Why it's time for marketing

to stop spinning and start

telling the truth
by Sue Unerman, 10.01.2014

How can the marketing discipline reposition itself in 2014? MediaCom's Sue Unerman
has a prescription for more integrated thinking.
Marketers are under pressure to gain "share of mind", not just among consumers but
within their own organisation. Marketing columnist Helen Edwards wrote recently:
"Marketers are tolerated as the colourful folk who put the brand stuff out, mess around
with logos and sign up celebs; not as people from whom to take directions, or to guide
the serious business of making, running or even selling things."
Of course, the reverse is true. Marketing author Dr Kotler said: "Marketing is a terribly
misunderstood subject in business circles and in the publics mind. Companies think that
marketing exists to support manufacturing. The truth is manufacturing exists to
support marketing. The company can always outsource its manufacturing. What makes

a company is its marketing offering and ideas.(" Marketing is a terribly misunderstood

subject in business circles and in the publics mind. Companies think that marketing
exists to support manufacturing, to get rid of the companys products. The truth is the
reverse, that manufacturing exists to support marketing. The company can always
outsource its manufacturing. What makes a company is its marketing offerings and
ideas. Manufacturing, purchasing, R&D, finance and the other company functions exist
to support the companys work in the customer marketplace.) ( Marketing je veoma
pogreno shvacen u poslovnim krugovima i u svesti javnosti. Kompanije misle da
marketing postoji da podri proizvodnju, da se uz pomoc njega otarase svojih
proizvoda.Istina je obrnuta, proizvodnja postoji da podri marketing. Kompanija uvek
moe svoju proizvodnju da . Ono to ini kompaniju jesu njene marketinke ponude i
ideje. Proizvodnja, kupovina, R & D, finansije i ostale funkcije kompanija postoje da
podri rad kompanije na tritu. http://www.kotlermarketing.com/phil_questions.shtml

What does marketing need to do to reposition itself?

I believe the answer is the same, whether in relation to share of mind of the consumer or
the organisation. Stop spin whenever it comes up, treat the consumer as an equal who
knows as much about the brand as any expert does and insist on authenticity, which
means joined-up, connected and integrated thinking.

Equal terms
A year ago, my first book was published. In Tell the Truth: Honesty is Your Best
Marketing Tool, I wrote about the need to treat the consumer on equal terms and the
value of authenticity in marketing communications.
I ended by predicting the demise of spin, saying: "In five years time, well look back on
the art of spin as an anachronism."
Why is this necessary? The people who buy stuff have changed. When I started out in
the business, I used to attend as many qualitative research groups as I possibly could.
Sometimes I just used to gatecrash, squeeze my way into a cramped viewing room, and
as soon as I could I learned to run my own.
I believe that you dont really get to the truth of the brand until you understand what
consumers think about it and how they talk about it. I have never seen a great campaign

that was not triggered by a great consumer insight. Quantitative research is essential
too, but nothing replaces hearing it from the consumer in person.
One thing is clear. Consumers have changed. In those early days, people were nave
and unthinking about marketing. Now most (not all) consumers sound like theyve done a
marketing course. Theyre happy to talk brand concepts and brand intention. They get
what spin is and are clear about how far they will tolerate it.

We need to understand comms planning as a connected

process
rooted in an understanding of the customer journey.
Theyre skilled in getting the point of advertising. Theyre very happy to co-create.
Theyre interested and involved, or uninterested and proud of it but not neutral, or
uninformed. In addition, pretty much without exception, consumers are wielding
smartphones and know how to use them to find out in a few moments everything they
want to about the brand, its history, provenance, credentials and pricing tactics.
Economists point out that many markets are based on the "asymmetry of information".
For example, you may benefit from this if youre selling your house. Youre quite likely to
gloss over some of your detailed knowledge of every corner of every room to get the
best possible price. You wouldnt do anything illegal, but probably wont go out of your
way to point out every stain on the carpet, for example, or the window that is inclined to
stick in wet weather. Caveat emptor is one of the oldest principles of selling, after all.

Shifted favour
This asymmetry has shifted in favour of the buyer in nearly all major areas. As Phil
Stokes, partner at PwC, says, there is a fundamental change, and it is likely to continue
to become even more significant. The faster you are with your smartphone or tablet, the
more information you can have on your side.
MediaComs head of digital, Stefan Bardega, has pointed out mobile is now many
peoples "first screen", with an omnipresent physical intimacy that no other screen can
have. PwCs research points out that a new and different type of consumer will dominate
the near future.
This year is the turning point when the digital consumer overtakes the traditional ones
among the UK active adult population. You cant pull the wool over their eyes, hide stuff

from them, talk down to them or say one thing in one place and not deliver it in another.
They will expect you to know them and their habits, and tailor the communication to
make it relevant to them (while not wanting to be stalked). To paraphrase Ogilvy: "The
consumer isnt a moron, she is the owner of a smartphone who can find out all about
your brand."
What do we need to do about it? Be authentic, be consistent, integrate. It might sound
obvious. It probably needs a lot of reorganising of effort, how teams work together, how
sales or service outlets are configured and how data is used. It will require marketers to
influence and determine what teams do that dont report to them.
You may recently have had a conversation about how, not that long ago, everything was
simple. Ive had three of them this week; agency, media-owner or client individuals
reminiscing about the days when you would create a brand marketing pyramid, with a
single benefit at its heart, make an ad that explained it to the customer and book a
media plan that delivered huge reach and frequency via one or two channels.
Now you have to consider social, content, paid-for, owned, earned, buzz, digital clickthrough a series of agencies, each proposing a separate strategy, multiple retail
channels, long-term brand affinity, short-term cost per acquisition, real-time big data and
include CRM and employee advocacy. It takes more time and meetings.

Deeper understanding
At MediaCom we find it useful to focus on three macro trends to redefine our approach
to communications:
Consumer journeys are more convoluted and informed and involve far more than paidmedia channels; social and content are an important part of these journeys.
Googles role at the heart of these journeys (especially natural search) makes
understanding and using the algorithm a critical part of understanding how to
communicate effectively, whether for direct-response plans or to understand how big a
"real-world" share of mind a brand has.
Technological developments (especially mobile and multi-screening) are turning every
media channel into a "dialogue initiator" and with each interaction produce data that can
inform channel optimisation at a granular level for all strands of comms.
As a result of this we need to understand comms planning as a connected process
where every plan must be rooted in an understanding of the entire customer journey;

allow an element of personalisation and hyper-targeting; include a content strategy at

scale; harness and use all the available data; and optimise in real time.
"We need to move from a model that is predicated on a simple, one-stage process (see
ad: buy stuff) to one that accommodates all the various pathways that prospective
customers could travel down," says MediaCom managing partner David Beale. "Not only
do we have to understand these pathways which will change from consumer to
consumer but we also need to understand how to influence them."

Reorganise to integrate
Dawn Paine, vice-president at Universal Pictures International Entertainment,
revolutionised its approach to DVD sales at Christmas with a connected strategy driven
by the basic customer truth that the physical nature of a DVD makes it a great present to
wrap and stick under the tree.
She says: "Integrated thinking is not just about how we fuse different elements of the
marketing mix to create one crystallising campaign idea, but also how we create distinct
communications and competitive advantage. Rather than create 40 disparate product
campaigns, we developed a creative glue to coalesce into one bigger punch using
consumer emotion and storytelling to present the category in a different way.
"In a complex business with multiple stakeholders, it was essential to bring all parties
into the process beyond the marketing team, from finance and sales to A-list Hollywood
talent and the very best British stand-up comedians. We have created internal advocacy
and staff engagement to further fuel a campaign anchored in celebrating Britains
favourite DVDs were all consumers, why not give everyone a voice?"
Anthony Newman, product marketing director at Cancer Research UK, echoes the need
to organise in order to integrate, and agrees that the media agency can have a key role
in facilitating this with a single view of the customer. He believes it is essential to take a
single customer view and eliminate silos, while keeping ownership of product areas
intact. Newmans successful relaunch of Race for Life and launch of the Dryathlon
initiative is based on integration. He writes: "A centralised integrated view is the best
thing overall to maximise customer and public engagement with the brand."
It is fair to say that things are more complicated than they used to be. Nonetheless, the
opportunity to reach the customer in an accountable, creative and effective way at every
stage of their journey, with connected planning, also means that the opportunity to

leverage marketings role in the organisation is greater than ever. End spin, tell the truth,
connect the journey.
http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1226448/why-its-time-marketing-stopspinning-start-telling-truth