Yesterday’s post referred to a Neil Parker article in Inc. Magazine, a thought piece on brand as verb. As much as I agree with Neil’s points, one did hit a sour note for me. He wrote “Ask yourself how your brand can create moments that compel people to contribute rather than persuading them to purchase.”
I am old-school, but for me all actions must be about moving a customer closer to sale. Marketers and brand builders are in the business of selling not “compelling people to contribute.” Commenting on a website or issue-related actions are secondary to sales — at least for me. They are good-to-haves and it will happen organically, but they are not the main job of the marketing dept. There are other departments for that. Corporate responsibility, for one. Public relations for another.
Lots of smart advertising, marketing and branding people out there agree “doing” is better than “feeling.” I’m down. But actions that don’t ultimately contribute to sales eat up oxygen. Be careful.
Peace.
