UNCHARTERED WATERS
The marketing world can be such a looming thing. From finding the right color scheme to choosing delicately placed words that will entice but not lead the consumer. It’s something that can be so simple yet meticulous. Marketing and advertising has always and will always evolve as the world does and currently is. Magazines are tripping over their feet trying to keep up while digital is getting out of bed at noon because...well they can. So how do we know what format will work? Where to start? What to say?
Over the last 2 years, I had the pleasure of beginning my career in the marketing & advertising world specifically within guerrilla. I got to see the alternative ways traditional companies are targeting people. From faux street signs grabbing attention to 6 foot statues quietly screaming LOOK AT ME. People want to feel, hear, and touch what they’re buying and the company/people they’re investing in. They want to experience the picture you’re painting rather than read about it on Adweek (though a great place to be featured.) There’s no right or wrong way to advertise yourself or your company, unless you pull a Pepsi, but we’ve all moved past that by now...kind of.
Regardless of what tactical approach you take. The most important thing any company can do is be real. In a time where transparency is a valued currency, people are looking for places and people who look at them as more than a dollar sign. They want to feel why you’re passionate about what you’re selling. They want to hear about that intern's journey to this company. They want to touch on the issues that matter and that you understand why they do. This is no longer the era of fluff. Sure that gorgeous model walking down the street with just the right amount of lipstick might have enticed me a few months ago. But now I want to see that same gorgeous girl using that impeccably placed lipstick to actually speak up.
I’ve been so inspired with how some companies have swallowed their pride and fixed wrong doings. How that small business found their golden opportunity and took it. The ways people have picked themselves up by the bootstraps and kept going. I am so honored to be passionate about existing in an industry that guides the waves of society. Marketing is in everything that we touch which is a very powerful but dangerous thing. Using this power for good will always triumph evil or whatever Caption America said.
So now it’s time to figure out where we go from here. Do you go out and buy the biggest billboard you can find or do you make an at-home video explaining who your company is. There’s no other answer to it other than just do it. Take that idea a junior level staff member pitched and develop on it. Have an intern sit in on a brainstorming session and actually listen when they speak. Give chances and takes risks where you usually wouldn’t. Make a few mistakes and then make a few more. No one knows which direction to look in right now so point them to it. Take a leap of faith and stop wondering if you’re saying the right thing because right now we’re all in uncharted waters.