THINK ABOUT IT: You’re Not a Marketer Until … RESPONSES

In the last THINK ABOUT IT article, I shared a remark from Sully Sullenberger, Captain of US Airways Flight 1549, that he successfully ditched into the Hudson River to save all 155 souls onboard after his aircraft lost both engines due to bird strikes. He stated, “you're not a pilot until you've lost an engine.”

It got me thinking that while we carry the title of “marketer,” as those of us who have flown aircraft are recognized as “pilots”—regardless of whether we lose an engine or not—perhaps, we’re not a marketer until we prove ourselves in one or more ways that are significant.?

So, I invited all to complete the statement, “You’re not a marketer until …”

Here are the responses I received from top marketing practitioners (parenthetical statements are mine):

• You’ve listened in on or read customer feedback—positive or negative. There’s always time to practice “customer closeness.”
• You can accurately predict how your target customer will react to your proposed marketing initiatives (and launch only those that will stimulate the behaviors you seek).
• You’ve built a brand.
• You’ve successfully launched a new product or service.
• You’ve delighted your customer with a highly favorable experience.
• You’ve met a need that target customers didn’t realize they had.
• You got someone (i.e., a prospective customer) interested in (converting to, adopting) your product or service.
• You’ve achieved unswerving devotion to your brand.
• You’ve created value for someone (that meaningfully differentiates your brand from its competitors).
• You understand who the category and your brand’s 'heavy & super heavy users' are, what % of your sales ($ & volume) they represent, insights among them, and where you will source new sales without ALIENATING your heavy & super heavy users.?
• You know why your most loyal users love your brand and why your defectors leave the brand (and use the knowledge to grow your business).
• You’ve successfully turned around a failing brand.
• You’ve tapped into a customer insight that motivates your customer “to do” something (a specific, needed behavior).?
• You've started from BEFORE the starting line (i.e., the launch) and brought a solution for a problem to market. Marketing begins with identifying a customer problem. The art of marketing is practiced in the birth of a solution.?
• You've discovered an untapped need—the problem—and created a solution for a target customer segment to build a brand.
• You have identified a winning insight and covered this insight-driven customer needs with a clear benefit proposition and a solid Reason-to-Believe.?
• You’ve reached a sizeable audience, changing their Behavior and establishing in their minds the Key Thought that will end up in a purchase decision and/or brand adoption/category penetration!?
• You’ve created a significant amount of Brand Lovers/Loyalists.
• You’ve timely and successfully addressed a sudden PR nightmare (e.g., recall, broadly executed marketing blunder, etc.).
• You've been one of the first to observe and effectively act on what becomes a significant trend.
• You survived consecutive years of management asking for marketing cost savings (spending reductions) and still managed to build revenue.
• You understand "Market Standing and Aspiration" along with the realities of your brand and company capabilities in developing appropriate objectives and strategies.
• When one appreciates that customer insights come from, duh, customers, not from data. Said another way, when a bright, creative pro learns to listen very carefully to what customers say—reading between the lines—that's when genuine insights come about.
• When you learn to contain your ego gratification by ignoring vanity metrics—likes, clicks, views, etc.—and, instead, internalize that the only things that count at the end of the day are business results (i.e., sales, profit, and market share).
• You have managed a brand through a crisis.
• You have created and launched a new brand or product - not just a brand or product extension.
• You understand and have practiced all the disciplines of Marketing and not just one or two.
• You can tackle critical marketing errors that not only lead to underperformance but threaten marketing relevance and brand survival. Marketing is not tactical! One typical error: not having a competitive and enduring brand positioning strategy.
• You rebuild a brand from scratch.?
• You create a marketing plan that generates positive cash flow (likely not immediately but as quickly as possible), margin accretion, and create economic value for the firm. All businesses need Sales to translate to Profits. And then from Profits to Cash. Every step in the flow is difficult and requires patience and discipline (and sound marketing acumen).
• You've created a compelling brand positioning strategy 4-5 years before launch.
• You have walked away from the business because it's not your target segment—not every (so-called) good strategy is the right strategy.?
• Until you've debated and pressure tested (and adapted) your (brand positioning and) communication strategy to ensure it actually hits the mark.?
• Until you know what good (marketing and resource team) talent looks like and can coach them to greatness.

Anything missing? Anything needing clarification? Which one do you believe best establishes that "You're not a marketer until …"?

Next week I’ll share my thoughts on this subject, You’re Not a Marketer Until...

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Peace and best wishes,

Richard D. Czerniawski richardcz@bdn-intl.com 847-312-8822