PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
Skill Up : Let Marketing Be Part Of Your Professional DNA !
By Geoffrey Sirumba
If you don ’ t have effective marketing , do you have a business ? Some people think marketing is advertising or branding or some other vague concept . While all these are associated with marketing , they are not one and the same .
Here ’ s the simplest , most jargon-free , definition of marketing you ’ re ever likely to come across : If the circus is coming to town and you paint a sign saying “ Circus Coming to the Showground Saturday ,” that ’ s advertising . If you put the sign on the back of an elephant and walk it into town , that ’ s promotion .
If the elephant walks through the mayor ’ s flower bed and the local newspaper writes a story about it , that ’ s publicity . And if you get the mayor to laugh about it , that ’ s public relations .
If the town ’ s citizens go to the circus , you show them the many entertainment booths , explain how much fun they ’ ll have spending money at the booths , answer their questions and ultimately , they spend a lot at the circus , that ’ s sales . And if you planned the whole thing , that ’ s marketing - Caption Courtesy !
There is a trend I have witnessed in most institutions that offer businessrelated courses , most students do not like specializing in marketing . They view marketing as a ‘ less marketable course ’. In other words , this means that it ' s less prestigious and has a relatively low remuneration as compared to other premium courses like engineering , law or medicine . However , after practicing for over ten years , nothing could be further from the truth .
Indeed , marketing is one of the most rewarding jobs and at the same time also the most volatile . If anything goes wrong in the internal or external environment
Most employees in non-marketing roles are , by and large , ignorant about most basic marketing concepts that would otherwise be considered common sense for any discerning professional . Questions that seem so basic , like the price of a product , go answered . You would assume that by virtue of working in a specific organization their product knowledge will be top notch . the person within the organization who will take the heat is the marketer .
Have you ever walked into an organization and had a chat with any staff in a nonmarketing role ? Well , in my day to day professional interactions , I have had an opportunity to engage non-marketers on various marketing subjects . What I uncovered from my experience is that most employees in non-marketing roles are , by and large , ignorant about most basic marketing concepts that would otherwise be considered common sense for any discerning professional . Questions that seem so basic , like the price of a product , go answered . You would assume that by virtue of working in a specific organization their product knowledge will be topnotch .
There are several instances whereby you find the marketing function has been completely ‘ abandoned ’ and left only for ‘ marketers ’. However , for a fruitful engagement and healthy brand building other employees must have at least some basic skills in marketing to help tell your brand story .
Marketing is all about informing your customers about the products or services you ' re offering them . Through it , the customers get to know about the value of the products , their usage and additional info that might be helpful to the customers like where and at how much they can get it for .
Our role as lead marketers is to ensure that product knowledge is properly drilled into employees ’ minds during
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