The Marketing Plaza

Q: What do marketing people and therapists have in common?

A: They both deal with insecurities.

Q: Is marketing a discipline that belongs in a business school, communications school, or in the school of social sciences?

A: Yes.

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In his book In Search of the Obvious: The Antidote for Today’s Marketing Mess,” marketing guru Jack Trout states the obvious: “…the human mind tends to be insecure when it comes to purchasing things.” The role of marketing, he argues, is simply to make people feel more secure with a purchasing decision.  It’s also the reason, Trout notes, that a leadership is so important and should be utilized whenever possible in a marketing campaign.

In psychology, he states, it’s called the “herd mentality.” The consumer assumes that others know better and are willing to lessen their psychological risk by following others in the marketplace. If a brand is number one, it must be number one for a reason.

Ironically, many company CEOs, CMOs and Communications VPs get humble when they hold a leadership position. From watching too many Greek Tragedies, they fear corporate Hubris and being toppled from the mountaintop should their position be discovered.

Odd, isn’t it?  Marketing is about helping a company be discovered and differentiating itself in the marketplace to make a consumer’s choice fsst, easy and obvious. Nevertheless, Trout has example after example of companies who go quiet when they are, in fact, number one in their profession.

I’m facing a similar challenge with a current client, who is clearly number one in its field.  Others, with a longer history with the account, emphatically state that the client will not admit in public that they are number one in their industry. They will say the are an industry leader, have the largest network, and make many other claims that imply number one, but will not use the term. “We’re number one!”

In the recent movie Whip It, starring Drew Barrymore, the featured roller derby team consistently comes in Number Two.  They even take up the chant, “We’re number two,” after every game. Roller Derby becomes about “attitude” as is “marketing.”  I won’t tell you the end of the movie. It isn’t a formula and may not be what you expect.

Here’s an interesting fact: Roller Derby is one of three major league sports invented in the U.S.  If you count marketing as a major league sport, perhaps it’s one of four.  However, it’s no secret that there are tons of sports analogies used in business. Perhaps it’s time, we stole a few from Roller Derby.  Attitude Matters and it’s not about just going around in circles.  The goal is to come in first.

Here’s a takeaway from yet another sport – horse racing – not invented in the U.S. You can be a leader and not be number one. You can be a leader in a Win, Place or Show position. You can only be number one in the Winner’s Circle.

Is your company long-term greedy, or short-sighted for sales?
A clue may lie in your  definition of  marketing.

Great marketing, according to best-selling author Joe Vitale, is inspired. Perhaps that’s why most marketing isn’t all that great.  For most companies, marketing tends to be out of desperation rather than inspiration.

It’s part of the problem American businesses face, in general, with short-term versus long-term thinking.  In the short-term, the business needs a sale – badly.  Hence, a CEO calls in a marketing team to help facilitate a sale  NOW!  It’s what causes confusion between marketing and sales promotion. I call it Desperation Marketing.

Better marketing is long-term based — building reputation, relationships and community over time.  Inspired marketing draws people to a product, service or business because they want to be affiliated with what that company has to offer.

I recently met with a business planning professor from a local college to discuss business planning. He used to work for Goldman Sachs on Wall Street. He told the story of one of his mentors — a great Goldman Sachs leader of his time– who decided to retire a few years ago when the company became, in his opinion, too short-sighted. By short- sighted, the retiring executive meant ‘in search of this year’s sales.”  Goldman Sachs had been known, he said, for being “long-term greedy,” a positive attribute that differentiated the company for greatness and fostered  building long-term wealth over short-term gain.

I have no way to test if the story is true, but it rings true because this week Goldman Sachs is all over the news in terms of its outrageous bonuses for 2009. The company claims that its executives deserve the bonuses due to outstanding performances during tough economic times.  Even if  true, it’s  insensitive to the marketplace – defined as the rest of us.  It also positions Goldman Sachs as self-centered and  greedy – short-term greedy.

I’m not here to bash Goldman Sachs.  It’s just a story that was told to me this week. But, I am here to say:

“Think about your marketing and positioning.”

Remind yourself that, unless you’re a venture capitalist or a real estate house flipper, you’re likely in business for the long haul.  Use your marketing dollars and efforts accordingly.