I really enjoyed the article because since my career has shifted into the online marketing side of things from the user experience side I’ve realised that many people within the digital media industry consider online marketing the weaker element of the online product.
I can’t even count how many times I’ve been in a meeting where a web developer has lectured me on how it’s impossible for someone in marketing to understand the complexity of the software or platform. No matter how many times the idea has been presented to me that I’m thick because I can’t write code I’ve never backed down or felt my contribution was insignificant. I might not code, but I am capable of understanding limitations as well as ways to exploit existing digital technologies. The idea that online marketing isn’t really tech is repugnant and ignorant.
Truth be told, there are a lot of bad marketers out there- especially within online because it’s so new and typically marketers tend to have a very rigid approach. Many marketers look at a project with assumptions based on proven strategies –which would be fine, but most new projects are entirely unique and there is no history for the marketer to use as a control.
I’ve worked on projects where the online marketing team has been invited into planning meetings in order to brainstorm requirements, and the best thing they could come up with was space for banner ads. I would argue that anyone who can’t come up with interactive and engaging elements is not an online marketer- they are an offline marketer that wasn’t able to get what they would consider a “real” job.
Anyway, back to Dave’s article and the point of this post.
Last night I was listening to Robin Goldberg speak at the Hive about Blurb. The technology on Blurb is not unique. Not even close to original. But the marketing is exceptional and the strategy to bring people together based on a passion, cause, creative spark or self promotion is genius. Walmart provides the same types of tools and there are lots of other places online to create your own photo book.
What makes Blurb different is the marketing and the brand positioning. Blurb is about community and expands into new territories as the community expands. When enough Australian’s started using Blurb, Robin got on a plane to make contacts and build up the community. The community on Blurb is the key to its success- not the technology.
I’m not entirely sure why there is snobbery amongst the digital media community regarding marketing. I’ve seen plenty of jokes about the hyper promotion of marketing and how we’re all being accosted by spam and badly run promotions, but I could equally throw stones in the other direction. I am so over badly organised websites. My pet hate is sites that are all style and no substance. The worst is landing on a page and thinking “how the hell do I find what I’m looking for and why the f*ck is every component riddled with bugs?”
There is good and bad in either side of the spectrum, but I will argue that we are all marketers. We market ourselves. We market our professions. We market our brands. Without marketing there would be no online business, and I would even venture as far to say that the Internet would not be half as significant in our daily lives.
