John Porcaro: mktg@msft: The Real Goal of Marketing
John is blogging about what marketing means to him and comments upon an entry by Chris Sells:
Marketing people are customer-focused in the sense of always thinking about why customers aren't buying enough stuff, and how to get them to buy more. You're customer-focused in the sense of caring about what customers need, and helping them accomplish it, even if that doesn't result in selling anything.
"But don't take it so hard. It's not as if I said you were too honest to be a banker, or too smart to be a teacher. (God, what if girls thought you were too handsome to be sexy?)"
WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG.
Problem is, lots of folks in the profession agree with the statements above. And many of the folks I work with might even subscribe to the old "broadcast" model of marketing (throw out a message or product to enough people and a lot of it will stick).
But in focusing on understanding and meeting customer needs, marketing becomes a synergistic, simple proposition, a win-win partnership where you're exchanging value for value. A "marketplace" in the purest sense. I've seen far too much success when I was sincerely listening and meeting customer needs to ignore that doing it that way is the easiest way to make money, to sell product, to get visitors to websites, to drive demand.
If marketing is the former, count me out. That definition feels more like an underhand 'door to door' conman than an attitude for the 21st century.
As I blogged on Thursday I've recently signed up for a marketing course. I think it will be a great course and i knbow I will come across some of this thinking. I just hope it doesn't get in the way of the good stuff.
For what its worth, Chris (and John) I'm with you. Talk to the customers. Find out what they want and try and work out a way to give it to them.
Some people get this, some people don't. Unfortunately in my current organisation I would say the latter have the upper hand.
Posted by Paul Goodison at August 30, 2003 10:42 PM | TrackBack