ABOUT YOUR AD CAMPAIGN . . .

"Cinema, radio, television, magazines are a school of inattention: people look without seeing, listen in without hearing."

Robert Bresson (1901-1999) French film director.

Completely true, possibly understated, certainly so as it pertains to advertising.

Remember the advertising phrase, "reach and frequency"? 

You can only afford so much reach, and in today's hyper social media world, never enough frequency.

REALITY OR PERCEPTION OF REALITY?

"It all depends on how we look at things, and not how they are in themselves."

Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) Swiss psychologist/psychiatrist

This raises an interesting question, one obviously not limited to business.

Is "reality", whatever that is, more important than perception of reality?

There is only one reality but many perceptions of what it is.

I'll go with perception.

I am far more effective as a marketer when I address consumer perception of reality than I will ever be attempting to change what they perceive to be true.

What do you think?

The Unseen Prejudice

"All the people like us are WE, and everyone else is THEY."

Rudyard Kipling

19th/20th century British writer

You may feel this way even though you profess otherwise, possibly without even knowing you do.

If so and your job is marketing or sales . . .

You Talkin' To Me?

"The world is run by C students."

Source unknown

Probably true but if not, this is.

The world is populated by mostly C students and if you intend to sell us something (B2B or B2C) you need to remember that with your marketing.

So what do you do?  More like what you don't do.

I've quoted my 6th grade teacher, Mr. Mathew Kim, on this before but his advice is worth repeating.

Speak not so you can be understood but so you cannot be misunderstood.

Customer Knowledge: The Key to Sales

"The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well, the product or service fits him and sells itself."

Peter Drucker
20th century American business author/consultant/teacher

I can't believe I'm going to edit Mr. Drucker, however . . .

If you really do know and understand your customer, you will do a much better job creating and effectively marketing products for and to him/her than you will if you don't.

Understanding the Customer

"In each of us there is a little of all of us."

Georg C. Lichtenberg
18th century German scientist

Ok, I see that, but what one does with this is critical, particularly for marketers.

There is danger in thinking we know what others believe and want based on knowing what we believe and want. The image in the mirror does not always reflect reality.

The ability to objectively assess the needs of others is critical for those charged with marketing.

Marketing: Playing the Company Tambourine

"Poets and painters are outside the class system, or rather they constitute a special class of their own, like circus people and gypsies."

Gerald Brenan
20th century British writer

And within business I will add marketers, with apologies to circus people and gypsies if any reading this should be offended by the association.

On our best, most analytical day, we marketers are viewed by "hard science" business types as (barely) necessary evil disruptors of cash flow, returning little value to the business.

True?

Social Network Marketing: To Them Or Through Them?

"The future belongs to the marketers who establish a foundation and process where interested people can market to each other. Ignite consumer networks and then get out of the way and let them talk."

Seth Godin
Entrepreneur/Author

If you are a marketer and have little or no idea what Mr. Godin is suggesting, you're missing the potential represented by social network marketing.

Missing potential but hardly alone.

While much talked about, few companies have come up with anything approaching a viable social network marketing strategy, so there's still time.

Twitter, Facebook, My Space, LinkedIn, Plaxo; likely all names you have at least heard about if not used yourself.

But what about Amie Street, Cafe Mom and Muxlim or the more than 100 others listed in a Wikipedia article? A list described as being incomplete.

What is your social network marketing strategy?

Selling: As Simple As 1, 2, 3

"There is more similarity in the marketing challenge of selling a precious painting by Degas and a frosted mug of root beer than you ever thought possible."

A. Alfred Taubman
American Real Estate Developer, Philanthropist and Industrialist

1. Identify your customer.
2. Decide what you want to tell them about what you want them to buy.
   
3. Tell them.

Products, ideas, even people. They all must be sold and these three steps are what must be done.

How's your sales effort?