A New Look at Brand Marketing Principles - Part Two

Hello!


Hope all is well and thanks to those thoughtful emails in response to Part One - particularly the one from the guy who never liked to follow the tried and true.  I'm betting in this age of change being the only constant (in addition to death and taxes), he's one step ahead of all of us.  Keep those emails coming! 


After I updated my LinkedIn status with the link to that last post, I sat in on a Loyalty 360 webinar yesterday on the linkages between employee engagement and customer engagement.  It occurs to me that these days the product and its delivery - inclusive of what the delivery method is and how it is delivered - is also part of the refreshed approach when marketers Create Better Realities.  This post covers the second point in that Adweek article I read recently.


Design Blindness


Let's face it - things happen really quickly these days and marketers no longer have the time or luxury of sitting in our silos whilst we let "design" happen independently.  It has become even more crucial for us to be more collaborative and more engaged in what is being designed as well as how it's designed to better prepare it for public consumption in this multi media world we're living in.  To be sure, Sales/Marketing and VOC research have always had inputs traditionally, but the onus is on us now to take a huge leap into the design pool (c'mon, the water's fine!) to ensure success.  


The point is that marketers are to be left and right brained thinkers and have a more holistic approach to their craft as they move forward.  Also, when we adopt "design thinking" and own it as our mission, we will quickly see more innovative business solutions.  


Couldn't agree more.  BUT...


I'd like to, with your permission, take this one step further.  I would argue that this is something that goes both ways.  Just as Marketing is to be more engaged in design, I think the onus is on product engineers, ideators, etc., to adopt more holistic approaches as well.  I'm certainly not suggesting that everyone should be jack of all trades and master of none; rather, in order for a smoother design and delivery process, marketers and engineers/ideators need to find a common spoken language so that the flow of information to one another is quick and efficient with the result of a truly outstanding product truly designed with the target end user in mind.


Coming up soon - Part Three!  Thanks again for the thoughtful comments.


Best,


Parissa Behnia
www.linkedin.com/in/behnia
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