From the Vault: Marketing 101

What this article is about: The importance of a good story to market.

Like every professional, I too, had followed the yellow brick road to my past work and through the experience of looking over the years of reportage, landed on a report I had worked exceptionally hard at, while undertaking a simultaneously important contract job during that time.

It was a report that I hold close to my heart even today, primarily because I was the reporter, producer, camera person, researcher, writer, and editor. Lest I forget, I was also the marketing person, attempting to get independent agencies to take the story on.

Was I successful at the last part? Not exactly. Was I successful in the process of getting my report done, absolutely!

How does this flashback relate to business marketing you wonder?

I learned valuable lessons from that experience of creating a report and going to market with it. I'll come to that key question of "why I'm the right [product/service/person/agency/etc]".

Product companies, marketing agencies, independent consultants and newbies, everyone is clamoring to get your attention on the "why I'm the right pick". It does take an impressive pitch to seal the deal. It also takes an authentic and convincing story to position brand value in what you are talking about.

When a marketing professional speaks, it's not just about the SEO optimized words. It's a strategic move, and the strategy is born from waiting for the right time and place to make that move. This adds value.

For example, this past weekend was #SuperBowl mania and while millions tuned in for that amazing finale at overtime, it was the advertising that also kept folks in their seats. Specifically, it was the marketing strategy to reveal months of hard work behind the scenes. Perhaps, it was the moment of reality to a creative director's dream pitch that finally came to life.

What made some stand out? I'd think it was the #wait.

Advertising and marketing agencies start their bidding for a company's Super Bowl spot months ahead of the game, strategizing their plan for that primetime slot.

Ready for it? They spend approximately $233,333, per second! Teams pitch idea after idea, they work the mockups, they film, edit, review, scrap, and start over. Then, after all those months of working, fine tuning, and sometimes tear filled completions, the process to get it on air is the moment they've waited for.

Not every company can buy a spot to advertise during the #Superbowl, and that's the reality. However, EVERY company can buy into marketing. It's not an ambitious move, but a strategic one when you see the payoff.

Marketing strategy involves no fixed model, but a fixed mindset to getting the desired outcomes.

The metrics in marketing, that actually matter

Back to that report. While the video didn't make it to primetime news, it did open the doors for larger conversations.

I got to sit across editors, meet with entrepreneurs who've now sold their company to the big retail giants with multi-million dollar valuations, see dreams become bigger through VC funding and make connections with India's leading academic institutions that provided the next generation of professionals the right tools to succeed as an #entrepreneur.

That is a Super Bowl victory in my books.

The overtime victory:

The Kansas City Chief's won this year, but for those ardent fans, you'll know that between 1970 and 2020, they didn't make a victory. It took 50 years to come back, and how! The lesson here is about working at the craft and the wait. When the time hits, you win. 2024 will go down as one of the best moments in #SuperBowl history of the Kansas City Chiefs vs the San Francisco 49ers, a moment that was long waited for.

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