Making A Product vs Making A Difference
Too much marketing is focused solely on selling stuff.
Sure, brands need money to survive, but is brand success really only defined by how much money we make?
We all have it in us to create products and services that make people's lives better, or that make the world a better place, at the same time as making money.
Typically, brands that make a difference are also more welcome in people's lives, so they're better placed to succeed too.
It's time to stop selling meaningless stuff.
Marketing's real opportunity is to make things better, not just make better things.
Let's choose to make a difference.
Read more: http://wearesocial.sg/blog/2014/08/3ps-connected-brands/
Head of Strategic Solutions | Signal AI
9yHuman beings crave meaning beyond reason, and it's no wonder that marketers are actively looking for it in their practice, but I find the contrast in the slide (the little "vs") disingenuous. Making better things is not opposite to making things better - very often they can go hand in hand. I would go as far as saying that making better things (progress) can often drive towards making things better. No brand should ever stop trying to make better things as their core priority. This is what drives successful businesses like Apple, GoPro, Nike and so on. This is why Estee Lauder or Lancome are a lot stronger than Body Shop (owned by l'Oreal anyway). Not because they have a higher purpose, a deeper meaning, or a mission for the world, but because they make products ("stuff") that people believe to be better. So if I might make a suggestion, it would be to make these two propositions go hand in hand, not against each other or hierarchical. Find ways to let the audience find ways to make the world a better place with it, often they'll be more effective than any brand team. But never forget that the role of marketing is to "sell stuff", whether we like it or not.
Global Business, Marketing & Innovation Leader / Consumer Healthcare/ Emerging Markets expert / Serial Intrapreneur
9ySpot on Simon! For me, if the brand / product does not make a difference to people's lives, it has no reason to be. If it does, it will sell itself.
Co-Founder I WOOP I Making Marketing a Force for Good
9ya Google search on brand utility would provide a good answer. too much focus on content in marketing not enough on utility. higher brand purpose is another recent slippery slope. just get down to simple things which make life easy and simple. how many brands have hard to use packs and awful usage manuals. those little things make the consumer feel good about you as you made his life simpler and easier. good marketing is rarely sexy cannes award winning marketing. It happens every day in millions of small businesses who don't have time and usd1000 to write an award entry, then spend usd 2000 to attend the awards and come back with metal. Help not hype in short is the answer.