Should this graduating marketing student fear for his future?

MarketingRx for January 9, 2009

Dear Marketing RX,

Hope you could help me out. Iʼm a 4th year student taking up Marketing Management. I have stumbled across your column a few months back and I was really pleased that it was helpful and clarified some questions that I had. So I took a chance and decided to ask for your expert advice on my problem.

Graduation is fast approaching and I canʼt help but feel insecure of my knowledge and skills. Although I study in a reputable university, I am unfortunate to have outdated teachers whom despite having doctorate degrees stick strictly by the books.

They lack in 1st hand experience which I think is highly instructive and crucial for their students. Our typical classroom discussions range from reading out loud the latest copy of Kotler to embarrassing situations like when they are bombarded with questions they cannot answer convincingly. Another thing I find ironic is that they cannot relate what they teach to a Philippine setting. If not for your column, I would never have heard of marketing gurus such as Kumar or the concepts of customer insighting, communitization nor debunking the age-old belief that customer loyalty is the best business model.

Coming across marketing alumni, they have all expressed the same frustration: what we learn in school does not coincide with what is expected by the employers. This discrepancy highly alarms a lot of the marketing students. We have long expressed our observation that our curriculum needs to be streamlined with what is actually happening out there but it seems that these sentiments fall on deaf ears.

My grades are quite good and they have earned me a spot to be part of a team our department sends to compete in such competitions such as PANAʼs IMC and PMAʼs STRATMark. During these times, my team mates and I take it upon ourselves to learn the whole process and figure everything out on our own since our professors are not very helpful. We try to make the best of what is available but we still feel that it is inadequate. In fact as much as possible I try to attend seminars with key speakers and read up on marketing articles and books, but having no one to direct my questions to, I often get confused.

I am now scared that in the future when I am employed I will find myself in situations where I am clueless.

In closing here are some of my questions: ·
what am I to do about my situation without offending my professors?·
could you please give me an idea of how it is to be a professional marketer and what the industry is like?·
what reading materials could you suggest to a newbie like me which could be very helpful?· what else should I do that could supplement my education and make my resume more attractive?

Thank you and I hope that you could help me by answering through your column because I feel that there is a lot of potential among us and if given a chance we could become good marketers. Sincerely, Frustrated and Fearful of the Future (FFF)

+++Next week, we'll start addressing FFF's concerns and questions one by one. But what do you, our dear readers, think? Send us your suggestions for FFF and we'll include it in our column. If you're a marketing student please write to us and share your experience. We're sure that there are professors and schools out there that are exceptions to this future marketer's lament.Send them to us at MarketingRx@pldtDSL.net or post them at www.marketingrx.org .

We can also receive your reactions via text at 0918-3386412. (Pls include your name and co./organization/school.) Our prayers and thoughts are with our editor, Margie Quimpo-Espino who suffered a stroke while on a business trip to India last month. She's still recovering from a hospital in India and everyone who's read this column is encouraged to say a little prayer for her swift recovery. Thanks and God bless!===============

Pia Hontiveros interviews the JuniorMrxer (ardy)

Entrepreneur magazine awardee, Ardy Roberto, guests on Pia Hontiveros' show, ShopTalk. Ardy is the co-founder of Salt & Light Ventures and Inspire Leadership Consultancy. From being bankrupt twice, hear how Ardy and his wife, Tingting, made it through with faith and hope.

The entrepreneur and the marketing mindset

Q: I am still an entrepreneur who wears multiple hats including that of chief marketer/marketing director. I always tell my people that everyone should have a marketing mindset but teaching this mindset or attitude is hard to do.
What are the marketing mindsets that you recommend an entrepreneur possess?

A: Thanks for writing to us. This is a subject that is close to our hearts since both MarketingRx writers are also entrepreneurs. The marketing mindset and attitudes are crucial to an entrepreneur. Perhaps this acronym can serve as a reminder for you and your people. Based on our experience, here’s an overview of the marketing mindset that an entrepreneur like you needs to have.

M - Market-driven. The marketer-entrepreneur is always obsessed with what the market or consumer thinks about his brand (his product, service, company). He’s always observing and listening to what the market is doing --and not doing. What are consumers buying and not buying? (Why?) Good politicians or public servants, who are really social entrepreneurs, are keen to know what issues are important to their constituents or customers. (That’s what we citizens are – customers of the public servants.)

The marketer makes sure that his brand is thought about very often. He knows that what follows “share of mind” is market share.

Marketers are market-driven. They listen to the consumers and act to please and delight them. It’s worth repeating what we said a couple of weeks ago about the right marketing attitude:
Never start planning or deciding on any marketing campaign or program from where you are as a marketer. Instead, always start from where your consumers are.

I – Influential. Author, John Maxwell, says that “leadership is influence.” The marketer needs to be a 360 degree leader. In other words, a person who can influence not only those below him (i.e. his staff or team) but also those “beside” him (those in the organization’s different departments—finance, production, sales) and above him (top management, board, mancom) to be able to execute his marketing plan and strategy.

No wonder, crops of good CEOs are coming from the ranks of marketing who have learned the art of influence.

A leadership mind-set is needed by the marketer even if he doesn’t have the title or position. Before a marketing plan can succeed there needs to be internal marketing or buy-in from the different leaders in a company. Marketers are influencers.

N – Nimble. “Jack be nimble, Jack be quick...” To be able to hurdle the proverbial candle stick, the marketer must have a nimble mindset. Nimbleness connotes flexibility. If the only constant thing we can count on is change, then that means our best marketing plans will go through the fires of change. A nimble mindset will help you guard against frustration. A willingness to accept change and compromise (to a degree that doesn’t compromise integrity and quality) will guarantee quicker than usual execution of your strategy as well. Marketers have a nimble mindset.

D – Discipline. A mentor once told us that the “difference between successful people and failures, are that successful people are those who are willing to do the things that failures often refuse to do.” Many times that difference involves hard work, going the extra mile (so they don’t take shortcuts), being conscientious or meticulous and taking time to study and improve oneself.
Marketing is a discipline. Marketers have discipline—they are not in a rush to do things wrong.

S-Selective. Marketers are singular in focus. Many times opportunities can abound to the marketer, but at the end of the day they must focus. Expanding and going into too many brand extensions, for example, is always a temptation.

Same thing with positioning your brand. You want to be so many things to so many people. But in the end you must choose and sacrifice. Own a “word” or concept in the prospect’s mind and focus on that. That’s what Al Ries and Jack Trout call the law of focus. If your airline’s focus is on “budget” then you must focus on that and sacrifice “upscale.”

The marketing mindset is focused.

E – Enthusiastic. That’s the “E” factor. Marketers are high on enthusiasm. For the true-blue marketer, Marketing is not just a job—it’s a calling. It’s an advocacy. It’s a ministry. It’s an act of service. At one recent conference, the JrMRxer was so amazed at how one marketing director could be so excited about marketing deodorant. He saw himself and the products that he was selling as something that was adding value to society. Without him and his products, the world would be a stinking place to live in. Teenage love and marriages would probably break up because of underarm odor. That was his mindset. He was on a mission and that spurred him to great success.

Success scientists say that nothing of great importance was ever achieved without enthusiasm. Imagine Martin Luther King delivering his famous “I have a dream” speech without the enthusiasm and passion that accompanied it. Would that dream have sold and caught on?
Check yourselves. How excited are you about your product or service? If the “E” factor is absent, perhaps it’s time to move on--or to go and do some soul searching to rediscover the beauty, value and purpose of your brand.

The marketers’ mindset is always enthusiastic.

T –Trust. Marketers have a “trust above all” mindset. Let’s face it. Consumers are growing wary and distrustful of marketers. Read the book, All Marketers are Liars by Seth Godin or the classic, Meaningful Marketing by Doug Hall (of American Inventor reality show fame). They basically say that the winner in the marketing game is the one who is able to tell the truth in the best way possible.

We all want to hear a story that is true and that is worth passing on. Word of mouth marketing works best when the “gossip” about the product or service is true. Or else it dies a quick death.

Recently we were at a sales rally organized by a top developer for a group of real estate brokers. The developer showed a promotional video of their latest development in the south. The AVP said: “The project is just minutes away from schools like…and just a few minutes away from hospitals like Asian Hospital.” The project is in Sta. Rosa and the Asian Hospital is not a “few minutes away.” Nor is it just “15 minutes away from Makati” when everyone but a fool knows that it is only true when travelling at 2am in a Porsche.

You want to build a trust. And that’s not the way to do it.

Marketers are trustworthy. They undersell and over deliver on their promises.

So there you have it. The M.I.N.D.S.E.T. of a marketer-entrepreneur.

Have a blessed weekend!Send your questions or comments to MarketingRx@pldtdsl.net

published in the Inquirer - May 24-08