This "new" definition of marketing was adopted by the board of directors at the American Marketing Association in October 2007: Marketing is 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.
A frightful definition that may be true of Old Marketing. But marketing has changed. Hellooooo.
Seth Godin, The King of All Marketing, quite obviously is not on that board. Seth defines marketing as making use of time and money to create stories and spread them. That's New Marketing, which he wrote in Meatball Sundae is about fashion and stories and permission and promises. And then there's Old Marketing, the act of interrupting masses of people with ads about average products. That worked back when there was scarcity of choice and a large resource of cheap attention.
A great example of what New Marketing's all about is the bob johnson project. A retired insurance salesman would seem the least likely person to set the fashion world on fire, but there you have Bob Johnson. And it's not because he's using New Marketing effectively, but because his remarkable products are conducive to New Marketing.
What you must realize is that Bob Johnson isn't in the business of selling t-shirts. He's in the business of selling a creative expression of his unique worldview. It takes a shift in your perspective on marketing to see this. Seth believes the business you're in is not defined by your products and services but rather by your marketing. When you start to see that marketing defines you, defining marketing becomes pretty important.
If you define marketing as an activity, set of institutions and processes that support the organization, you aren't rolling with the sea change. Today you're contending with scarity of attention owing to abundance of choice, and at your disposal is a cheap resource of small groups with similar interests. New Marketing tactics like storytelling, Google AdWords, YouTube videos and blogs aren't going to help you reach the masses and make your offer more appealing if your offer isn't remarkable. In fact, you'll end up with a meatball sundae, a very unappetizing concoction of boring stuff that doesn't attract word of mouth and tantalizing toppings that make a mockery of it.
As a prospect, the most obvious way to know there's a meatball sundae being served is if you see a corporate Web site touting a "Coming Soon" blog. There are plenty of other indications. Look for the absence of fashion and stories and permission and promises. The real deals are the bob johnson projects of the world which are proliferating not because of New Marketing but because they're conducive to New Marketing. The new reality is marketing must not support the organization. The organization must support marketing. Somebody needs to tell the American Marketing Association board.
UPDATE: Turns out there's a story behind the bob johnson project story. I corresponded today with Bob Johnson, a.k.a. Denise, to my surprise. She explained that Bob is an alter ego of hers. When she was young she would play "office" for hours and hours. She called herself Bob Johnson, and she worked in insurance, modeling her workday around her dad's. Her dad would bring home forms and stamps and all sorts of office supplies. She eventually ended up working for her dad in the insurance industry. Years later she left to pursue a more creative outlet. But Denise said because of her work ethic, her friends have continued to call her Bob Johnson, as in "What's Bob up to today? He's always so busy." So she came up with the bob johnson project, and, well, you know the rest if you've visited the site.
I was feeling tricked until I became privy to the backstory. It underscores, for me, the importance of authenticity. It ended well, but, like I wrote to Denise just now, the backstory only adds richness and depth. Why not be as transparent as possible? All you have to lose is repeat business.
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