As I awoke this morning, to read Mitch Joel’s daily gem I was reminded that Mitch and I started working together on marketing in 2005, which is the same year that my solar blog was born. At that time Twist Image was a small, Montreal-based marketing agency that was just beginning to hit its stride. History has been kind to Mitch and the amazing team there. His book made the NY times list best-sellers list, he is a speaker at Google’s annual conference, and he is respected as a forward-thinker in the new age of marketing.
His advice then and now remains true. Invest in intellectual assets. And I read today’s post I am reminded of words that I have begun to pen for sunlogics corporate blog (site under construction) as regards our own initiatives.
Too many people who claim to be marketers are stuck in the past. Sales pamphlets and a whole bunch of paper-based marketing collateral that simply cost far more than electronic media and are nowhere near as easy to distribute. They are based on antiquated methods of starting conversations. They assume, that commercial targets in traditional industries are not wired, connected or whatever term you wish to use. It is precisely the symptom quote in Mitch’s blog of today that inspires me to help people change the manner in which they convey our opportunity for partnership.
If I had it my way, we’d have no paper marketing collateral at sunlogics. Everything would be downloadable and presentations would be virtual (to a point). Within a few clicks, interactive video would stream to a dealer’s desk and they’d be able to share that with teams of colleagues, friends or families with a few clicks. As Mitch’s article states in his quote, we often underestimate the intelligence of our target and that includes their level of “electronic sophistication”. My father (I won’t write his age here) probably spends more time in front of a screen than I do. So we sometimes judge a marketing method by what we think will be most effective, and often based on our own self-imposed limitations, projected onto others.
We can’t change Rome in a day yet we can at least show it how to change. It is a leader’s decision on whether or not they want to listen to the kind of advice that was quoted. While no longer being a CEO has its advantages, it also means that all that I can personally do in certain cases is lead the horse to the well…and that’s OK too.
So dare I ask…what is the best marketing advice that YOU ever saw? Look forward to seeing your responses..
Sass