Marketing is still a synonym of Sales in many regions of India, and I happen to be living in one.
Often, people ask me what I do as a professional & my simplest answer is "Marketing Consultancy". Here, again as simple as that, but, totally misunderstood.
So, for the amateurs & the toddlers, here's what Marketing actually is ( & this is my definition catering to this section of people).
Marketing is when you define what your business is- product, price, place & then select a 'personality' which you create through an identity represented by a logo/ brand name.This is promoted through the various traditional & new tools of marketing. The promotion process uses advertising, marketing, public relations as avenues to publicize your brand. Common traditional tools and developing tools are used to market your brand.
A compressed version of just how important marketing is to a person, business, organisation - any entity that has a personality.
Now that marketing is NOT sales, it is important to appreciate the agenda of marketing. The agenda is simple-to increase the visibility, credibility & generate business opportunities (sales).
Most often, the marketing fraternity faces the big question of being a cost center & not a revenue center for businesses. And so, more often, marketing is not a necessary component of management teams.
Often, marketing is 'no big deal' , 'not a science', ' a bunch of posters and a Facebook Page'. If it was so simple, why would there be a global crunch of effective marketeers?
In a border-less world & opportunities beyond where the eye can see, any person/ business / organization needs a marketing input to increase productivity of the business.
Marketing:
- identifies a personality in the brand
- selects the right audience to target- few stones many sparrows
- amplifies the brands presence
- effectively communicates the brands personality
- expands business opportunities
Selecting a good marketeer is crucial to the success of your brand.
A marketeer is a deadly concoction of a sales person, a communication specialist, and a creative mind.
As a sales person, a marketeer can translate your product's features into a desired solution. A communication specialist can effectively create a strategy that distinguishes your brand from competition. And the creative mind is able to aesthetically portray your brand with special inputs from sales & communication.
This activity requires an alert mind, strong ideas & commitment to take ownership of the brand.
So, if you have been shying from sourcing a marketeer, this should be reason enough!
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