Marketing isn't about what you like or what your boss likes. It's about what customers respond to, measured in results. Stop letting personal taste kill ideas that actually work.
Chapters
So, effective marketing means distinctive marketing, right? Marketing that stands out, that gets noticed, that cuts through the prevailing noise and gets remembered, remarked upon, and even shared by potential buyers. But perhaps the biggest challenge with something daring that stands out is presenting it to management and getting the inevitable pushback. "Hmm, well, actually, I don't much like it." Well, sorry, you need to have a better reason than that. Purely subjective comments are neither welcome nor helpful. As skilled, educated, experienced marketers, we should have moved on from accepting such nonsense. Subjectivity belongs in places like art galleries, theatres, or music concerts. Subjectivity is for artists, and art is not what we do. As marketers, we're not practicing purist creativity like Jackson Pollock, Miles Davis, or Jean-Luc Godard. What we do is applied creativity—creativity with a tangible business outcome as its goal. Imagine if you went to your CFO and said, "Do you know what, actually, I don't particularly like your financial forecast." Not only would they refuse to accept your position, they probably wouldn't give a stuff what you thought. As far as they're concerned, all that matters is whether they're right or not. And it's the same with marketing. What's right in marketing is what works. End of conversation. Yet for some reason, everyone thinks they're a marketer. Anyone, regardless of background, education, or experience, thinks their opinion on marketing matters is just as valid from someone who, hopefully, actually knows what they're doing and why they're doing it. I don't question your Excel sheet, pals, stay in your lane. Sure, you can have an opinion. Whether you're the boss or the customer, you have the prerogative to like or dislike a logo, a website, an ad, or whatever. But it's our job as marketers to be effective, to generate a positive return on investment. The strategy is clear: the only person who needs to like it is the customer.
