4 paramount marketing principles untapped by most marketing professionals

I have been involved in marketing for large companies for thirty-five years. More than three decades in which everything has changed. I learned the ropes on one of the "training ships" of the business. I wanted to learn the job from the best, and I was fortunate enough to meet some good masters along the way, both at the technical and managerial levels. In these 35 years, the technical side has been disrupted by technological innovations that have changed the face of the media and distribution scenario. Managerial skills have also been put to the test, especially by the earthquake that was the pandemic, with all the social and professional consequences and questions to which we are still looking for answers. But what remains of these 35 years of Marketing???

1- People at the center. I've heard them called a thousand things: consumers, patients, shoppers, caregivers, gatekeepers, healthcare professionals, decision makers, users, housewives, targets, audiences, target groups, marketing personas, customers, repeaters, loyalists, advocates... but always people. You can't understand marketing if you don't understand people. If you don't care about people, change your business. Marketing is about pleasing people. If you don't care about people's needs, fears, desires, sometimes even ambiguities, don't. Marketing is about people.??

2- The right people. Over the years, I've spoken to many different audiences on many different topics: managers, colleagues, salespeople, customers, students... Sometimes I don't really know who I'm speaking to. In these cases, I always ask. The same topic can be addressed at very different times and in very different ways, depending on who we are speaking to. Marketing communications is no different. If you think that marketing managers, whether global or local profiles, are clear about who their brand is speaking to - and how to communicate that to their contacts - you may never have set foot in a marketing department. Understanding and defining your audience is first a complex task, and second, it requires the courage to make choices. Defining your primary audience (who you want to talk to) is a complex operation. If you find it easy, you are probably not doing it right.??

3- People alone are not enough. People are important, but they are not everything. First of all, know that people will betray you. Market research tells you that the ideal target for your espresso capsules is Maria, 42, married to Paolo, mother of Sonia and Giacomo. Professional, like her husband. Affluent, living in an urban area, short of time.... it is ture: Maria does buy your capsules. But remember that Maria is also a traitor. She buys not only your capsules, but also those of your competitors. In fact, she offers your capsules to her friends to make a good impression, but most of the time she drinks the competition's coffee with Paolo, which is always faster, costs less and is not so bad after all. But don't think that Paolo is cheating on you. In fact, since his college study nights, he's been partial to instant coffee, and he hasn't lost the habit-if you think it's enough to know the demographics of your target audience, again, it's more complex than that.??

4- People know each other. And they talk about the things they care about. Don't just think about the so far missed opportunity as far as I'm concerned, which is social networks (or better said 'social media'). But in real life. People are talking about your products and services, forming opinions about your brand and sometimes sharing them with their friends. Over the years, people have become increasingly wary of advertising messages in the mass media. First from newspapers and television, then from influencers who, except in rare cases, have lost their credibility and therefore their effectiveness over time. So who do we trust? Our own eyes and those we know. Before we bought our first Tesla, we probably talked about it with friends, colleagues or acquaintances. And then, later, we did more research online. And finally, we contacted customer service. Has anyone ever seen a Tesla commercial on TV? People are talking about the facts. Tesla's innovation and service is a fact. Offer something worth talking about instead of spending a lot of money to advertise the same products and services as so many others, only more expensive.??

In the end, many things have changed, but one thing has not changed: marketing is about people. If you understand people, you can understand marketing; if you don't understand and don't care about people, forget about it, change your job.

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