Sales and Promotion.

“In our experience the pressures for individual departments to compete, often fragment communication. In most cases, by the time the marketing brief is drafted, the product has developed a serious case of Chinese whispers,” says Imagine’s Creative Director Mary Georgiev.. “The R&D and Design insights that may have led to a particular product feature or benefit, often get lost by the time it’s ready to launch and a campaign is considered.”

In any large organisation, whether marketing or advertising, fragmentation of insight and dilution of feedback can often determine a product’s success or failure.

Understanding leads to insight
Good creative people will tell you that ‘face time’ with a client and the people involved in design, manufacturing and sales is priceless before the work of crafting a solution can begin.

“Quite often we’ve found that a seemingly chance remark by someone in design, manufacturing, sales or R&D, has provided the flash of insight that has led to a brilliant marketing or advertising solution” says Mary. “Bringing teams of people together in a holistic approach to a campaign is something companies may not be used to – but we’ve proven time and again that this can be the difference between a good campaign and a great one!”

Empathy, understanding and insight give imagination the power to fly with precision, rather than circle around aimlessly in search of a solution. Good marketers know that and make every effort to facilitate it.

And this, thankfully in our case, is no myth.

Gain fresh insights into imaginative, empathetic ways of sharpening your marketing edge.
Call Imagine Creative on: 1300 139 398 or visit: www.imaginecreative.com.au

Ref: 5 Dangerous Marketing Myths by Geoffrey James, Marketing Blogger BNET