Like many in the community/social media space, I cringe when people call me a “marketer”. I completely agree with Chris when he says:
One reason why I felt I wasn’t a marketer was that my stereotype for marketers was being “that guy.” You know the one. He tells you about himself all the time, about his product all the time, about how all roads lead to him/his product all the time. EVERYTHING is about the message. Nothing is genuine, and nothing is ever participatory.
Following up on that post, Chris Heuer adds some fantastic thoughts to the discussion regarding what “real marketing”actually is.
It’s time to talk once again about what I still think of as “real marketing”. For me this means the process of matching a product/service with the people who will get the most benefit/satisfaction/enjoyment from it. This is about serving the market’s interest by being a matchmaker of value between people and companies – caring about both, but more importantly caring about your own integrity.
Completely agree with both Chris’. Over the years (or perhaps decades? generations?), marketing has built big thick brick walls between company and consumer. It started slowly, pushing consumers further away in order to protect against lawsuits or PR debacles. But it was also because it was easy to measure. After all, if you lob a “campaign” over the wall, you can watch where it lands and measure the splash damage. At least as well as you can from your post on this side of that ever growing wall.
You know, now that I think about this, perhaps it’s not walls we’re talking about. Perhaps it’s more akin to trench warfare:
Trench warfare arose when there was a revolution in firepower without similar advances in mobility and communications.
Sound familiar? Perhaps like giving marketers television ads, CRM databases, email newsletters, and any other Weapon of Mass Disturbance?
It’s no damn wonder we’re so hesitant to associate ourselves with marketing…
Chris Brogan...
September 16th, 2007 23:32
Interesting. Trench warfare at least seems to make more sense to me than the lob effect. So thank you for adding to the conversation. Interesting thought.
Jake McKee
September 16th, 2007 23:36
Thanks for stopping by, Chris!
So what about the "lobbing" concept doesn't make sense to you? In my mind, this is actually quite an accurate way to look at what traditional marketing is about. The marketer picks a target, determines the ammunition and then fires. Once the artillery has landed, they look at the results. They rarely seem to pay much attention to the effect this has outside of the splash radius.
Would love to hear more from ya!
Chris Brogan...
September 16th, 2007 23:32
Interesting. Trench warfare at least seems to make more sense to me than the lob effect. So thank you for adding to the conversation. Interesting thought.
Jake McKee
September 16th, 2007 23:36
Thanks for stopping by, Chris! So what about the "lobbing" concept doesn't make sense to you? In my mind, this is actually quite an accurate way to look at what traditional marketing is about. The marketer picks a target, determines the ammunition and then fires. Once the artillery has landed, they look at the results. They rarely seem to pay much attention to the effect this has outside of the splash radius. Would love to hear more from ya!
Matt
September 17th, 2007 9:20
My title is "Dir of Community and Marketing" and I tell people I'm not a "suit and tie marketing guy" and that helps a little. I instead tell them that I focus on the internal community of people already using the site and the external community of people who don't yet know they want to use to site. It helps me sleep at night a little : )
Matt
September 17th, 2007 9:20
My title is "Dir of Community and Marketing" and I tell people I'm not a "suit and tie marketing guy" and that helps a little. I instead tell them that I focus on the internal community of people already using the site and the external community of people who don't yet know they want to use to site. It helps me sleep at night a little : )
Geoff Livingston
September 17th, 2007 17:15
Personally, I like the title pimp.
Just kidding.
Social media has triggered a rebirth and we are all lucky enough to benefit from it. Because now communities can bite back when they get the silicon snake oil.
It's a sweet time really for those of us who get it and are really marketers, not carpet baggers (which is the image the name seems to inspire). Of course, if you think marketing is bad, try telling people your an honest, ethical PR guy. They usually laugh in my face.
Geoff Livingston
September 17th, 2007 17:15
Personally, I like the title pimp. Just kidding. Social media has triggered a rebirth and we are all lucky enough to benefit from it. Because now communities can bite back when they get the silicon snake oil. It's a sweet time really for those of us who get it and are really marketers, not carpet baggers (which is the image the name seems to inspire). Of course, if you think marketing is bad, try telling people your an honest, ethical PR guy. They usually laugh in my face.