When I was “trained” in marketing and communications starting 20 years ago now, I was taught — by implication as much as intention — that marketing was something that happened after.

After the business was defined. After the structure was put in place. After products or services were developed and tested.

Sure, maybe a package design or a campaign would be tested prior to an official launch, but by and large, “marketing” was about taking something that already existed and then finding, or creating, the market for it.

It didn’t take much time working in marketing and communications within organizations (and eventually as a strategist here at Sametz) for me to realize that “after” was too late: true marketing comes — has to come — before.

Whether it was a higher education institution trying to make a go of a redundant offering, a museum trying to “sell” an exhibition unrelated to its collection (and thus its audience), or being called in as a hired gun to help a company “fix a marketing problem,” the pattern was the same:

When marketing comes after the strategic and operational decisions have been made, it, at best, requires a highly inefficient use of resources — and, at worst, is a waste of them.

As a result, I’ve spent a lot of time championing something I call “Operationalized Marketing”: marketing that starts before, at the beginning, when core decisions about the business, its structures, and its operations are being made.

But perhaps more importantly, Operationalized Marketing keeps going and recognizes that marketing shouldn’t originate from from  just one department, or exist only through a campaign. Marketing’s true function is not solely to find or create markets and prompt those markets to act, but rather to serve as a translator of the companies’ products and services for the marketplace and of the needs of the market back to the company… prompting action on both fronts.

The challenge, of course, lies in changing the prevailing understanding of marketing, in helping leadership and key decision makers within an organization see the truth: what may have been a good idea before is now a required mindset for success in our highly connected age: That “marketing” isn’t a surplus function, it’s a strategic one — and core to the building.

So, I’m curious: Do you see marketing this way, too? How have you seen it work? How have you made it work?

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Image credit: Loren Sztajer

With our apologies to Elisabeth Kübler-Ross… and thanks to Meg Fowler (and her sense of humor) for the illustrative quotes.

We were delighted to sponsor and attend the launch of C.C. Chapman‘s and Ann Handley‘s new book, Content Rules.

While there, we decided to ask some of our fellow attendees for their thoughts on content and brandbuilding. Some highlights:

• Doug Haslam, Voce Communications: “It all goes back to basic communications…messaging, forms of content, channels.”
• Lauren Vargas, Radian6: “Content…is a conversation starter.”
• Gene Begin, Babson College: “We use content…to share the student experience.”
• Amber Naslund, Radian6: “I don’t distinguish between [brand and content]….Developing the brand [is] all about developing content.”
• Georgy Cohen, Tufts University: “We’re curating the best stories people are already telling about their Tufts experience. We find those stories and give [them] more prominence.”
• Adam Zand, Marketing and PR Consultant : “Content is Queen. C.C. Chapman is the Duke.”

Congratulations to Ann and C.C.! Now go buy their book.

I had the pleasure last Thursday of attending Jeff Pulver’s BrandsConf at the 92nd Street Y in New York City: a virtually non-stop firehose of short-format sessions focused on brands, branding, and more specifically, “exploring humanization of brands” [emphasis mine].

While the conference was a little short on “how to,” topics ran the gamut from philosophical arguments about the importance of “human brands”, to the difficulties inherent in balancing personal and professional brands, to case studies about brands in social media (though in Sesame Street’s case, that was more about the “monsterization” of brands…), to examples of organizations that had effectively “humanized” their brand through the judicious, and clever, use of human-like characters or mascots.

As you might imagine, though, when you’ve got 50-something speakers in 40-something slots, it takes a little while to process all the information you’ve taken in… and then figure out what it actually means to the current state of branding.

And so: as much as BrandsConf — and even we here at Sametz Blackstone — have been talking about creating “human brands,” my biggest takeaway from BrandsConf is that “human branding” isn’t possible.

It’s simply not possible to make a non-human thing, human.

In fact, what you get when you aren’t honest with yourself about that reality are weird mash-ups of plainly corporate and almost-human behaviors (“Frankenbrands,” as my colleague Meg calls them) or, perhaps even worse, brands that appear human in most ways, but lack the soul, the quirks, and the randomness of actual humans — mostly because all the real humans that work for them have been forced into a narrowly defined mold of what a “human” is (in other words, “Brandroids” — also Meg’s term!).

More often than not, it seems, attempts to “humanize” a brand just lead to character-izing it instead.

The problem is, I think, that there are so many different ways to be human. Unless a company hires a veritable army of identical people (which is obviously not possible), or hires a bunch of different kinds of people, and then legislates their human behavior into a Borg-like cybernetic unit (the being otherwise known as Brandroid), it’s impossible for a company to act, react or respond the same way a human would in every situation.

Yes, companies are made up of people, and people are human, but that doesn’t make the behavior of companies human — nor, I daresay, should it.

Essentially, companies are ideas, at their core: ideas thought of by humans, maintained by humans, and supported and sustained by humans.

But, again, they’re not human. Why?

Because humans don’t scale. They can’t. The growth of your company, while undoubtedly positive, will put an unavoidable dent in your “humanness.” Which, in turn, means “human branding” can’t scale, either.

But — and here’s the real challenge — branding at a human scale does.

So the question changes: instead of wondering how to create a “human brand” (though we could stand for brands being a bit more “humane“…), we have to explore how we might create a human-scale brand.

What does that look like? What could it look like? What should it look like?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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Image credit: Swami Stream

Here’s my entry, a true story from last Friday:

Called UppaBaby:
“Help! Stroller seat is broken!”
New one comes next day.

If you’re the parent of a young child (or have been), you know what a massive problem a broken stroller can be — and what a vast relief it is to have that problem solved overnight, with no questions asked.

Your next Brand Haiku stop: Scott Monty’s Social Media Marketing Blog. Also, follow the fun on Twitter with #brandhaiku.

It’s rare for organizations to have as much money as they truly need and want — and rarer still for their marketing departments to have as much money as they truly need or want.

But regardless of how much money you do (or don’t!) have, there are always ways to stretch those tight resources a bit further, and to use what you have more effectively.

Here are six tips to help any marketing budget go the distance:

1. Know your brand.

Perhaps this might seem too simple or obvious, but it’s the first place most organizations need to start — and don’t. “Knowing your brand” isn’t as easy as it sounds, however, particularly if you take into account that your brand isn’t what you want it to be, but rather what your customers and constituents think it is.

It’s about having a real understanding of not only what and who you are — honestly — and knowing why people do, and should, care.

Knowing your brand, inside and out (internally and externally), makes it easier to stay on course with every facet of your marketing plan. The more you spend precious marketing dollars trying to convince your audience that you’re the Harvard of this or the Google of that, the more money you’re taking away from helping people understand and appreciate the things that actually make your organization unique, special — and most importantly, worthy of support and advocacy.

Be you. Your organization wouldn’t exist if there weren’t people who care about you just as you are. And that’s what people want from you: the best you you can be.

2. Solve one problem at a time.

Believe me, I’ve been there: in an environment of constrained resources, there’s extraordinary pressure on the marketing department to fix, well, everything. Want more buzz? Marketing. More sales? Marketing. More donations? Marketing.

While our hyperconnected world means that people now enter Ye Olde Marketing Funnel from any number of different places, the phases they experience remain the same: awareness, comprehension, participation, loyalty, support.

The bad news? You can’t fix each one of those phases at the same time (at least, not without all that money you don’t have…).

The good news? Your organization invariably needs a tune-up in one of those areas more than another, and that’s where the majority of your marketing dollars should go. It can be so tempting to take a small budget and spread it thin, putting a little to advertising, a little to ticket sales, a little to product development… all to little results.

But if people aren’t giving you money or buying from you, they’re probably not engaged with you in some other way — and that’s a problem you need to solve before you can get the results you want. Do they know what you do? Do they believe in your mission? Do they know how your brand connects with theirs?

Wherever you focus money on a key point in the continuum, the phases after it will benefit, as well (though admittedly not as directly). So focus your attention, and your dollars, on the highest level problem. Solving one thing well, rather than many things poorly, can pay real dividends.

3. Invest wisely.

When using “sequential focus,” you want to make sure the money you spend on each problem phase lasts. In other words, you want each dollar to buy you time. Creating something completely new every time you create requires an expenditure of time and money you can ill afford to lose (not to mention lost opportunities for reinforcing the brand you’ve worked so hard on).

So figure out ways to spend once — or as close to it as you can — but reuse often. With design, for example, that means investing in a comprehensive graphic identity that goes beyond just a logo. Wise branders create a system of design elements that can be combined in myriad ways — and still suit your brand. Use templates that can be easily updated from initiative to initiative, event to event, and create guidelines to make sure your identity stays intact across different formats.

The same framework approach applies to messaging and content strategy, and even to print and digital communications.

Think continuity, not campaign. Repeatable, not radical.

4. Question everything.

There’s a lot of marketing spending that goes to “what we’ve always done.” It’s time to realize — for better or for worse — that what you’ve always done has gotten you exactly where you are right now.

If that’s working for you, great. If it’s not, question it, especially if it costs money.

If you don’t have any evidence that people are engaging as the result of money you’re spending in one channel, stop spending it there. It’s just that simple.

And be especially wary when folks tell you that you just have to do this or that “because everyone else does.” Trying to play catch up with larger, richer companies and organizations — just because “we have to be there, too” — will put you on the fast-track to doing nothing well… and ultimately failing to reinforce your brand.

5. Beware your boredom.

Boredom — your boredom — is the enemy of your brand. Brands are built through consistency: of message, of look, of interaction, of delivery.

But most marketers, by nature (and I’m one, too), are easily bored — we’re always looking for the next new thing.

We forget, however, when we’re building a brand, that consistency and familiarity are our best friends. And that it takes much longer than it does for us for our audience to get bored with our logo or message or ad campaign.

Your getting bored with a direction is a good thing — because that often means you’ve been doing whatever it is long enough for it to start sinking in with your target. Usually the itch to change, unless it’s driven by real evidence, is instead an indication that it’s best to hold steady, and to put your creativity to good use somewhere else in your marketing plan.

6. Ask for help.

There has never been a time when there was so much high-quality advice out there for free (or close to it). But you have to seek it out, and ask for it.

Find the websites, blogs, and communities that provide real value to you, and use them. Ask questions. Get feedback. Talk to people outside your organizational bubble who can give perspective, and offer rich lessons from their experience. Asking for help is an investment of your time that will pay off for both the organization you work for and your own professional development.

Reinventing the wheel is expensive, in terms of both time and money. And those are two things you can’t afford to waste.

And on this last one I’ll follow that last piece of advice and ask for help: what would you add? How have you made your marketing dollars stretch further?

In the not-too-distant era of marketing via “product, place, price, promotion,” this meant casting a wide net of monolithic branding in hopes of netting the ideal customer catch. While that approach can be successful, it’s inefficient. The 4 Ps only allow you to show one side of who (or what) you are—which leaves you with just one audience to speak to.

But what if you could show all the sides of who you are—and in doing so, connect with many more types of potential customers? You’d probably never settle for a single dimension again, right?

If you want to paint the fullest picture possible for your audience, you need the Five P’s of Modern Marketing.

1. Purpose

Your purpose is the core, the thing your products and services give dimension to.

If the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company thought it was in the mining business, not the innovation business, we wouldn’t have Scotch tape, or Post-Its… or 3M. Focusing solely on products or services, can mean missing the bigger picture—and failing to adjust to the marketplace’s ever-increasing rate of change.

A solid understanding of your broader purpose not only helps keep focus on what you do best now (the core of good business and branding strategy), it allows you to adapt to what comes next.

2.  Personas

In this socially hyperconnected world, your customers are the most critical component of your successful marketing strategy… yet the 4 P’s don’t acknowledge them at all. Old school marketing strategy is all about, well… you. But the reality is that your brand exists in your customers’ heads and hearts—not your headquarters. Your strategies need to reflect what they value, and how that differs among customer personas.

We’ve learned to look at demographics—but what about motivations? Think, for example, of all the different reasons people buy Apple products: innovation, style, features, quality, function, status. By accommodating that range of motivations in their design and marketing, Apple successfully develops products that appeal to multiple demographics.

Motivation-based customer personas help you not only find new markets for current products, but also develop new products that your existing customers will actually want to buy.

3. Product

Your products (or services) give your purpose shape and form. You can add dimensions to your products—and thus opportunities for new connections—in several ways. Starbucks did it by adding product lines to build out its purpose as a “third place” destination: in-store and instant coffees, snacks, and soundtracks—even a satellite radio station!

You can also alter the form of your offerings. Car companies are masters at this (and why most have sedans AND coupes AND minivans AND trucks…), but even a “service” company like Weight Watchers has extended its model to accommodate its customer personas: traditional and “At Work” meetings, as well as online options.

4. Presentation

In addition to adding to, or tailoring your products and services, you can adjust how you present them to the marketplace. Your content and your concept (language, style, etc.) can be shifted to better resonate with customer motivations.

While few organizations have the resources to create completely different presentations to target different personas, the more diverse an approach you have, the more opportunities for connection you’ll create. Airlines and hotels, for instance, adjust their advertising (and offerings) depending on whether they’re talking to business travelers or families.

In all cases, the most successful “presentation” strategies move far beyond traditional “promotion.” They move from selling features and benefits to offering ways to address your customers’ needs—and values.

5.  Presence

Your presence—both physical and virtual—provides context for the other Ps and, quite literally, is where connections happen. Physical presence includes both where you are, and what your surroundings look like. Krispy Kreme used to select locations just far enough away to ensure purchases that made the trip “worthwhile.” Apple extended its design sensibility to its glass-fronted flagship stores. Ralph Lauren, J. Crew, and Thomas Pink all “scent” their stores for multi-sensory brand presentation.

But presence isn’t limited to the physical anymore. Opportunities for adding dimensional presence occur in all the places people interact with you. Kodak—another company that saw its purpose (“imaging”) as bigger than its products (film, anyone?)—has four blogs, each with its own persona-defined purpose and presentation, in addition to a whole section just for scrapbookers. They also have multiple profiles on the platforms where their diverse community congregates: Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube.

The key is to be matter where it matters to be—and to present your customers with what they’re looking for where they’re looking for it, in ways that will genuinely engage them.

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The marketplace isn’t monolithic, and neither are you and your brand. To increase your chances of creating more—and deeper—connections, you need a marketing strategy that’s as multidimensional as the marketplace you’re targeting.

How could 5 P Marketing change how you do business?

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This post originally appeared on TalentZoo.com.

Image: takomabibelot