MetaGreg

There was a time when many of my friends got tired of being engineers and started taking graduate courses that have “business” sprinkled in it. What used to be hours of senseless chat on Friday nights became a venue for MBA-lingo definitions and discussions. Of all the things I heard from my friends, marketing was the only thing that interested me. One time, I asked what marketing book should I read and my friend showed a book so thick it makes a good support when changing car tires.

Nope, I didn’t read the book and definitely I didn’t become a marketing professional after that.

I think if you ask 100 marketing experts on the definition of marketing, you will get 100 different answers. Since they are all experts, the most likely best definition is a combination of their answers. Thus, you end up reading a thick book.

Let’s begin with The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia:

Marketing, in economics, that part of the process of production and exchange that is concerned with the flow of goods and services from producer to consumer. In popular usage it is defined as the distribution and sale of goods, distribution being understood in a broader sense than the technical economic one.

From Wikipedia:

Marketing is an integrated communications-based process through which individuals and communities discover that existing and newly-identified needs and wants may be satisfied by the products and services of others.

From the American Marketing Association:

Marketing is defined by as the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.

From the Chartered Institute of Marketing:

The management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably.

And from the handy-dandy Dictionary program in my MacBook:

The action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising.

Reading these definitions makes me dizzy.

One small problem with these definitions is they are difficult to remember. Go ahead and try it. It’s hard. The bigger problem is these definitions lack character. I imagine myself a CEO and telling everyone in the marketing department what they should be doing – I only see blank faces.

Of course, you can argue it’s about the right definition, not about ‘character’. But think about it for a moment.  Maybe, just maybe, the reason marketing is confusing is because the purpose itself lacks “character”. And just maybe the reason many marketing we experience every day are so dishonest and cold is simply because the “marketing” people themselves don’t have the right definition? (Disclaimer: I am no marketing expert)

John Jantsch, in his book Duct Tape Marketing, offers a definition of marketing, that in my opinion is the simplest and truest of them all. He defines marketing as:

Marketing is getting people who have a specific need or problem to know, like, trust, contact, and refer you.

You can argue that is applicable only to consultants or people offering services. OK, let’s do an experiment. Let say you are the product manager of PepsiZero, and let’s replace the word ‘you’ with Pepsi Zero.

Marketing is getting people who have a specific need or problem to know, like, trust, contact, and refer Pepsi Zero.

Ok, let’s make it more specific:

Marketing is getting people who are skinny and thirsty to know, like, and trust Pepsi Zero.

Trying, doing this exercise with the other definitions:

Marketing, in economics, that part of the process of production and exchange that is concerned with the flow of Pepsi Zero from PepsiCoke to skinny and thirsty people.
- Columbia Encylopedia

Marketing is an integrated communications-based process through which skinny people discover that their thirst can be satisfied by PepsiZero. (Not bad!)
- Wikipedia

The management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying skinny person’s thirst profitably.
- Chartered Institute of Marketing,

While John Jantsch’s book is targeted to small business owners, his definition of marketing captures the essence of it. It is no surprise that people often associate marketing with advertisements because even the people who are paid to do marketing also have the same notion.

I think it starts with the very definition of what marketing is. Your thought affects your action. Many marketing starts and ends on the “knowing” part. An ad here, a billboard there, a brochure today, and a cold call tomorrow and your marketing is done.

Don’t be surprised if many thinks marketing is evil and marketing people are a bunch of liars and cons. After all, “trust” is not always a goal.

How about you. Do you have your own definition of marketing?

• Top Small Business Marketing Trends for 2009 from Small Business Trends
  “Marketing in 2008 became decidedly social — and 2009 will see the social elements of marketing accelerate. Social media went from being on the cutting edge, to approaching the mainstream. When I say “social” I mean marketing driven by word-of-mouth relationships.”
• The 10 Entrepreneur Blogs You Need To Follow In 2009
• Web Design Trends for 2009 from Smashing Magazine
  “We Web designers are a fickle lot. We love to experiment with things. We love to observe how people interact with our work. And we love to try out unusual design approaches that might possibly go mainstream and become a classic approach. As a result, new design approaches come up, and as more and more designers notice them and make use of them, new trends emerge.”
• Mobile Web Design Trends For 2009 from Smashing Magazine
  Because designing websites for mobile devices brings some unique situations and challenges into play, the subject requires a strategic approach from the designer and developer.
• David Pogue on Cellphone Trends for 2009

About last year.

• Top 6 Marketing Lessons Learned in 2008 from Practical Ecommerce
  “We’ve all heard the old adage: Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. What recent 2008 history has taught marketers is the value of online marketing in tough economic times. Consumer purse strings presumably won’t loosen much in 2009, which means marketers have to create smarter online marketing strategies…”
• America’s Biggest Billionaire Losers Of 2008 from Forbes
  Combined, the tycoons on our ranking lost $167 billion in 11 months, while shares of the companies in which they own stakes fell an average 59%.

1. The first time a man looks at an ad, he doesn’t see it.
2. The second time, he doesn’t notice it.
3. The third time, he is conscious of its existence.
4. The fourth time, he faintly remembers having seen it.
5. The fifth time, he reads the ad.
6. The sixth time, he turns up his nose at it.
7. The seventh time, he reads it through and says, “Oh brother!”
8. The eight time, he says, “Here’s that confounded thing again!”
9. The ninth time, he wonders if it amounts to anything.
10. The tenth time, he will ask his neighbor if he has tried it.
11. The eleventh time, he wonders how the advertiser makes it pay.
12. The twelfth time, he thinks it must be a good thing.
13. The thirteenth time, he thinks it might be worth something.
14. The fourteenth time, he remembers that he wanted such a thing for a long time.
15. The fifteenth time, he is tantalized because he cannot afford to buy it.
16. The sixteenth time, he thinks he will buy it someday.
17. The seventeenth time, he makes a memorandum of it.
18. The eighteenth time, he swears at his poverty.
19. The nineteenth time, he counts his money carefully.
20. The twentieth time he sees the ad, he buys the article or asks his wife to do so.

Written by Thomas Smith in 1885 [via Guerrilla Marketing].
Photo courtesy of kennylin.

One great frustration I have with myself is that I can’t think of an original product to build.
—Migs Paraz

If there is one thing I could advice to Migs, it is to learn the principles of marketing.

If you’re a geek and you said “no f****** way” after hearing this advice, it’s alright. That’s the normal reaction 99.99% of the time. I’m sure every developer in the world has a story to tell how the marketing guys turned the software into a “seamless highly integrated end-to-end solution” when all the software can do is import a CSV file. Outside work, we are bombarded with marketing bullshit like “whiter than white skin” and systematic lies like hiring movie stars to tell us how tea tastes great or gorgeous babes endorsing shampoo products that can make your hair shiny and healthy in 7 days.

But real marketing is not about “lying”. Marketing is about defining the right customers for you, identifying what they value, and creating the whole product package that delivers that value. It is about solving problems, not applying technology. It is about them, not you.

Programmers think they have nothing in common with marketing guys but that is not true. Marketing people also do research, design, and tests just like what we programmers do. If we skip these things and go straight into coding, we produce buggy software. Similarly, when marketing people jump into logos, taglines, color branding, they end up with marketing campaigns that are pathetic.

As a geek, we believe that the value of a product is a function of its objective utility. If an MP3 player with 8GB sells for $100, and the 16GB version costs $150, it makes sense. But if the same 8GB version comes with a choice of fuchsia, cerulean, or periwinkle casing and sells for $125, it does not make sense anymore. The idea of paying more because it has a pretty color or just because you like it is not really understood by geeks.

In the software world, having personal, standard, enterprise editions of a single software product helps many companies earn more money. There is a reason why this is so effective and the marketing guys know them. If you are geek that understands how marketing works, you would be in a better position to build a product that will fulfill the need of your customers because just like the marketing guys, you understand what your customers need. And in case you decided to start your own company, you already know the importance of marketing and you will not shoot in the dark.

For a start, I recommend the following books:

• Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Al Ries and Jack Trout. This book is a classic and highly recommended.
• The Business of Software by Eric Sink. Eric has devoted 9 chapters on marketing.