Dancing Pigs - What Are You Marketing?

Hop in the Way-Back Machine

Okay, where the heck does modern marketing come from? It means taking goods and services to market. Hopping in the Way-Back machine we see Mr. & Mrs. Farmer with their wagon of produce, chickens and pigs heading to the closest market. They got there very early because they wanted one of the best stands that were easy to see. And, they knew that the farmers who were “early to market” usually sold the most goods. Showing up and being visible was just about all there was to marketing.

All was well in the world until some wise guy started talking and yelling to the people walking past. “Red, juicy apples and plump chickens!” He started getting more attention and encouraging people who wanted apples and chicken to buy from him. Pretty soon the market place was filled with a cacophony of voices trying to attract attention and entice shoppers to buy.

Great Idea - Big Problem

All the stands seemed to be selling the same products. So, that ingenious wise guy started doing unexpected things to attract more attention and be different. He began putting on little shows to stop shoppers and hold their attention long enough to sell to them. Since dancing girls were in short supply and his wife was working he used what he had. He dressed up a pig. With a little training, piggy could actually be enticed to do a little porker-polka. Low and behold, the advent of what we know as modern marketing.

Remember, unless someone has a need, there is no marketing. If you didn’t want apples you wouldn’t buy, not matter how slick the sales presentation or how attractive the pig. Often we get so caught up in designing entertaining “creative marketing” we forget the basic truth. Unless we take the time to identify legitimate needs and provide meaningful, valuable solutions … we are just lining up dancing pigs.

Harvard Business School Professor Emeritus Ted Levitt rocked marketing in his book Marketing Myopia. “Marketing is a stepchild in most corporations because of an overemphasis on creating and selling products. But selling is not marketing.” He explained that marketing is more focused on value than just the exchange of money. Marketing “views the entire business process as consisting of a tightly integrated effort to discover, create, arouse, and satisfy customer needs.”

Marketing is everything a company or organization does to acquire customers and maintain a positive relationship with them. Customers can be consumers, clients, owners, franchisees, stakeholders, internal and external audiences … anyone you rely upon for your business success and sustainability. Marketing is highlighting a need and then showcasing how you will satisfy it in ways that are valuable to the person and beneficial to your company.

Market to the NEED!

Imagine every person is asking two questions:

What’s in it for me?

Why should I care?

Got a product or service? Market it to remind people how you are different and better than the competition in meeting their needs.

Got a training program? Market it to remind participants what they have to gain from investing the time.

Offering a workshop? Market the experience and how much they will enjoy it.

Having a booth at a trade show? Market the results that customers receive from coming to see you.

Producing a meeting or conference? Market the value of attending. How will the event make the attendee more money, improve business, reduce costs, decrease turnover? What’s in it for them?

Retire the Pigs

At the center of the marketing process is satisfying needs. You are matching whatever you are offering – products, services, information, training - to the people who need and want them. You can’t create a need. You can’t make people want something. But you can discover a need, create awareness, arouse demand and then satisfy it in ways that are beneficial to you and your company.

I realize that this will put a lot of pigs out of work. But, as a wise man once said, “Never try to teach a pig to dance. It’s a waste of your time and it irritates the pig.”

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Andy Johnston is an multi-faceted communication professional with deep experience from strategic planning, to messaging, to marketing, to media, to events, to training, to creative direction … and there are several other ”to’s.” Andy is known for his energy, creativity and his unique ability to discover the key results that must be generated – and then to develop ingenious ways to engage and motivate audiences. Positive business results are the objective. He believes that one of the most important results is an enjoyable experience for everyone involved. Andy is a principal partner at Think! Consulting Group and The Idea Group.