Okay, okay. We are belatedly jumping on the podcast bandwagon. In our first of 12 episodes, we look at whether we are too focused on digital. As a result, we ask in the first marketing talk podcast, “Are we forgetting the fundamentals of marketing?”.
What is the marketing talk podcast?
One of the drawbacks of being a consultancy is that we can’t be everywhere. We are predominantly a people business so let’s try to get to know the people. Although we believe that we are supporting marketers and businesses to achieve great things, we don’t meet everyone. A podcast gives us the opportunity to show that we are all about people. Enter the marketing talk podcast.
In terms of topics, the sky is the limit. We kicked off the first episode with Steven, our co-founder, as the host. Who better to interview than our other co-founder, Mercè. In future episodes, we are planning to feature some fabulous guests discussing all kinds of topics. Yes, that means you will hear the dulcet tones of other proud northerners, not just us.
Why talk about the fundamentals of marketing?
We chose this topic for our inaugural podcast based on recent events. In particular, the comment from the Nestlé CMO in Marketing Week. As happens from time to time, she said that they were so focused on digital that she wondered if they were forgetting the fundamentals of marketing.
This is something we see all the time. Digital is a wondrous channel and the software solutions that are available give us so many options. But, like many things in life, you can’t always make the most of something without understanding it first. If we gave you the latest video camera and asked you to film a movie fit for cinemas, you may require some expertise first. The same holds true for much technology.
Mercè refer to a regular review of your strategic marketing plan, “every quarter, at least, you want to take the pulse”. This helps businesses to adapt their strategies to “what’s going on with customers, what’s going on with competitors, what’s going on in the market”. This helps to inform your approach to digital.
Digital is just a channel
Surprisingly, many people look at digital as a discipline all in itself. After all, there are huge numbers of competent experts in digital. The challenge for marketers is that while digital helps us to achieve amazing things, it is just a channel. If the approach to digital diverges from the overall strategy, we can end up targeting the wrong people or driving the wrong behaviour.
Mercè sums it up when she says that “digital is not everything, marketing is more than digital”. This opinion very much echoes the thoughts of the Nestlé CMO but it is tempting to get distracted. In fact, just look at how we were forced to communicate during the pandemic. It was digital all the way.
How to go beyond digital and strengthen the fundamentals
We are passionate about doing marketing right. We aim to start with strategies, plans and goals that we can measure and track. Without a baseline to work with and goals to measure against, how do we know what works? For every campaign that succeeds, several will have failed. The trouble is that we only hear about the ones that succeed. After all, we are in marketing, aren’t we?
Steven raises the question of ‘golden handcuffs’, which is a term coined by professional bodies who are concerned at the preoccupation with digital. Mercè advocates for digital gurus to think about their soft skills and to learn more about the fundamentals. Additionally, she recommends further learning with CIM, research and mentoring opportunities for “examples of how to elevate the conversation to go beyond digital”.
For further reading, why not also check out our digital-themed articles and insights.
A final thought about our first episode
Steven chose to host the podcast to “push me out of my comfort zone”. As a northerner of humble origins, he is self-effacing and doesn’t seek the limelight.
“We chose a 10-15 minute format to keep things interesting. I didn’t feel that a 5-minute podcast was enough time to explore an issue but that 30-minutes is too long. We hope that you enjoy listening as much as I did being the host”.
To listen to our first marketing talk podcast, check it out on Anchor, Google or Spotify.
