Recently, Mike Malone (a fellow Flintster) and I gave a lecture to an advertising and marketing class at the Labovitz School of Business and Economics at the University of Minnesota Duluth regarding marketing and communication planning.

Being in a college classroom brought back some feelings of nostalgia…the classes, the friends, the parties, the parties…and as I looked into a sea of future marketers, it made me think about how much the world of marketing has changed since I was an undergrad (back in college I would have thought a “blog” was a mean-spirited name to call someone).

As much as things have changed, some aspects of marketing have endured—and this was my opportunity to share a few things I’ve learned about marketing since I received my BA.

1. It’s all about the customer, not you. A common pitfall of companies is to communicate what we do—“we provide the best service,” “we have expertise,” “we do this,” “we do that.” What potential customers want to know is what a company can do for them. A great example of this difference is Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart’s positioning used to be “Everyday Low Prices,” a pretty generic phrase that every discount retailer strives toward. Recently, Wal-Mart has repositioned itself with the tagline “Save money. Live better.” While this is still communicating Wal-Mart’s low prices, the tagline turns the focus from we to you—what Wal-Mart’s low prices truly mean to its customers.
2. Don’t create an ad for the heck of it. Or a brochure. Or a Facebook profile. If a skateboard retailer is approached by a Yellow Pages ad sales rep, it shouldn’t buy an ad for the sake of buying an ad. If a company is selling hearing aids, it shouldn’t develop a Facebook ad campaign because they see others doing it. Marketing tactics should serve to support communication objectives and business strategies—and reach your target audiences.  
3. Consistency, consistency, consistency. You’re watching a TV commercial featuring guys showing off their basketball moves. No music. No voiceover. You wonder what the ad is promoting. Then the camera shows a quick shot of the basketball player’s shoes. You see the Nike swoosh—‘nuf said. Check it out. You automatically equate the swoosh icon to Nike because the company has used it in its marketing efforts consistently for decades, even through subtle logo changes. Consistency is key.

Image courtesy of logo blog (http://www.logoblog.org/nike_logo.php)

To Mike’s and my delight, not one student nodded off during our 90-minute lecture, which was my personal mark of a successful presentation. The students asked several thoughtful questions even though it ate into their class break time—another measure of success. Hopefully these insights will stay with these students past graduation and into their future marketing positions, which would be the true success of our lecture.