Marketing should be a good experience
No. 43: Don't make the mistake of getting too cute with your marketing.
3 Quick Takes
AVC: Content Moderation and Free Speech - If you’re in the social space or content space, make sure to give this a read. Really interesting take given all the Elon-drama.
HBR: Managers are Trapped in the Performance-Compassion Dilemma - This one hit home. So many companies talk about a great culture but that often come with hidden costs.
ZAG: How to Put Yourself Out of Business, Is The Gap Now a Fashion Challenger? - From my friend comes a really unique and important approach: Come up with a “from scratch” plan. Even if your company is 100 years old. Do it.
My Top Tweet Last Week
A Number to Consider: 16 (Weeks)
That is the length of an internship program being launched by Pepsico.
Keep reading… This is not your average internship program. This one is for females who have taken two years off to be full-time caregivers due to the pandemic and wish to return to work.
This supports Pepsi’s mission of gender parity while also helping to fill the void on the staffing-side. While not every company can do this, more should. This is a “return to work” plan that supports women, helps the company grow, and just makes sense.
Social good can be good at the same time.
Tweet of The Week
We own a French Bulldog (now going on eight years old. He’s an old man with an attitude. But we love him. When the Kyiv Independent posted this, I had to share it.
TikTok Tip
All too often, marketers get lost in their own messaging. Imagine how their prospects feel.
Something to Consider
Full disclosure: I have never been to a music festival. Maybe at 38 I’m too old for it. Or maybe I should just buy some tickets and go and be young again.
This week has been Coachella and I love watching the event unfold; it is entertaining with cool new music. I remember living in New York and people would talk about going to Coachella for weeks. It was, and is, a cultural experience here in the States. I recently saw that HBO Max had paid to have an experiential presence at the festival, a “pre-flight” invite only lounge to promote it’s show The Flight Attendant. This was not a typical trade show booth. It was an experience with wellness treatments and a juice bar!
Now, not every brand can execute at that level.
But, what can you do? That is the ultimate question for marketers to ask themselves each and every day.
What can we do that is different from our norm that will gain attention and support the growth of our business and brand. These ideas do not have to be crazy. (Although, crazy can be good.) They just need to connect to mission and provide value and an answer to the question of, “Why?”.