Tigger, Pooh, Piglet, Owl or Eeyore – Which Marketer Are You? May 6, 2009

The Hundred-Acre-Wood analogy has been done before, but I wanted to emphasize which the types of marketers the key characters would be.  I started down the path thinking of my own prospects who often tell me (openly or subconciously) that they are too frightened to break their marketing model.  Needless to say, we do not work together!  Think about who best represents your current business marketing model.

T-I-double G-ER: You bound wildly into every new trend that comes along. You are completely fearless in your zeal for change and loathe being bored. Each and every campaign is a new departure for your company and looks freah and exciting.  Brand continuity?  Who needs that when you can get yourself out there, noticed.  

Pooh-Bear: Happily you laze through your day enjoying the sun or blustery weather.  Cares are few as things always fall into your lap and only on rare occassion do you get yourself stuck in a beehive.  Honey just appears.  Your campaigns are planned and on auto-pilot and you count on them to deliver bottomline results as they always have.  It’s a charmed life, but does it scale? Oh bother.

Oh D-d-d-ear:  When opportunity knocks, you find yourself cowaring under the bed, Piglet.  There could be something big you haven’t planned for out there.  How would you handle it?  Your campaign could bring all sorts of people to your business and then you wouldn’t have time for your dear friend Pooh or painting lovely pictures.  It’s better not to answer the door.  They’ll go away.

Wise Owl?  You have read and researched to every possible target demographic and are quite certain you are a superior marketer.  You’ve created campaigns that you’ve found brilliant.  The last word is always yours, but the eventual sale goes elsewhere.  Odd. You wisely enlist the help of professionals who are at the top of their field only to adjust the final product.  After all, you are the wise one.

Eeyore:  Why fix what isn’t broke?  Everything works fine the way it is. You’ve always done it this way. Campaigns are fine.  Business is fine. You never try to make things a little better.  As long as you have a roof over your head and clouds to watch it’s all just fine.

Not one of these “marketers” will thrive.  Tigger will burn through tons of money; Pooh thinks hope is a strategy; Piglet will stagnate; Owl will piss everyone off and Eeyore is a cash cow that will eventually move out to pasture.  

The Calming Voice of Kanga –  She listens to them all and getseveryone back on track.  She accepts their current mindset blocks, assesses the errors of their past campaigns and corrects and directs with calm, firm precision.  

…And a plate of chocolate chip cookies.  Kanga signing out.

 

Paula Pollock is Director of the Pollock Marketing Group, servicing private clients as their virtual marketing director along with a team of top vendor professionals.  Paula also offers self-motivated businesses products to create functional marketing strategies and plans producing tangible results that convert into sales.  With over twenty years of corporate sales and marketing experience, Paula offers knowledge and value that few can match. To receive her quick-read, weekly marketing tips and her Special Report, “7 Client Attraction Secrets That Will Double Your Income,” CLICK HERE and sign up.www.paulapollock.com