Dear MD. Enough of the Apathetic Marketing Campaigns Please.

"We've just been nominated for an industry award". Unfortunately, nobody cares.

I'm sure the people within your company are pretty chuffed provided your employees feel engaged enough. Perhaps you have a few close clients who you have a great relationship that are happy for you. That's great.

Outside of that, the rest of the world could not care less that you have been nominated for 'Best Regional use of Some Weird Niche'. It's not that the rest of the world are cynical or jealous, but there is often little understanding of the story that led the company to that point where they are grinning on stage with Jimmy Carr or similar.

Now, more than ever, we live in a world where the narrative counts. Take the news as an example. There are thousands of news stories worthy of attention from around the world each and every day. The problem being, that if the news was to feature them all, the news would last forever and be far too much information to process.

So instead we are fed the narratives that have an ongoing thread. Whats happening in government, who got voted off Strictly, who Trump has pissed off today, North Korea flexing it's muscles etc. Ask yourself when was the last time you saw an interesting news story that wasn't a natural disaster from Denmark, from Mauritania, from Japan, from anywhere! It's not that they aren't newsworthy, it's just another story that doesn't fit a narrative that the news watching audience can easily engage with, so it isn't run.

As far as your company is concerned, you are Mauritania in a world of USA's. Which gives us a problem. Because no-one cares about Mauritania, and no one cares about your company.

The truth is that your company probably does loads of interesting work. You almost certainly work in an industry that 90% or more of the world would have no idea how it operates. You have a story to tell. So tell it!

And I'm not talking about new product releases or new offers you have on, but the real nitty gritty of what happens on a daily basis. Setbacks, struggles, fun times, boring stuff, but by keeping it all within the narrative, others can follow your journey and buy into the story you're trying to tell.

The best marketing campaigns I have engaged with on a SME basis are nearly all from sole traders or very small businesses. They tell their story as it happens and create wonderfully colourful tales. They're free from the shackles of running ideas through middle management and an MD. Their visions aren't diluted and the net result looks nothing like the opposition are doing. Which in marketing, is good.

The wonderful Hand Dyed Shoe Company is run by one man. This man.

His name is Simon Bourne. I'd never heard of this chap until a few months ago. He set up the website, he processes the sales, he manages the marketing, he makes the shoes, and most importantly of all, I absolutely believe in everything he's trying to achieve as I've bought into his narrative.

Now I have no idea if his shoes are any good, I don't know if he is late on orders, I dont even know how take care of a pair if I was to buy a pair. The truth is I don't need to. Because everything he has talked about on his social channels has not been about the price, or the quality, or his positive customer feedback, but about the journey he goes on to create a pair of shoes, the places he creates them and the story of how the company came to be. I was sold on his shoes before I knew the price.

Simon has his vision and runs with it. He's agile, can adapt to changes and keeps the narrative flowing.

Which is where so many SME's get it wrong. After countless meetings with many Marketing Managers, it has become clear to me that the majority are not empowered with the freedom to be creative and be brave, but to follow a structure to what their superiors see as fitting with their industry. Other staff members dip their toe in, from sales to operations and the net result is the worst crime in marketing. An apathetic campaign.

So this is to you MD's. Take your vision and run with it. Not what you think you should do, but what you WANT to do. Empower your marketers to create a narrative, take a punt and shake up your industry.

You never know, if you get it spot on, you may just win an award.