NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION

New Year’s resolutions typically are about personal development and success. They’re about doing better or just doing different. “I resolve to: lose 25-pounds; learn a new language; stay in closer contact with friends; find a new job; finish writing that novel I started seven years ago; watch less television; work longer and harder to get promoted; complete a triathlon;” and on, and on, and on. We make them but don’t always keep them. That’s because we require constant reminding, discipline and, probably, a modicum of success to keep us on track and motivated. They also require that we make the time to turn our resolutions into reality. This is particularly difficult given the demands and busyness of life, particularly our work life.

One of the areas achievers make resolutions is in their work life. But, if you are like us then, perhaps, you have become enmeshed in the New Year before you had the opportunity to reflect on, and even make, your resolutions regarding your role as a marketer. If you haven’t made your resolutions, and even if you already have, here’s something for you to consider for 2010:

This year I resolve to:

Be customer centric;

Resist attempts to reach out to all the customers in the category

but, instead, to choose, marshal and focus available resources

against a select segment of customers;

Get beyond defining and engaging these customers based upon

superficial demographics, classifications and stereotypes

to really get to know and better appreciate my customers

so that I can better understand their needs and serve them;

To become a Marketect in creating and marketing brands,

versus merely selling products, that are

relevant to, and meaningfully differentiated for, the customer;

To create a brand positioning strategy that disrupts the category

and use it: a) as the blueprint for directing the organization; and

b) to steward brand development by ensuring it is reflected

in everything we decide and do

in order to establish it in the marketplace;

To earn the trust of customers by providing “honest” products

at a fair value that balance price with benefits  and exercising

the highest code of ethics in all decisions and actions;

To devote myself to creating a bond between our customers and the brand

based upon my ability to anticipate their needs and delight them

in everything the organization does to deliver on the brand promise;

To seek to discover customer insights

that reveal a deep seated truth, values and/or needs

 our brand can better fulfill versus competition;

To transcend product features and attributes and focus

on the experience we provide customers;

To think different,

challenge the conventional wisdom

in where, how and with what we engage our customers;

To encourage, seek and settle for nothing less than

BIG Ideas

that animate the brand and its positioning;

To coach versus evaluate the work of resource groups

so as to add value to the productivity of all ideas and tactics we employ;

To take steps to enhance my personal development and capabilities

 so I can realize my potential and make a difference for

the customer, brand and organization I serve;

To analyze and gain knowledge regarding the effectiveness (ROI)

of all the marketing mix elements and tactics I employ

in support of the brand;

To focus my energies and time on those critical, non-urgent activities

that will have a major impact on brand development and health versus those

non-critical, but urgent, activities that do little, if anything,

to serve customers and advance the brand;

To make marketing matter!

While the aforementioned suggestions may appear to be too many resolutions than one can handle they really focus around several areas and are interrelated. Specifically they deal with:

1.     Being customer centric;

2.     Becoming a Marketect;

3.     Building and marketing healthy brands;

4.     Championing BIG Ideas;

5.     Marketing responsibly;

6.     Enhancing your personal capabilities; and

7.     Making marketing matter.

Come to think about it, this actually is more than a set of resolutions. It could be viewed as an operational code of conduct for brand marketers, serving to marry aspirational intentions in serving customers with imaginative and thoughtful strategies and actions.

We’re interested in your resolutions. Please share your resolutions, within your role as a marketer, for 2010 by replying to this DISPATCHES article. Thank you.

Best wishes for great success in this New Year!

Richard Czerniawski and Mike Maloney

© 2003 Brand Development Network (BDN) International. All rights reserved.