Marketers ruin everything  

Peter Sumpton (left) and John Newcombby Peter Sumpton (Marketing Study Lab and Head of Marketing at IKO)
11 May 2018

I have been in Marketing my entire career, through education and then into the professional world, and at the heart of it, it is true – marketers ruin everything! It is not a necessary evil however, as this statement only tells half the story. It is a profession that is very much misunderstood and can be easily overlooked if not careful.  

As a Marketer it pains me to say those words, Marketers ruin everything, but behind this pained expression is a slight smirk at the fact that Marketers ruin everything, as this means that if you are in the marketing profession you must have a little piece of entrepreneurship inside of you. This also means that we have our fingers on the pulse of what is going on in our own industries or across multiple industries, always looking out for the latest trends, technologies and fads, the ones that hold the most attention, the attention of our target markets, the ones we want to influence the most and subsequently get them to know, like and trust us as an organisation that is worth doing business with.  

But what do I mean by ‘ruin everything’ and how can this statement, a statement that on the surface sounds like a negative comment, be turned into such a positive attribute.  

Let’s break it down.  

Through the ages great inventions have come along that have allowed us to communicate with one another in ever increasingly intrusive ways;  

Print
The newspaper or magazine was a great way of communicating, on mass, the latest newsworthy stories. Along comes marketing and includes adverts, advertorials, offers and promotions that dominate most publications today.  
Radio
A way of broadcasting topical content and news items, taken over by more commercial stations supported by promotional segments that can last minutes - getting in the way of your listening pleasure.  

Television
Mixing audio and visual, where some of the most iconic moment we can remember took place – Olympics, Moon landings, royal weddings, etc, etc. These items are now being replaced by infomercials and even channels dedicated to shopping.  

Digital
Where to begin. What was started as a way of accessing files over computers has been replaced by skyscraper banner ads, eshots about losing weight and videos of cats with hats!  

And finally, Voice
This seems to be the next communication frontier and it seems like we are yet to ruin this for anyone, or haven’t we? If you ask your friendly voice activated bit of kit to order toothpaste from Amazon, what will you get? What brand will it choose for you? Perhaps your favourite? Or perhaps the one that pays the most money to have their brand of toothpaste set up as the default option…. See we’ve already ruined that and you probably didn’t even notice!  

Marketing is brilliant though
It is a cynical view on Marketers to say we ruin everything, because good marketing, researched, studies, well-placed, strategically thought-out marketing can only be a good thing. It is the attention grabbing communications that we can’t live without. We get all the information we want, when we want it, to make a valid decision in order to resolve a problem or issue we may have and although we are now almost bombarded with messages 24/7, it is this content we actively seek and have given our permission to be sent, that is where marketing has its place and can be most effective.  

Good content, to a targeted audience, over the correct media channels.  

Marketers, can’t live with them, can’t live without them!  

The importance or learning, marketing and colouring in  
Education is vitally important regardless of the industry you are in; don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. That is the main reason I started Marketing Study Lab, as my 5-9 project (alongside my 9-5 profession as Head of Marketing for IKO).  

From an educational perspective same can be said for the Marketing profession, which can be frustratingly known as the ‘Colouring in Department’, but those that choose this unfitting phrase are doing a disservice to not only those that work in the profession, but to themselves and possibly their business, as Marketing is both an art and science that we are all influenced by whether we like to think we are or not and this influence and have a dramatic impact on your business if performed correctly.  

Anyway, back to the importance of education within Marketing.  

Where you get your education from is another matter and one that has multiple channels and options to be explored. In general, our current educational system is very linear, structured and systematic and although offering the potential of good grades for those that are academic, once this is over and you are out of the educational system, what next? Where do you turn? No one prepared you for this? Which is why it is important to never stop learning, never stop learning through other methods and means. Here are just a few snippets into some educational methodologies that I feel work really well regardless of your background:  

Just Do It
Learning by doing is fundamental within a digital world. Methods of communication change so quickly now that if we are not testing and learning from this testing, then we get left behind.  

Mentoring
Learning from others through schemes such as mentorships can pay dividends to your Marketing education and your career. Getting advice from someone who has been there and done it can be invaluable. Learn from the best.  

Apprenticeship
Apprenticeships are again one way of learning by doing, with the backup of a structured system or pathway.  

I was fortunate enough to sit down with John Newcomb for a brief chat and discuss different educational methods that are now available via the BMF as well as his career to date, the importance of Marketing and how it has helped the BMF double its membership and what the BMF can and does do for its members on a wider scale. Here are just some snippets of what was a very enlightening little chat from Episode 2 of the Marketing Study Lab (If you build it, they will come)!


Extracts
John Newcomb, BMF CEO talks about how important an education is and why the BMF are advocates of apprenticeships. Click here to listen (1:55)
What the BMF IS and DOES for its most valuable asset - its members. Click here to listen (1:47)
John Newcomb talks about his career to date and where is all began. Click here to listen (2:20)

To hear the podcast in full click here (26:52)