5 Things to Avoid When Pitching to a Marketing Leader

In various marketing leadership roles over the years I've had the opportunity to meet with a broad range of service providers, from market research firms, public relations and advertising agencies, to reimbursement and regulatory specialists (and everything in-between).  Many of the initial meetings that I and team members had with these prospective service providers were awkward attempts to sell their services to our business.  

Here are some of the most problematic issues to avoid when pitching your services to a VP of Marketing or CMO:

1. The firm didn't do their homework on our business.  While they may have spent enough time on our public website to understand what our products and services were, they hadn't dug deep enough to understand what challenges our business might be facing and how their services might help us deal with those challenges.
2. The agency had a standard pitch and they stuck with it.  Okay, so you have our logo in your pitch and maybe you've even included some industry specific examples that are relevant but the whole time your presenting I'm listening for how is this going to help my business.  Ideally, prior to the in-person you've had a conversation with someone in the organization to understand what keeps us up at night, how we are defining success, what kinds of help we're looking for...why we said yes to meeting with you.  If that kind of pre-meeting discussion isn't possible, and it often isn't, start the meeting by getting the VP of Marketing or CMO to talk about his or her business and what's working well or what's not working well enough.  Then tailor what you speak to, the examples you use, the points you emphasize according to what you've heard (This may require a bit of forethought on how to structure a pitch that allows for this kind of real-time customization.  But it's better to jump around in a deck than to have a perfect polished off-pitch presentation.).  The worst possible thing to do is ask for the input in a perfunctory way and then give the same pitch you were going to give anyway (active not-listening is a killer).
3. It wasn't clear what kind of engagement the agency had in mind or how they would execute it.  Sometimes the agency offering is vague or too complex for me to have a  clear sense of what an initial engagement would look like.  Do I have a clear sense of what an initial engagement would look like, from kick-off to project recap?  And if the VP of Marketing/CMOs initial thinking centers around are you addressing my compelling needs, the next phase focuses on credibility and confidence:  Can you and your agency reliably execute the program your pitching?  If I don't have a crystal clear sense of the ways in which your firm works, that your thinking is logical and uncluttered and that your processes are effective and streamlined, it's a killer.
4. The agency didn't convey compelling competitive differentiation.  A VP of Marketing or CMO worth his or her salt has a clear sense of why their customers buy from them vs. the competition.  Differentiation is fundamental to how the company and it's products and services are positioned.  By constitution and training they are listening for compelling value propositions as you speak.  They are trying to answer the question, "I don't have a track record with your agency.  Why should I take a chance with you?".  Your crisp articulation of why your agency is uniquely qualified to deliver value to your potential client is the counter-weight to the uncertainty of working with a new agency.  I have had the odd experience of bringing in an agency that I have worked with in the past to a new company or client and listened to their pitch and thought to myself, that's not why these guys are worth working with...they don't know their own strategic value.  I've have had to chime in to anchor the agency's value proposition in terms that are relevant to the audience.  That the agency then cheerfully stated that I sold them better than they did is cold comfort.
5. I was looking for a strategic partner and they wanted to be told what to do.  I believe that a really good agency becomes an extension of the marketing staff, by understanding the company's strategy, goals and stresses.  If they are grounded in that understanding, bring their expertise to the table, and can offer insight and advice, even if it challenges convention, that is immeasurably valuable.  I'm not talking about getting free consulting;  I'm talking about having a strategic underpinning to the services you offer.  Whether it's PR or media mix decisions, if the agency is solely soliciting input and then feeding back an aligned programmatic response, then the agency is dwelling at a certain level of value.  If on the other hand, the agency has an understanding of the company's strategy, strengths and challenges, and provides not what was asked for but what is needed, with clear thinking on why the program will deliver on the CMOs objectives, then your agency value will rise to a new, higher standing.  Your value will be measure not simply on program execution but your contribution to evolution of the marketing organization and its ability to advance the company's strategy.

I recommend circling back with customers you win and customers your don't win to get a sense of what's resonating and what's falling flat.  Your clients are doing that all the time with their customers (Net Promoter Score (NPS) has gained traction, though I'm not a huge fan of this technique).  Nothing pleases a marketing leader more than being treated with the same care they are showing to their own customers.

Habits of Mind: 4 Ways to Avoid Becoming a Maze-Running Rat

There was a fascinating article published in this Sunday's NYT magazine titled "How Companies Learn Your Secrets" but it could have easily had at least three other titles that centered your focus differently, including "Habits of Mind" and "How Not to Become a Marketing Rat" (my friends at HubSpot would tell me that none of these titles are highly effective because I don't have a number in the title, as in 4 Ways to Avoid Becoming a Marketing Rat, but I haven't adopted that habit just yet).

This article is fascinating for a number of reasons:

1. It is instructive to think about the amount of data that companies are collecting about our purchases and the accompanying "predictive analytics" that attempts to presage our buying behaviors.  It gives me pause as a marketer when I think about the dearth of customer insight that B2B customers have.  Oh sure, we look at market size, competition, unmet needs, and even deep research around specific solutions.  But the point-of-purchase data-collection that loyalty programs enable (you know, that little dongle that's on your key ring that you fork over to get a "discount", is an act of self-identification that enables purchase tracking) is generally missing from B2B.  While Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software has been broadly available for decades, the most successful ones piggy-back onto enterprise systems tailored to support order efficiency, inventory management, and production forecasting and fulfillment - not generating deep insight into buyer behavior.
2. Repeated tasks become automatic (read: habits) and when this occurs - neurological activity, thinking, and discernment are reduced.  We know this to be true not only because of the sensors that were stuck in maze-running rats over at MIT in the brain and cognitive science department, but also because of our own experience.  Driving to work, reaching for your smartphone to check a message, taking a shower...from mundane to complex, we are attentive at the beginning and end of these tasks but in the middle, we too run the maze on autopilot.  Or in the words of the Times author, "once the loop is established and a habit emerges, your brain stops fully participating in decision-making".  Putting my marketing hat back on, I wonder how many habits we and our companies have learned about marketing.  Take for instance New Product Introductions (NPIs), where over time a well-worn path has been established to create a data sheet, brochure, print ad and a press release.  In regulated industries, a company's quality system may have even enshrined some of these deliverables.  But what if the formative "three step loop" of habit creation, cue (new product), routine (traditional NPI deliverables) and reward (product intro), is no longer providing the expected results?  Can we break the habit and move to a marketing mix that blends inbound marketing with outbound marketing?
3.  Focusing on customer habits as opportunities to insert your product or service may miss the mark as it doesn't necessarily identify customer motivation or high-level needs.  The Febreze story in the article is a great cautionary tale.  It shows that while P & G was focused on neutralizing odors and  getting Febreze adopted into the cue (bad smell)-routine (spray Febreze)-reward (bad smell bye-bye) cycle, that's not necessarily how people are wired.  First, odor habituation is working against this model.  Secondly, if I love Fluffy, might I have a stake, either consciously or subconsciously, in minimizing the negative smell?  Finally, it's really hard to create a new or replace a existing habit in your customers.  Think about how long it's taking to replace paper medical records or film-based x-rays.  Again, if the focus of inquiry is close to the product or service, you may miss the dominating higher-level needs or motivations.  Check out how Febreze ended up changing their marketing approach to become a billion-dollar franchise.
4. Finally, and to the motivation for this article:  Research has demonstrated that "simply understanding how habits work makes then easier to control".  Awareness is key and emboldened by the research at Columbia University and U of Alberta, we can revise our personal habits, corporate/marketing habits, and habits of minds.

"PRx Blog: Getting to Know David Freeman, Industry Thought Leader"

As it originally appeared on Schwartz Communication’s PRx Blog:

PRx Blog

Getting to Know David Freeman, Industry Thought Leader

Name: David Freeman
Title: President
Company: Freeman & Associates Consulting
My first job in healthcare was: My first job in healthcare was as a PR Specialist and Tradeshow Manager at HP Medical, in the headquarters operation.  I was 26 years old and I remember the feeling of awe when I first came to the company for an interview (the first of 9 interviews). HP was famous at the time for its open workplace environment (read low cubicles). As I rounded a corner I looked across a huge expanse of desks and people and computers on every desk!

It was a great start in healthcare because I had the opportunity to learn about HP’s entire portfolio as well as travel to conferences like the American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology, where I got to interact with clinicians, sales reps and marketing professionals from around the world.

What I like most about working in healthcare is: It’s of course trite to say that I work in healthcare to make a difference.  And that the industry attracts good, smart and caring people. All true. But working in an office, caught up in conference calls and cross-functional meetings, a challenging regulatory environment, demanding quality system requirements, it can be easy to forget why I feel so passionate about being in healthcare.

However healthcare has a way of stripping the business veneer away and reminding you of what’s at stake and how you make a difference in a way that I imagine few industries can. Every time I visit a hospital on business, suit and tie, folio in hand, there’s a moment when the environment breaks through and I realize that I’m surrounded by people in crisis and that I’m connected to assessing and preserving health.

I was a pediatrics product manager when the first Iraq war broke out. We were racing to develop a pediatric transesophageal ultrasound imaging transducer. The miniaturization of the electronics was pushing state of the art at the time but my clinical trial sites at children’s hospital in the U.S. and U.K. had conveyed how important this innovation would be to assess surgical repair of congenital heart defects from behind the heart, out of the sterile field, after the repair but before the chest was closed.

The European OEM firm we were working with to develop the transducer had a sister division that got caught up in the night-vision scandal and the State Department put the entire company on hold for business with the U.S. Six months in on a scheduled nine month project we scrambled to find an alternate firm to work with to restart our effort. Our schedules slipped and while we kept our clinical trial sites informed, one day the head of Pediatric Echocardiography from the largest of the U.S. children’s hospitals reached me by phone at my desk.  He proceeded to tell me about a patient they had lost on the table the day before and that the transducer might have saved the patient’s life.  He was upset and emotional and asked me what was taking us so long.

Similarly, I was involved with Schwartz to build awareness of sudden cardiac arrest from the early days when every new airline placing AEDs on board was still news. At each turn, as we worked with corporations, public places, schools and home users, the calls would come in…hi, my name is (pick a name)…and I’m just calling to thank you because my (husband, father, daughter…) was saved by your device.

It’s that vital connection to people, to saving and preserving lives, that keeps me loving this industry.

When I’m not working, I like to: We have four kids and I love spending time with them. Other interests include music (jazz and chill), taking nature photographs, writing poetry, and keeping up with the world and technology.

Who had the biggest influence on your career?: A woman named Cynthia Danaher, who was at HP, has been the most influential person on my career. She heard me interacting with customers on the trade show floor (when I was in my first healthcare job) and recruited me to work in the ultrasound business. She demonstrated a mix of three qualities as a manager that I admire to this day:  (1)  The ability to personally connect with people, (2) Passion for advancing the business, and (3)  Intellectual rigor of the work she did and asked of her team. I learned an enormous amount from Cynthia and HP about management, marketing excellence, and corporate ethics.

People would be most surprised to learn that I: Went to a canoe/survival camp when I was 15 years old in Northern Canada where I learned to portage wood canvas canoes for up to five miles and survived 5 days in the woods with nothing but a match and a knife.

If I wasn’t in healthcare, I would probably be: If I wasn’t in healthcare I would probably be an unknown writer.

Effective Marketing: What's Sushi Got To Do With It?

When I was at Hewlett-Packard in the late 80s there was an interesting tension between two conflicting aspects of the company:

1. It's pride in developing bench to bench, as in engineers making products for folks just like them (where's the marketers?)
2. The self-deprecating characterization of marketing, best typified in the now famous quip "that if HP were marketing sushi, they'd call it cold, dead fish", a reference to its marketing via objective, conservative benchmarks and specifications.

Which leads me to my question:  Effective Marketing:  What's sushi got to do with it? As a lover of both sushi and marketing I think there some interesting observations to be made.

History:

Sushi has been around a very long time, starting in 4th century BC in Asia as a method to preserve fish, an important source of protein.  Salted fish was kept in rice, stored for months, allowing the rice to ferment the fish.  With this type of sushi, called nare-zushi, the fish was later consumed but the rice was thrown away.

Early in the 8th century, after having spread throughout China, the Japanese began to adopt their own form of sushi in which both the fish and the rice were consumed.  The fish was allowed less time to ferment with the rice and was therefore still partially raw.  Seisei-zushi represented a fundamental shift from food preservation to cuisine.

Later in the 19th century mobile food stalls began selling sushi in Tokyo Bay, combining fresh fish and select seaweed and calling it nigiri-zushi.  As a result of the Great Kanto earthquake of 1923 there was enormous dislocation in the Tokyo area, which couldn't sustain the city's concentration of sushi chefs.  They spread out across Japan, helping to spread the new variety of sushi, which later gained popularity in the United States in the early 80s not only for taste considerations but as a healthy dining alternative.

As for the history of marketing, it has a shorter timeline.   Some attribute Gutenberg's invention of metal, movable type in 1450 as the beginning of marketing as that technology eventually led to the first "mass" production of flyers, notices and brochures.  Magazines followed in the early 1700s, paid advertising in newspapers in the early 1800s, and spam (via the telegraph), billboards and brand trademarks followed shortly thereafter.

Methods, materials, primary purpose, location have all evolved for both sushi and marketing and having a sense of the history helps provide perspective on current trends and future directions.  And that despite great change, there's continuity.

Specialized Skills:

In Japan it can take 15 years of apprenticeship before you are viewed as "ready" to be out on your own.  Pre-dawn selection of fish from the fish market, preparation of the special vinegar rice, cleaning and cutting the fish, perfecting making the rice ball and maki rolls, all require specialized skills, attention to detail, and great patience.

Having tried to making sushi at home I have had the dispiriting experience of my rice balls falling apart and the cut fish looking like a ham steak instead of an elegant piece of sushi.  I imagine that many people don't want to "try this at home", happy to trust their sushi experience (and their health) to the experts.

But have you noticed that folks from many functions believe themselves a marketing expert?  After all, research suggests we're bombarded with marketing messages every day (Consumer Reports suggest American consumers are exposed to 247 messages each day.  To put that in perspective, each of us sees more ads in one year than people 50 years ago saw in a lifetime).  All that exposure makes us experts on some level with regard to a sense of what resonates and what appears to simply not work.

Nevertheless, like being a sushi chef, great marketing requires specialized skills.  Whether it's customer and market research methodology, creative design and branding, strategy development, communications expertise...all combine to establish the art and science of cost-effective marketing programs that have impact.

Great sushi looks good, is free from parasites, and tastes great.

Great marketing moves markets, creates new categories, defines new business and product strategies that offer unique customer value, creates product intros that generate profitable sales, etc.

Beauty:  An End In Itself?:

Clearly the Japanese aesthetic is part of sushi's attraction.  Glazed sushi plates, chopstick rests, soy sauce dishes, placement of the sushi on the plate, attractiveness of each piece, plate decorations (seaweed dividers, wasabi and ginger arrangements, etc.) all contribute to an attractive appearance.

But if the fish isn't fresh and the maki doesn't taste good, well all that beauty doesn't add up to anything.

Similarly, artistry and creativity are certainly a part of great advertising, website and collateral design, and even brand naming.  There are a number of industry awards that recognize such creativity, innovation and artistry...but does the marketing work?

The products of marketing may be aesthetically beautiful (even art) but a few of the true tests of marketing lie in:

• Are the messages and visuals credible and relevent to the audience?
• Are your products, services and related communications different, so that they get noticed, provide unique value to the customer, and establish unique space vs. the competition
• Does the marketing advance your company and brand image (awareness and preference)?
• Does it move your audience to purchase consideration?

These are just a few of the litmus tests that can be applied to really good marketing.  Like sushi, great marketing must satisfy more than your visual appetite!

Timing Can Be Everything:

Did you know that the least popular days to go to a sushi restaurant are Monday and Thursday?  Fresh fish is at the heart of good tasting sushi.  In Japan fish markets are often closed on Sundays, which is why many sushi restaurants are closed on Mondays.  Many sushi restaurants buy their fish on Tuesdays (for the mid-week) and Fridays (for the weekend).  The best nights to get fresh fish are Tuesday and Friday night (very busy sushi restaurants may also buy fresh fish on Saturday as well).  Monday and Thursday, if the sushi restaurant is open on those days, may not provide the freshest sushi.

Timing is critical in strategic marketing and communications as well.  The right campaign at the wrong time could yield negligible results.  Some critical timing factors to think about:

• Product development, particularly in regulated industries like medical products, invariably takes longer than anticipated.  Having been around that block a number of times, what contingencies do you have in place if your product functionality, portfolio completeness and timing shifts?
• Are your messages linked effectively to the buying cycle?  If you don't get invited to be part of the RFQ/RFP, spending a lot of resources on communicating about your differences vs. the competition may be a waste.  Gaining awareness, being considered in the purchase process, growing your positives with the installed base, each require linking critical messages to your audience at the right time in the customer lifecyle.
• Have a disruptive innovation?  Many times enthusiasm for the attributes of the innovation cause marketers to communicate too close to the product instead of conditioning (educating) the market about the new category and then linking it to their company.  A great example of this now is the UPS logistics campaign, a fabulous example of category creation (we're not in shipping, we're in logistics) so that customers understand the new benefits and that those benefits are uniquely provided to UPS (which provides a far more detailed description of benefit than the prior campaign, "What can brown do for you?"...I don't know, deliver my box?).

These are just a few examples of critical timing considerations for effective marketing.

Timing can be critical, whether you're crafting a sushi roll or marketing message.  Ignore timing at your dining and business peril!

Convention and Protocol:

The first time I traveled to Japan I was excited to go to my first authentic Japanese meal.  I was honored by one of the business leaders to be taken to a nearby sushi restaurant.  With his help I ordered a few items.  We got caught up in conversation as the food arrived and I hungrily dug in...with my fingers.  I hadn't yet mastered the art of chopsticks so I simply grasped a piece of sushi between finger and thumb, dipped it in the soy sauce, and popped it into my mouth.

When I looked over at my host he was staring at me in horror.  In a flush of embarrassment I asked what was wrong and he proceeded to lecture me that I must use chopsticks, turn the sushi over and dip only the fish side into the soy sauce, not to put additional wasabi on the sushi as the chef already put the right amount on when he made it, and not to put wasabi into the soy dish.  I begged forgiveness  and ate with difficulty and self-consciousness the rest of the meal.

A few decades later I have mastered chopsticks but when in the States I cater to my own sense of taste and propriety and can't say I've noticed any shocked stares from the chef or other patrons.  And while I respect the tradition, I'm not sure any of those conventions change the quality of the experience in my mouth.

In marketing, we have a fair bit of convention and protocol as well.  It seems automatic in the B2B world that for every new product introduction a brochure, print ad and press release are what's expected.  Besides there being so many more ways to engage your customers, raise awareness, and support sales efforts, fundamental questions should always be asked before jumping to conventional deliverables.  These questions center on who your target customer is, what's important to them, how to build credibility and relevance, what are the barriers in the market to overcome, and what are the best vehicles to achieve your initial and downstream objectives.  Maybe your first resources will be spent on visual demonstrations, white papers and industry association engagement.  Or perhaps social media, web ads, and email.

In  both sushi and marketing, convention can get in the way of meeting your objectives (whether it's an enjoyable meal or an effective campaign).

Finally...

Chop sticks, convention, cold, dead, raw fish...to the novice, sushi can be a little intimidating.  Perhaps you've heard of "beginner sushi", which includes a California Roll (no raw fish in that), cucumber rolls, and if you're daring, maybe a piece of tuna sushi.

Marketing can be a little daunting too.  I recommend starting with the end in mind:  What are you trying to achieve and work backwards to what is the strategy and tactics to reach your objectives.  And when in doubt, reach out to an experienced marketer to help you navigate the menu of marketing strategies and tactics best for your business.



Getting Great Marketing Talent in a Hiring 'Buyers-Market'

In today's economy a hiring manager has a tough job to sort through the deluge of resumes that result from a job posting and find the right pool of candidates for the screening and interview process.  LinkedIn, The Ladders and other numerous job boards and notification agents have turned the local employment listing viral.

That response deluge, unfortunately, may not translate into a simpler task of identifying that ideal marketing candidate.  Hiring managers and their respective HR partners need to winnow the candidate pool quickly and efficiently.  Further, given the current economic environment, many managers feel that the power has shifted from employees and candidates to hiring managers.  As a result, managers may feel that they can raise the hiring bar and be more demanding when it comes to getting the exact right fit for the position.

One of the current ways hiring managers are quickly concentrating their candidate pools is to eliminate candidates who don't have specific product or market experience.  Based on my own experience as a hiring manager of marketing talent over many years, I find this interesting and potentially a missed opportunity (that could be costly...see below).

If you have a hiring philosophy I suspect you've come to it from a mix of training and experience.  The best interview training I ever had focused on behavioral interviewing, and it's a technique I still use.  I must admit, however, that my bad hires have been the most instructive; those times when I felt pressure to fill a position and selected someone who wasn't a strong fit, or when I put a tactical (or downstream) marketer into a strategic position.  As a result, I've developed the following hiring criteria, in prioritized order:

1. Intelligence


2. Attitude


3. Job specific skills


4. Market/product knowledge

Here's my thinking:

With regard to intelligence, is the person a lifetime learner?  Can they look across disparate pieces of data and synthesize it into meaningful insights?  Do they have the mental acuity, cycle time and processor to ask good questions, see patterns and think deeply and creatively about the business.

In summary, with regard to intelligence, they need to come with these skills and abilities and if they don't bring it, in most instances (not including internships and the like), it's hard to teach.

And the same can be said - perhaps even more so - of attitude.  A potential employee's attitude has a huge impact on their cultural fit with the organization and whether they will ultimately have a positive impact on the business.  Attitude, that amorphous quality which I hope will substantiate itself as a can-do attitude, a sense of personal ownership and accountability, curiosity, pro-activeness when it comes to communication and the assembly of relevant information, and a commitment to being adaptable (especially when it comes to collaboration style)...I see attitude as critical to employee success and I try hard to assess this through behavioral interviewing.  And again, based on my experience, despite sustained effort, a person with a poor attitude or an attitude that doesn't fit the company culture, is very tough to turn around or "teach".

Job specific skills, the technical component of the applicant/position fit question, is fairly straightforward.  Resumes generally speak to the development of relevant market skills over time and probing questions centered on having the candidate speak to their specific role in a marketing program they participated in and are proud, can be very revealing.  I also like to probe about the chain of tasks, obstacles and impact of the specific program (increased sales, competitive wins, customer satisfaction, new product definition, marketing strategies, product launches, etc.).

Unlike attitude and intelligence, job specific skills can be taught as long as some building blocks are in place.  Functional excellence can be enhanced.  Your processes can be learned.  And while you want someone to hit the ground running, if you have someone with marketing skills and the right attitude and intelligence, great things can be accomplished.

Lastly, in my mind, comes product or market specific knowledge. While I admit knowledge about the market structure and dynamics, competitive and regulatory environment, technology, etc. are all extremely useful, it can all be learned.  If faced with selecting between Candidate A who is a strong marketer, seems very bright and has a great attitude but no similar product and/or market experience, and Candidate B, also bright, solid marketer, does have specific market and/or product experience but you have a small doubt in your gut about cultural fit, I'd always go with Candidate A.

There's an additional reason to consider marketing talent outside of your specific product/market:  Marketers are tasked with developing business strategy, and by that I mean understanding customer, market and competitive dynamics and defining a sustainably differentiated path forward that only your company can uniquely fulfill.  At the heart of innovation is bringing forth "something new...a new idea, method or device" (per Merriam-Webster).  Seeing new opportunities can be fostered with the cross-fertilization that comes from bringing in fresh thinking and different market world view.

Further, disruptive innovation happens on a regular basis to folks within a market who fail to see new entrants with simpler, more attractive value propositions.  New eyes into your market may be your best defense for keeping your business focused on both the trees and the forest.  So while it's tempting for hiring managers sitting in the cat-bird seat to hire only market insiders, I encourage keeping your options open.