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I've never been at a loss for words in my life. Even in ninth grade, I remember my French teacher, M. Depigny, chastising me for talking too much and sending me to the corner....
Yes, the corner of the class in ninth grade! OK, so he was a jerk.
And on my high school English final (worth 100% of my grade) I misunderstood the ambiguously-worded option between writing a 1000-word essay OR writing a poem, and I wrote a 1000-word poem, for which I received 38 out of 40. God knows how I kept the theme going for each stanza. I was a bit naive.
Those who know me kid me about my verbosity at times, but also convey their admiration for my ability to articluate, both verbally and in writing. As someone who came to professional marketing during a second career path, I've tapped into this ability easily, and have found that writing is my passion.
Sure, I do other things professionally like marketing strategy, brand management, yada, yada, but what do I truly enjoy? Writing.
Whether you're a professional marketer, or someone who practices marketing without the title or background, finding your artistic marketing passion can bring you great joy and a sense of accomplishment. If you write, do it - often and without guaranteed compensation or reward. If you're an artist, paint, draw or create. It's through these freeform experiences that we can tap into our greatest talents, finding our rhythm and inner strengths.
Although the focus in marketing today is on measurement, as the trend moves away from the "creative for creative sake," to the ROI and accountability realm, we must never forget that marketing = persuasion, whether targeted or otherwise. And the ability to persuade or influence behavior comes from art. The words and the visual. The measurement comes after, as we test and tweak the artistic elements.
Indulging our artistic marketing passion will, in turn, make us better at our marketing jobs.
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Comments
Well articulated - I will k choose your company when I need marketing - and yes you are still verbose!
Posted by: Jane | 03.30.06
Gret job.You obviously have alot of talent and are an asset to your clients.Keep up the good work.
Posted by: bobette | 03.30.06
Well done, you kept us going in our time of need by being able to talk in public - now you write in public and you do it well.
Posted by: Saskia | 03.30.06
Thanks for the lovely comments. OK, I'll mail your checks tomorrow. :)
Posted by: Elaine Fogel | 03.30.06
As a yada, yada afficionado myself, the artist within often has to take a back seat to metrics, etc. as I discuss campaigns or manage projects. As a photographer I often find myself reminding folks that the words and images are the core of our communications and deserve our attention and our money.
Posted by: Steve Roberts | 03.31.06
Have you ever considered writing a fun book about marketing? Your style is so pleasing that it might make for interesting reading.
Posted by: Carrie | 04.01.06
Gee, thanks, Carrie. I appreciate your suggestion. I've often thought about writing a book, however, I was never sure about the topic. There's a part of me that's dying to write a book about what it's like to be a new American resident - looking at the U.S. from the lens of someone who didn't grow up here. But, I'm not sure there would be any market for it.
Then there's the part of me that wants to write a marketing and communications 101 primer for new practitioners or small businesses/nonprofits. But, there are so many of them out there.
Suggestions are welcome, as well as the donations to help pay the mortgage while I write! :)
Posted by: Elaine Fogel | 04.01.06
I work with artistic organisations on their marketing, and I am often amazed by their lack of artisty and creativity in marketing! Mainly due to a lack of confidence in marketing... often artists view marketing as a foreign and somewhat evil corporate notion, polluting the purity of their art.
My passion lies in combining the art and marketing and encouraging arts organisations to learn the corporate marekting rules, so they can break them beautifully!
Of course the other reason they sometimes have a love/hate relationship with marketing is because arts organisations are often cash and human-resource strapped. I warmly encourage any corporate organisation looking for more art and creativity in their world to develop partnerships with exciting and innovative arts organsiations, and their passionate and dedicated audiences!
Posted by: Emma Kirby | 04.03.06
Emma, it's a coincidence, but I just attended a brainstorming session last week with an arts and business council to help them develop topics for marketing workshops specifically designed for the arts community.
You are very right. Arts organizations, which are typically nonprofit, suffer from a lack of resources - both human and financial - and often have such high turnover rates of junior marketing/communications professionals that it's difficult for them to strategize. They're often so busy putting out fires, trying to manage daily activities and attempting to build their patronage, that marketing is relegated to PR and a few local ads. Of course, this depends on how sophisticated the organization is.
Check out my Web site at www.solutionsmc.net for a free article on cause-related marketing. Even though it focuses on a health-related relationship, it does speak to the corporate relationship and its benefits.
Good luck.
Posted by: Elaine Fogel | 04.04.06