Turbulence Ahead? It's Really an Opportunity

There's always been a misconception that in bad times marketing just doesn't add to the topline. It was always counterintuitive to me because when you look at the investment world, there's always someone making money in any market. You just need to be strategic, understand the opportunities and apply sound principles.  The same goes for marketing.

Long-time Kellogg marketing guru, Phillip Kotler, shares this philosophy in his new book, Chaotics: The Business of Managing and Marketing in the Age of Turbulence. I haven't read the book yet, but Kotler shares his view in a recent BusinessWeek interview. Skip down to Kotler's three maxims - 1) out marketing innovate your competitors, e.g. don't just do social media, tie the content to a "must have" business value proposition that has customers, and their product use, being the proof points in that dialogue; 2) build an extensible brand promise, i.e. throughout an entire industry not just a target market (note: I love how our director of enterprise sales at Bullhorn says that everyone knows who we are); 3) innovate continuously in your produts, services and supply chain, i.e. marketing without innovative products, services, channels etc...is nothing more than marketing communications.

The last point brings me around to my original analogy about the investment world. No investor makes big money by being defensive and tactical. The real money is made by identifying and executing on strategic opportunities that other investors don't see. It's the same deal when applying marketing strategically. There are always customers in a market who need your product if you understand how to unlock the business value for them, reach them in innovative ways and coalesce an entire industry around your momentum, which you, the marketer creates.

Turbulence ahead? Embrace it!