Difference of Opinion...Nothing has changed

I just received an email from the American Marketing Association, advertising an upcoming podcast with the tittle "What’s changed in product development and marketing since 1980? Everything" -- that got me thinking (btw, I'll add the link to the AMA website and webcast below, just incase you're interested).

Has EVERYTHING changed in marketing?  Or have things just evolved over time?  My belief is that things evolved - naturally.  It's not always a smooth curve or path, but it is a progression.  And most of that change has been brought about by technology - both in how our customer's use it and how we use it for Marketing.

But first of all, let me explain that to me - MARKETING - is much  more than just communicating, advertising, and fancy design work; it's bigger than awards for those that produce those things; it's so much larger than Super Bowl ads.  At it's core, Marketing is a professional discipline that drives revenue, top line stuff.  It is the high octane, jet fuel that speeds the business engine down the road.  I don't care if it's the smallest business to the global megacorp - Marketing is there to drive sales and revenue up.  There are things we could talk about in the area of cost reduction - but in my mind, marketing is not about the bottom line, it is about the top line - end of story.

And how do you drive the top line?  You create products and services people want to buy, you build them in such a way they fit what the way a customer wants to pull money out of their pockets to pay for them and create a "promise" to that customer - that that money will be justified by the "experience" they get from your product or service.  Plain and simple - Marketing supports the buying decision.  Now, if you have crappy products or service - the promise of the product or service better be that of a "it's not the best, but it will do" - and if you have superior products or services, the message better be about that, and the price should reflect it.

That hasn't changed.  People want to buy products and service - it is up to Marketing to let them know about how "your" product or service fits within their perceived idea of that category of products or services.  Now what has changed is how we "tell" our stories.  How we extract information.  How we use that information to build the top line.  But the basic premise of marketing has not changed - it's our job to know the who, what, when, how, and where - then apply it to the product, price, place and promotion.  The tools we use are both old school and new school - they are applied with an artistic flare and scientific precision - when done right, we support the sales efforts to create friction-less transactions with our customers, matching their "expectations" of what they will receive.

Marketing hasn't changed - times and tools changed.  That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.

Links:
AMA 
Podcast/webcast - What’s changed in product development and marketing since 1980? Everything.