Apr
26
Les cordonniers sont les plus mal chaussés
Filed Under Marketing | Author: Gerald Smith |
Recently at Premier Studios we have been addressing the issue of positioning in the marketplace. It is the most common issue we face with clients and we believe ‘we should be our best customer’. So, it is as true of a challenge for us as it is for our clients.
I picked up the most recent edition (April) of Ingram’s magazine and read a very interesting article. It was a round-table discussion of marketing and advertising agency principles discussing the state of our industry. It was interesting to hear marketers referring to their own “self-promotion” as the “cobblers shoes” syndrome. You know the old story where the cobbler is so busy working for others he fails to provide shoes for his own kids. One participant quoted in the article actually made the statement, “we are our own worst client”. So much for self promotion?
As Marketers, we do not enjoy the privilege and objectivity that comes from hiring external expertise. Sure, it is a real challenge - but it shouldn’t be an excuse. As an organization, we share the same marketing challenges as our clients.
For the record, here are a few truths we have accepted;
- Weak positioning in the marketplace reveals a lack of expertise in your category
- Strong positioning provides the privilege of choosing between opportunities
And if the cobbler was so dang busy making all that money, I suppose he could have bought the poor kids shoes in town…
At least his marketing company should have told him that everyone was saying, “les cordonniers sont les plus mal chaussés”! (The cobbler’s children wear no shoes!)
Comments
Leave a Reply