Convincing
your customers to bring you the gold
Everyone knows what the goal of marketing is, right? At least, we think we do. But how many of us are right? Is it about casting your company in the best light? Promoting your product? Gaining new customers? Keeping old ones? Or driving sales?
One of the world’s most popular marketing books describes it as "the process by which companies create value for customers and build strong customer relationships, in order to capture value from customers in return".
That sounds great in jargon-speak. But let’s put it in simpler terms. Imagine an island of gold. You (and your competitors) have a problem. You’re not on the island. You’re staring at it from across the sea.
How do you get at it? Well, a lot depends on which kind of business you run. If you’re sales-focused, you’ll round up a team of self-starters and row madly, fighting the currents and winds as hard as you possibly can.
If you’re product-focused, you might watch the brawny guys battle and laugh. Surely there’s a better way. What if you designed a better boat? Or gave it an engine? Wouldn’t you get to the gold faster?
A market-focused company would be more concerned with taking advantage of prevailing conditions. What are the wind conditions? What if you harnessed the power of the current?
The real answer, of course, is that all these approaches have merit. But what makes the marketing-savvy company special is that it’s not just about aiming for the gold. It’s also about making the gold aim for you. The real goal of marketing is to create desire, by building a brand that people want – and then making a noise about it.
So instead of struggling all the way across to the island of gold, the smart businesses attracts its markets – and then only has to meet them half way.
Hilton Rose
Everyone knows what the goal of marketing is, right? At least, we think we do. But how many of us are right? Is it about casting your company in the best light? Promoting your product? Gaining new customers? Keeping old ones? Or driving sales?
One of the world’s most popular marketing books describes it as "the process by which companies create value for customers and build strong customer relationships, in order to capture value from customers in return".
That sounds great in jargon-speak. But let’s put it in simpler terms. Imagine an island of gold. You (and your competitors) have a problem. You’re not on the island. You’re staring at it from across the sea.
How do you get at it? Well, a lot depends on which kind of business you run. If you’re sales-focused, you’ll round up a team of self-starters and row madly, fighting the currents and winds as hard as you possibly can.
If you’re product-focused, you might watch the brawny guys battle and laugh. Surely there’s a better way. What if you designed a better boat? Or gave it an engine? Wouldn’t you get to the gold faster?
A market-focused company would be more concerned with taking advantage of prevailing conditions. What are the wind conditions? What if you harnessed the power of the current?
The real answer, of course, is that all these approaches have merit. But what makes the marketing-savvy company special is that it’s not just about aiming for the gold. It’s also about making the gold aim for you. The real goal of marketing is to create desire, by building a brand that people want – and then making a noise about it.
So instead of struggling all the way across to the island of gold, the smart businesses attracts its markets – and then only has to meet them half way.
Hilton Rose
Your Brand Agency | Director
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