How Great Marketers Achieve More

Derrick DayeSeptember 10, 20132 min

What skills do great brand marketers possess? What about the characteristics of great marketers? What traits separate the good from the great?

In my brand consulting work I have witnessed two:

1. Great marketers are decisive.
They understand the importance of action and do not risk outcomes with a slow reaction. Decisive action is often an ally in gaining a competitive advantage in your marketplace.

Napolean was very clear on the importance of action on the battlefield – “Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in.”

Let me further make my point on decisiveness with a quote from John F. Kennedy – “Things do not happen. Things are made to happen. “ Indeed great marketers make things happen.

2. Great marketers see comfort zones as a dangerous place.
They stay in evolution mode, constantly working to be better stewards of their brand. They welcome situations of challenge. Look at the resumes of leading marketers – they actively chose positions where they found challenge.

For 50 marketers that are focused on a path to great marketing, The Blake Project and Branding Strategy Insider have designed a uniquely powerful experience around brand strategy.  We call it The Un-Conference: 360 Degrees of Brand Strategy for a Changing World.

It’s different from the marketing conferences you have attended in many ways. Read on – can you see yourself here?

  • Everyone in the room is an expert.  We learn together from the sum of the expertise in the room.
  • This is competitive learning. Fun, energized and impactful you will learn and compete with other marketers from around the world in teams of 10. Presenter experts like rotate through the teams.
  • The walls are down. There are no podiums or stages. There is no hierarchy – your uniform is jeans.
  • The focus is on outcomes  – not ticket sales.

For everything The Un-Conference experience is, it’s not for everyone.

It’s not for observers. There are no attendees only participants.

Who should participate?

  • Marketing oriented leaders
  • Marketing professionals (brand managers, product managers, directors, vice presidents, etc.)
  • Advertising agency professionals (account executives and planners)
  • All marketers faced with brand strategy issues
  • All professionals charged with brand building and management
  • All sales professionals tasked with brand-building responsibilities
  • All professionals officially numb to yesterday’s marketing conference format

Of the few things marketers can control to impact greater outcomes and brighter futures, professional development is at the top of the list. The Un-Conference is your key to unlock the great marketer within.

‘Your future depends on many things but mostly on you.’ ~ Frank Tyger

Join us at The Un-Conference: 360° of Brand Strategy for a Changing World. 

2 comments

  • Saqib Sherazi

    September 12, 2013 at 11:21 am

    Great article. Sometimes it is important to do rather than overthink. I mean you can have the greatest idea in the world but if you are unable to bring your ideas to reality then what is the point?

    Also like that comfort zones can be dangerous places. I think that may be part of why Blackberry may have declined. They were in their comfort zone and rather than innovate they stuck with what worked for them. If you are not innovating and coming up with new ideas to satisfy consumer demand then they may look for other companies that will such as Apple.

    I would like to add another point which is that sometimes consumers may not know what they want. Before the ipod came out, there were walkmans and cd players but no one really envisioned something like the ipod.

  • Benin Brown

    September 17, 2013 at 8:17 am

    Hi Derrick, I guess this post highlights something that can’t be emphasized enough. Marketing is both art and science.

    The fact that it is about persuading someone to take a desired action is where the art comes in. However, where the science comes in is in measuring the impact of your marketing efforts.

    Sometimes, on the surface, these two aspects of marketing appear to be at odds with one another. i.e. You mentioned being decisive AND not settling into comfort zones in the same piece.

    And you know what…You’re absolutely right. While at first glance these concepts almost appear contradictory they go hand in hand.

    That’s because gathering actionable intelligence means both – being able to quickly make objective decisions but it also means not just taking it for granted that your campaign will just automatically work.

    Great post, thanks for sharing Mate!

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