Tag: communication

A better marketing culture

FabrizioLeave a comment

If you’ve worked in marketing, you have certainly experienced assembly line marketing.

That feeling all you are doing is repetition, with no real purpose or strategy, focusing on finding new ways to say old things that lost their effect long ago. Nobody really asking how you would go about solving the problem, and when finally somebody does, they also make it very clear that the urgency of the end of the month, end of the quarter, end of the year does not allow for any approach but the known, trite one.

It is a sad feeling, it’s the reason why marketers have a bad reputation, it is the place where product-focused marketing blooms. Because of course, what else should you talk about when that’s all you know and the next campaign is launching tomorrow among unrealistic expectations?

But in addition to what most of that article suggests, assembly line marketing often starts within the marketing department itself. It might still be due to external pressures, and yet assembly line marketing is a way for marketing heads and leads to keep their people busy, to avoid answering important questions, to give the impression that everyone is working hard, and eventually to keep their job.

There is a huge need for a better marketing culture, for a deeper understanding of what marketing is and can achieve. Real marketing touches hearts and builds relationships, but it takes time to plan, execute and grow. Yet, once it’s established, it cannot be unlearned or abandoned, because it’s the difference between aimless growth and change.

Someone wants it this way

FabrizioLeave a comment

When looking at organisations, I am often baffled by the amount of damage that gets done in the name of (supposed) harmony.

Considering the number of companies that list innovation among their core values, that should almost never be the case. You cannot be creative and innovate if all you care about is pleasing someone, making sure they feel important, executing on poor plans just for the sake of not making a fuss. Diversity and conflict should be at the core of every enterprise. And while it is important to maintain the conversation civil, by the time we enter the work environment we should all be on the same page: if somebody has a different idea they are not implying they are better than us, neither they are jeopardazing our professional worth.

“We are doing this because someone wants it this way” is a very poor way to serve your organisation.

Arguing

FabrizioLeave a comment

Before investing time, energy, relationships in an argument, it is advisable to spend some time understanding three things.

What is the impact of the outcome? It seems many times discussions and arguments arise for matters that do not move the needle: having the brochure with a blue or a red background, using this or that word, wanting an opportunity back that is already gone, and so on. You might have a strong preference for one or the other, and yet you know deep down the outcome is not going to move numbers and cultures, so consider dropping the argument altogether.

What are the facts I base my opinion on? When a discussion starts, it’s most likely about opinions and sentiments: I like this better than that, I think that banner would be more effective than the other, I have a feeling our customers would not understand us. Of course, this is valuable, and yet if you cannot anchor it to real life experiences, examples, and facts, consider dropping the argument altogether.

Are the people I am talking to ready to hear this? If you claim something progressive in a conservative environment, that might not be the right audience to put forward your brilliant new idea to. Wanting to go South when everybody (or at least, who’s driving) is going North, is a pretty ambitious target, so consider dropping the argument altogether.

If the impact your idea will have is relevant, you have facts supporting it and people willing to hear, than go ahead and invest. Be wary though that these three are often missing, and when that’s the case you are only going to waste time, energy and eventually deteriorate relationships.

Find the challenge

FabrizioLeave a comment

It’s pleasant to hear we are right, to be praised for the great work we are doing, to be surrounded by people who let us do what we believe is worth doing.

And yet, it’s a position in which we should feel uncomfortable.

As nobody is perfect, and most of us are far from it, if all we hear are praises and applauses one of two things is happening: either the criticism and the alternatives are being hidden from us or we are in an environment that lacks diversity. In both cases, we are not hearing the other side of the story, the one that would make our understanding rounder and more effective.

He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that.

John Stuart Mill

Reporting relevance

FabrizioLeave a comment

In July, this blog has gotten most visitors in a single month than ever, more than doubling the number from June. Views per day and per post have doubled as well. The reach was expanded to new countries, such as Ukraine, Papua New Guinea and the Netherlands, and viewership in an important country such as Germany was consolidated (visitors increased 1,000% month-over-month). The most popular hour to post is confirmed to be 8PM, as most of this blog’s audience seem to be online then.

This is all true. And of course, it is irrelevant.

With the amount of data we get exposed to nowadays, it is easy to get distracted by numbers and fake successes. We have actually developed an extended capacity to focus on the numbers that confirm what we believe is happening and boost our confidence, without talking about the ones that actually matters.

Why are you tracking what you are presenting? How does that affect the change you are trying to make? Are you closer or farther away from achieving that? Can you measure the final change? Is an history of those numbers, going back at least 12 months, available? Would people react differently if they would see natural numbers rather than percentages?

Those are important questions when preparing your next report. If you don’t know how to answer them, or if you catch yourself cheating while answering them, do everyone a favour and do not press send.