There’s no two ways about it: there’ a marriage of incompetents working together in perfect harmony.
What am I talking about?
I’m talking about small to medium business owners or the head honcho at a mega goliath company, and... the nitwit marketing and advertising people they’ve hired.
(An god help them if they’re in-house bods given a license to run amok and create marketing and advertising that’s based on some creative voodoo and a swagger of laziness that’s billboarded for the whole world to see!)
But how come a business owner, someone who’s somewhat entrepreneurial, sharp and savvy, commit their products and services to such shambolic cavorting by the crazies at most marketing and ad agencies?
See if this (is it tongue in cheek!) dialogue, doesn’t hit home -
“Oh I see, it’s because of the market conditions that we’re not doing so well in our sales! Oh, now I get it. I’m sorry, I thought it had something to do with the rubbish marketing material you’ve created for us… oh, now I get it, thanks for pointing that out to me. Now I know that next time there’s a tank in sales or that we’re spending a mint on ‘creative advertising’ and nothing happens, it’s because of the market place and nothing else… oh, there’s a big revelation for me… thank you for pointing that out and making me aware of all that… I’d never have known and I’d still have been cloaked in darkness for months and months and months!”
And… let’s see now, I don’t think that there isn’t ANY product or service which this lunacy type marriage hasn’t affected.
Think about the many closures, business busts, job cuts, product recalls that is happening all around – doesn’t matter what industry or business category – most could have been saved or eliminated altogether if the marketing was more than just a limp wheeze in the park.
Look at the software, financial, professional services, automobile advertising, and even, (you’ve guessed it) marketing services!! – I mean, it’s an all round shamble.
Adult men and women, working for ad and marketing agencies, being paid good money for coming up with campaigns and promotions that are drop dead BORING. And, by the looks of things, conjure up their lazy, unbelievably dumb and woefully inadequate ‘masterpieces’ by challenging themselves to see how dumb they really can be.
And, they are quite frankly, succeeding, wonderfully at the expense and misery of their hapless and oh so accepting, clients.
Solution?
Well, there’s nothing quite like a climb up a ladder that’ll help these poor misguided souls.
Of course, the ladder is a metaphor for the frazzled souls (and that includes both the ad ‘pros’ and the business owners succumbing to all the promotional and so called, ‘creative’, madness) being advertising victims at the lowest level on the scale of human consciousness. And the goal – is to climb to the top of the ladder where real creativity, solutions, and spirited imaginative insight, all reside.
It’s where being a true OWNER of the creative process, happens.
Next time you’re thinking about creating a promotion for your products or services, ask yourself, (or get whoever is charged with the responsibility to create your marketing assets) I mean really put the campaign under the process of inquiry and say…
“Am I really serving the customer or client with this communication, with this conversation, with this email, with this promotion… in the most creative, the most beneficial, the most exciting and most truthful way that I can?”
If your answer to that question is YES, (on a regular and continual basis) then my friend, you’ll be raking in a bundle.
And, if your answer to that question is NO, then, it’s a blast of brutal honesty time for you - for, you can do a few things.
You can fix things by aiming to get to the highest rung on the ladder of ownership and create, from there.
Or… you can do nothing and forget the question ever entered the receptive part of your brain.
Or… you can carry on regardless, letting the marriage deepen, deepen, deepen into a relationship where mediocrity reigns and where making a veritable bushel at the expense of the client is the HUSH HUSH mantra on the inside grapevine.
If you’re in a position of power and influence in your business or company, don’t let incompetence and mediocrity rule. Your products and services deserve better, so much better.
Raja C. Hireker
http://marketingandlifechangecoaching.com/
http://sellingtotherich.com/
