How To Be A Marketing Genius

One of the reasons advertising and marketing are universally loved and held in such  high esteem in the business community is that we are so precise and disciplined in our thinking.

For example, in the pre-historic days of business, advertising was expected to "sell" things. Fortunately, we have overcome this small-minded way of thinking.

The old Luddite dinosaurs of business used to judge us based on "sales" because they were so easily "measurable." You either sold things or you didn't. This inexorably lead to the myopic concept of "accountability."

Thankfully, a new generation of visionary leaders has arisen in the advertising industry and they have derived a whole new series of measures of success that supersede the simplistic idea of "selling."

If you are to be successful in the new world of marketing, you will have to acquaint yourself with these concepts.

Here is a lexicon of some of the most popular contemporary ideas in marketing and a brief description of what each means. Learn them and you will soon find yourself at the forefront of our industry.

Branding: Branding is anything you can do with a logo. If it has a logo on it, it's branding. Give away a yoyo with your logo? Branding. A shirt with a name? Branding. Any ad at all.... Does it have a logo?...It does?...it must be brilliant because it's...Branding!

Engagement: Engagement is anything you can do on a web page. Look at it? Engagement. Breathe on it? Engagement. Click away from it? Engagement. 

Conversation: A conversation is anything you can do on a social media site with a keyboard. Share? A conversation. Like? A conversation. Agree? A conversation. Disagree? A conversation. Unfriend? A conversation. Complain, whine or rip? A conversation.

Community: A community is anything online that has more than one person.  Facebook friends you've never met? A community. Your email address book? A community? People who hate grilled cheese? A community. People who like Wolf Blitzer? A community.

Content: Content is anything you can upload.  Picture of your cat? Content. A video of someone scratching his ass? Content. Your dry cleaner's poetry? Throw it in the street and it's garbage. But upload it, and it's ...Content!

See, marketing isn't as difficult as everyone says!

Let's take a look at an example of a marketing home run:

Someone posts a picture of a bra-less 300-pound, tattooed grandmother in a Hard Rock Cafe tank top. You share the picture with the following comment: "Just threw up in my mouth."

Hard Rock just hit the marketing jackpot! You took a piece of branded content, and engaged your community by starting a conversation! Wow! Great job, Hard!

Branding, Engagement, Conversation, Community, and Content are some of the dazzling conceptual breakthroughs that have made contemporary marketing such a highly regarded discipline. Now, perhaps you understand the depth of intellect that has re-made marketing. And the high standard of brain power you will be held to.

Go get 'em, you genius you.