The Lamentable Marketing

Some of you will know the expression ”You can’t make a silk purse out of sow’s ear”. But you may be curious how this relates to the a common problem in today’s “marketing” world.

Too many marketers today are solely focused on the communications strategy and tactics to push messaging into the eyeballs of their target audience. Little or no work is done to ensure that the Product (the first P in the Marketing Mix - remember that?) is appropriate for that audience. Has the research been done to ascertain that the product has the right combination of features and benefits that provide the user with a clear solution to their problem.

All the work that is done in the “Product” stage of the marketing journey define the messaging that will come at the end of the marketing journey. Those benefits and features that have been mapped to the needs of the user/consumer/customer now become the core of the message to this audience.

Creative is creative - it has a primary role of getting the message noticed. Especially in today’s cluttered media environment. The message content has to reflect the products core benefits to a customer.

Too many times, we, as marketers, are left to develop messaging based on notions, anecdotes, memories or unrealized expectations and then comes the demand to make sure that marketing delivers results - a positive ROI no less. How is that possible without a deep understanding of “product”? Surely if you need to build marketing that generates customer engagement, it has to start with a close relationship with the development of the product. And all that this means, in the context of the product’s satisfaction of a customer need. (Did I read that somewhere in a marketing text book - heaven forbid!)

Makes sense to me. Perhaps it is too straight forward, too simplistic. But it is something that makes the whole marketing wheel turn a lot more sensibly…