The Marketing Plaza

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.