2 - If you want to see me anger a bunch of conference attendees, watch me talk about the need for running your own "marketing system".
3 - The audience audibly grumbles. Furrowed brows. Looks at each other with that "he doesn't get it" attitude.
Oh he gets it, alright.
Oh he gets it, alright.
4 - The article talks about how important it is to have an identity, a plan, a personality, a reason for being, and to have everybody singing from the same playbook.
5 - In marketing, this thesis most certainly exists.
It is owned by vendors.
Vendors run the show. They have a system, an identity, a reason for being.
It is owned by vendors.
Vendors run the show. They have a system, an identity, a reason for being.
6 - In retail, it is the omnichannel thesis. There is a strong belief, promoted by thought leaders, vendors, researchers, and trade journalists ... that the customer craves the sewing together of the in-store, hybrid (BOPIS) and online experience.
7 - In e-commerce, it is "digital". You have to be "digital". People don't even know what the term means, they just say it and if they just say it, they sound smart. Ask for more details and you are told to spend money with Google/Facebook-Insta. Pay an influencer.
8 - Last week I saw an ad for an analytics conference ... "Retail Digital Analytics".
I mean, what does that even mean? You bolt and old and frumpy term to a hip modern term and you have a conference ... but what do you stand for?
I mean, what does that even mean? You bolt and old and frumpy term to a hip modern term and you have a conference ... but what do you stand for?
9 - Thought Leaders come to mind ... they stand for something. Too often, they stand for innovation within the confines of what vendors are capable of. "Do what we tell you to do with the providers we endorse". And clients happily consume their nonsense.
10 - You should see the emails I get from Executives whenever a "Thought Leader" publishes something "innovative".
"Kevin, do you think we should open a store that sells nothing, because Harris Binghampton said some really interesting things on Substack this morning?"
"Kevin, do you think we should open a store that sells nothing, because Harris Binghampton said some really interesting things on Substack this morning?"
11 - I had a call last week where a Professional told me that every time a Thought Leader says something awful she has to deal with the CEO who wants the Professional to "check in on the idea".
That's an example where the CEO doesn't employ his own system.
That's an example where the CEO doesn't employ his own system.
12 - I was on Clubhouse last week and a Professional was schooling a large audience on the ways to run an effective Influencer program.
That's not a system. That's the outsourcing of your responsibilities.
What are "YOU" going to do? What is YOUR system?
That's not a system. That's the outsourcing of your responsibilities.
What are "YOU" going to do? What is YOUR system?
13 - I had a client last year who was so angry that I told them that they did not have a Customer Development system in place: minethatdata.com/Kevin_Hillstro…
Oh my goodness, did this client "go off".
"JUST TELL US WHERE TO SPEND OUR MONEY AND TELL US HOW MUCH TO SPEND".
Oh my goodness, did this client "go off".
"JUST TELL US WHERE TO SPEND OUR MONEY AND TELL US HOW MUCH TO SPEND".
14 - Spending money is not a system. It's not a way of doing things. It's the outsourcing of responsibility to vendors, that's what it is.
15 - You might disagree with or dislike Elon Musk ... but he has a system.
You might have disagreed with or disliked Steve Jobs ... but he had a system.
You might have disagreed with or disliked Jeff Bezos ... but he had a system.
You might have disagreed with or disliked Steve Jobs ... but he had a system.
You might have disagreed with or disliked Jeff Bezos ... but he had a system.
16 - As your career develops, you will sample ideas.
You will reject the bad ones, and you will be flooded with bad ideas.
You will embrace the good ones. You'll test them to see if they hold across jobs / industries / product categories.
You will reject the bad ones, and you will be flooded with bad ideas.
You will embrace the good ones. You'll test them to see if they hold across jobs / industries / product categories.
17 - Within a few years, you will develop your own system, your own way of doing things.
What you do and say will "sound similar" ... you'll get a lot of crooked looks from establishment folks who follow the vendor playbook. You'll get a lot of pushback.
What you do and say will "sound similar" ... you'll get a lot of crooked looks from establishment folks who follow the vendor playbook. You'll get a lot of pushback.
18 - You know you are on to something when you get pushback.
If you do what "they" tell you to do and you get tepid results, you'll know you are right.
If you do what you want and get great results and still get pushback, you'll know you are right.
If you do what "they" tell you to do and you get tepid results, you'll know you are right.
If you do what you want and get great results and still get pushback, you'll know you are right.
19 - The vendor system disapproves of innovation outside of their system. If their products / solutions are not "the" solution then you serve no value to them, and they push you aside.
20 - Back in the day I worked at Nordstrom. There was a Forrester Research sales person who wanted Nordstrom to fully embrace an omnichannel strategy. I supposed he was bonused on whether he could get his ideas into our Executive Team.
21 - He'd offer perks ... we could be on an "advisory board" where we could exchange thoughts with industry leaders (of course, he defined who was a leader). We could speak at conferences. We could get a first look at Forrester reports valued at $1,495.
All of it was nonsense.
All of it was nonsense.
22 - He was selling a system, a vendor-centric system that would lead to his brand making more money, would lead to vendors making more money, would lead to trade journal articles that would earn clicks. All we had to do what execute our business the way he wanted it executed.
23 - And the reward for us? We'd be viewed as a Leader.
That's good enough for a lot of people. We had an IT Executive who pushed her chips all-in, brought this guy in to sell his nonsense, got Executives to buy-in on the strategy the guy authored.
That's good enough for a lot of people. We had an IT Executive who pushed her chips all-in, brought this guy in to sell his nonsense, got Executives to buy-in on the strategy the guy authored.
24 - And he wasn't a strategist or researcher.
He was a sales exec.
He was selling.
If you have your own system, you don't fall for this Thought Leadership nonsense.
You don't tell people they must provide an entertaining, omnichannel experience to keep a store buyer engaged.
He was a sales exec.
He was selling.
If you have your own system, you don't fall for this Thought Leadership nonsense.
You don't tell people they must provide an entertaining, omnichannel experience to keep a store buyer engaged.
25 - Have a system. Your own way of doing things. Be loyal to it. Share it widely if possible. Teach.
Do that and you'll have your own identity, and your own identity will lead to career success independent of what a vendor-based system will offer.
Do that and you'll have your own identity, and your own identity will lead to career success independent of what a vendor-based system will offer.
P.S.: Some of the brightest and most professional people I've worked with are vendor employees. The best ones don't adhere to an industry thesis. They listen to my clients, they help my clients grow, and they are open minded to "many paths" to success. Find these people!!!
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