Tag: growth

Positioning Bernie

Fabrizio1 Comment

If you have been around the internet in the past week, you have certainly seen it.

One of the greatest example of positioning in recent times.

The informal attire of Bernie Sanders to last week’s presidential inaguration, the meme-frenzy that followed, and the way him and his team promptly reacted. All of it has put on display a fantastic positioning exercise.

  1. It has set the product clearly apart from the competition (in this case, other personalities or politicians). Just look at this picture to see what I mean. Or this one. Sanders has built his brand on being against the establishment and close to the average Joe, and spotting him at the inauguration was just a clear, immediate confirmation of exactly that.
  2. It has demonstrated a wonderful knowledge of the target market. Many commentators might have said that he was out of place, that it was even offensive to show up at such a formal event dressed like that. And the answer from Sanders and his team would have probably been: who cares?! Because the point of positioning, at the end of the day, is not to appeal to everybody, but to appeal to your best customer. Wearing mittens hand made from recycled material by a Vermont school teacher and a jacket by a Vermont outerware company sounds pretty on point for a progressive senator from Vermont.
  3. It inspired action. A part from the meme, the story has been shared, liked, commented infinite times on social media in the past few days (you can find a collection of the funniest Bernie posts in this article). And on top of it, Sanders’ team has double down on positioning by creating merchandise and selling it to support Meals on Wheels.

There is nothing better than great marketing, whether it is intentional or not.

Squeezed or integrated

FabrizioLeave a comment

There are two ways to do product marketing.

Reactive product marketing is when product marketing is squeezed between departments. Product marketing managers react to the needs of the other parts of the organization. When product releases a feature, product marketing has to find a way to communicate that feature. When sales targets a new type of customers, product marketing has to come up with a custom presentation. When marketing is running a specific campaign, product marketing has to come up with some content for mid and bottom of the funnel.

Proactive product marketing is when product marketing is integrated across departments. Product marketing managers engage other parts of the organization to coordinate the whole flow of information: from customers to product, moving through marketing, customer success, customer support, sales. And the other way around. In this scenario, when product releases a new feature, how to communicate it is already known, because the feature was actually developed following to research promoted by product marketing. When sales targets a new type of customers, custom presentation are already in place, because the new strategy was recommended by research promoted by product marketing. When marketing runs a specific campaign, product marketing is actively involved in planning what content is needed, as well as who to distribute it to and where.

I understand most product marketing organizations are probably somewhere in the middle. Just always be aware of what type of product marketing you aim to be.

One is execution, the other is the cornerstore of go-to-market.

Which one are you?

Words

Fabrizio2 Comments

When you write copy for a website, a landing page, a brochure, a banner, an email, or any other marketing or sales material, this is a great piece of advice.

Except, you should actually ask that question at word level: what is this word supposed to do?

Words take up precious space on screens, and the ones you are going to pick need to have the potential to change the right people. This is probably the reason why your marketing material is not effective.

Startup mentality

FabrizioLeave a comment

Startup mentality is a beautiful concept we are gradually wearing out.

It is about not being stuck in hierarchies and roles, being able to spot problems and go about solving them, having the flexibility to do work that matters whenever it is easier for you, feeling at ease with change and appreciating the challenges that come with it, sharing knowledge and experience with others to get better together.

On the other hand, it should not be about getting paid only when things are good and be happy about it, being loyal to the founders no matter what they preach, being on call 24/7, working 60 hours a week for years, competing relentlessly with everybody, being too busy to share, and having a vision of you on a Tesla in three years.

It is a not so subtle difference that might make or break your company. One to remember and often repeat to your colleagues.

P.S.: it is Christmas, and I am going to give away 5 Kindle copies of Storynomics to the first 5 who comment on yesterday’s post, sharing what they are getting from this blog. It is a slow burner, and I am going to run this until January 6th.

Kindness

Fabrizio1 Comment

Kindness starts from understanding that we are not alone.

That despite our uniqueness, the pain we feel, the challenges we face, the preoccupations that keep our mind busy are common.

That what we are going through is the reflection of what our neighbour has lived for the past six months.

That the person who does not reply to our message is not having a better day.

That it is difficult for our partner to figure us out, just as it is difficult for us to figure them out.

Kindness is an act directed at ourselves first.

Kindness is for every day of the year.

Merry Christmas!

P.S.: I have not read many books this year, but one I enjoyed is Storynomics, by Robert McKee and Thomas Gerace. I am giving away 5 Kindle copies of the book, to the first 5 people who leave a comment to this post and share one thing they got from my blog.