I have been disturbed and now, I
must speak about it.
Thirty-three years on Planet
MeglaZoid and though many things have changed over the years, one truth remains
absolute: People with power have no higher cognitive abilities. This is
apparent when dealing with Marketing Managers and politicians; for the sake of
this post however, we will focus on Marketing Managers. Seriously though, for
the politician, you see it evident when policies and processes are put in place
that seem to have no connect with their target audience; when taxi drivers have
a better grasp on what should be done infrastructurally. For the Marketing
Manager, it becomes evident when they not only show no true grasp on how to
make money for the brand they represent but they also fail to connect with the people
they claim to serve. To be fair though, it’s not just the marketing manager’s
fault but also the entire marketing team that needs to be drawn and quartered.
I thought your job was to make
money for the Brand? I mean, at the basic level, that’s the point right? To
MAKE… MONEY… FOR the brand! Wrap it up in flowery words like “forging
synergistic developments between key strategic partners/sectors to grow the
consumer base and recall by X% over the next 200 years”… it’s still about
making money. So if that’s the point, if the goal is to make money FOR the
company (instead of just drawing money FROM the company) then shouldn’t the
marketing teams of the world… correction… of Trinidad & Tobago seek out such
ways? It doesn’t even require a re-imagining of the wheel, it just involves
THINKING.
It also involves, keeping an ear to
the ground and an eye on the horizon. It means coming out of your little sea
caves and looking around; sending up the periscope even, to see what’s
happening in the world. It means getting out of the comfortability you live in
and a). pushing a new thought and b). being willing to stand and defend the new
thought. You were not hired as a Marketing Manager (and department) to be
someone’s press secretary; you were hired because - maybe – you had ideas. So
how’s about you use said ideas.
It always baffles me that –in all
the years of copywriting - no one thinks of having a competition sending
winners to San Diego Comic Con; especially when mainstream Hollywood and
Earth-Dwellers have now embraced [and even commandeered] ‘Geek/Nerd Culture’. Still,
no deal. But you CAN win an iPod, or an iPad… thanks.
This week, I had the opportunity to
deal with two marketing teams within the entertainment industry. I created a
petition in the form of an event page to lobby for something magical. Coming
from an advertising background, I knew that simply saying “you should do this”
isn’t enough to move marketing heads, they like numbers and even now, the
numbers continue to grow. Why? Because people WANT this.
One Marketing Team explained very
nicely that they were trying to bring the magic even before I petitioned but it
couldn’t be done. I accepted this thought at first but slowly realized that
there were other ways to DO the thing despite their constraints. Ways that
would have brought money to the coffers and customer loyalty and appreciation.
But it is the OTHER marketing team
that prompts this epistle.
-
they were thinking about it
-
they weren’t sure whether it would be worth
doing and above all, my personal favourite,
-
they’re kind of insulted that I didn’t check
them first
I hope the latter is a joke
because… no eh. The entire conversation though, was enlightening because a).
not only was their responses very non-committal but b). in showed a spectacular
lack of vision. Everything points to the success that something like what was
proposed can have. Top that off with the fact that ticket and concessionaire
stands are somewhat expensive, this company would make back their monies and
more! Not to mention the public goodwill and the word-of-mouthiness of it all;
you’re name will be forever linked to awesomeness. No vision.
How are these people in “marketing”
departments? Why are Marketing and Brand Managers making actual money for
delivering bare minimum?
Mind you, I sat down with six
friends later that night and came up with a better idea. We of course do not
hold the power. We of course are not Marketing Managers; we just have our ears
to the ground… you know, like actual marketing managers/departments and teams
should be doing.
TjH
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