RESOLUTIONS FOR MARKETERS
res-o-lu-tion(noun) – decision that reflects a determination
to accomplish something important to you
Happy New Year! We’re back with an article we’ve rereleased over the last few years to kick-off the New Year!! We hope you enjoyed a wonderful holiday season and are looking forward to a terrific 2019. When it comes to the New Year many of us commit to resolutions. Resolutions, we all make them at some time in our lives. Frequently they are at the start of the New Year or, perhaps, after we’ve made an error, or when we need to correct an unwanted behavior. Typically, our resolutions are about personal development and success. They’re about doing better or just doing different.
“I resolve to…
- Lose 25-pounds
- Learn a new language
- Stay in closer contact with family and/or friends
- Find a new job
- Finish writing that novel I started seven years ago
- Waste less time online or watch less television
- Work longer, harder, smarter to get promoted
- Complete a triathlon”
and on, and on, and on. We make resolutions but don’t always keep them. That’s because we require constant reminders, discipline and, probably, a modicum of success to ensure we remain motivated and stay on track. They also require that we take the time, devote the energy and make the commitment to turn our resolutions into reality. This is particularly difficult given the demands and busyness of life.
One of the areas where high achievers make resolutions is in their work life. But, if you are like most people, you may find yourself so enmeshed in you work and family life that you have not had the opportunity to make, or even reflect upon, your resolutions regarding your role as a marketer. Yes, this is about being a more effective marketer. And to be a more effective marketer we need to work at transforming ourselves into being better human beings, true citizens of a global family. Here are some resolutions for you to consider in making your marketing matter more and/or, at the least, committing to achieving a more satisfying and successful 2019:
As a “marketer” I resolve to:
Be, above all else, customer-centric by being a faithful servant to my intended target-customers.
Resist attempts to reach out to all the customers in the category but, instead, to carefully choose, marshal and focus available resources against a select segment of customers who believe in and appreciate the values of my brand, what it represents and why it exists.
Get beyond defining and engaging these customers based upon superficial demographics, classifications and stereotypes. Instead, I resolve to really get to know and better appreciate my customers so that I can really understand and anticipate their needs and serve them better than my competition.
I resolve to become a Marketect, in the manner of the late Steve Jobs, in redefining the marketplace for my customers, to create distinctive offerings that compel customer preference and create brand loyalty.
To create a competitive brand positioning strategy built upon a big, juicy Brand Idea that disrupts the category and use it: a) as the blueprint for directing the organization; and b) to steward brand development by ensuring it is reflected in everything we decide and do, in order to firmly establish it in the marketplace.
To earn the trust of customers by providing “honest” products at a fair value that balance price with benefits, and exercising the highest code of ethics in all decisions and actions.
To devote myself to creating a bond between our customers and the brand based upon my ability to anticipate their needs and delight them in everything the organization does to deliver on the brand promise embodied in the Brand Idea.
To seek to get beyond “unsights” to discover “legitimate” and “productive” customer insights that reveal deep-seated truths, values and/or needs our brand can better satisfy versus competition.
To transcend product features and attributes and focus on the experience we deliver to customers.
To think different, challenge the conventional wisdom in where, how and with what we engage our customers.
To encourage, seek and settle for nothing less than BIG Juicy Ideas that animate the brand and its positioning strategy to compel customer preference.
To coach versus evaluate the work of resource groups, such as my agency, so as to add value to the productivity of their work, and all ideas and tactics we employ.
To take steps to enhance my personal development and capabilities so I can realize my potential and make a difference for the customer, brand and organization I serve.
To embrace kaizen, continuous improvement, in making small, incremental changes to my marketing that contribute to on-going success.
To measure, analyze and gain knowledge regarding the effectiveness (impact and ROI) of all the marketing mix elements and tactics I employ in support of the brand.
To focus my energies and time on those critical, non-urgent activities that will have a major impact on brand development and health versus those non-critical, but urgent, activities that do little, if anything, to serve customers and advance the brand.
To make my marketing matter more!
While the aforementioned suggestions may appear to be far too many resolutions than any one of us can possibly handle, they really focus around several critical and interrelated areas. Specifically, they deal with:
- Being customer-centric;
- Becoming a Marketect;
- Building and marketing healthy brands;
- Providing customers with a positive experience;
- Championing BIG Ideas;
- Marketing responsibly; and
- Embracing kaizen to make continuous improvement in personal and brand development, all in an effort to make your marketing matter more.
Come to think about it, this is actually more than a set of resolutions. It could be viewed as an operational code of conduct for brand marketers, serving to marry aspirational intentions in serving customers with imaginative and thoughtful strategies, and actions.
It might be a good idea to select the three you believe are most important that you are currently not addressing, and to adopt them as your resolutions for this New Year, 2019. Share this with your team and gain their input. Importantly, commit to achieving them on both a personal and organizational level.
Thank you for your continued interest in DISPATCHES (and Marketing Matters) and productive relationship with us at BDNI. We look forward to growing our mutually productive relationship in this new year.
If we can be of any service to you regarding brand related marketing matters such as: conducting essential marketing training for your team (e.g., Leadership Brand Messaging); or assisting you in developing a Competitive Brand or Portfolio Positioning Strategy built upon BIG, differentiated Brand Ideas; Discovering Legitimate and Productive Customer Insights; generating BIG juicy ideas and transforming them into winning concepts; or maybe you could use assistance in producing a strategically appropriate, single-minded Essential Creative Brief; or creating a world class marketing plan driven and linked by behavior objectives so as to create an evidence-driven brand founded on generating impact and positive ROI (Return-On-Investment), or achieving any of the aforementioned resolutions to make your marketing matter more, please don’t hesitate to contact Richard at 847 256-8820 (office) or 847-312-8822 (mobile), or simply reply to this DISPATCHES email.
Happy New Year and best wishes in all you choose to do and be!
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