In introducing an article on its site, Chief Marketer poses some interesting questions:
“What if the United States of America was a brand? As a marketer, what would you do to fix it?”
My take: Judging from the marketing press and blogs that I read, it seems to me that if today’s marketers were in charge of fixing America the brand, the top three initiatives would be:
1) Create a Facebook page.
2) Run a user-generated content contest.
3) Launch a blog.
These initiatives would, of course, be multi-channel efforts, seamlessly integrated with mainstream media efforts like, say, a 30-minute, overly-produced, puff-piece infomercial that would preempt regularly scheduled prime time network programming.
Yep, that should pretty much put America the brand back on course.
Technorati Tags: Marketing, social media, social marketing, Facebook
Great post that points out to us that ‘marketing’ can’t fix core problems. The first step for fixing America the brand is for America to stop acting like an a-hole to the rest of the world. Until we do that, marketing, no matter what form, social media or traditional, would just be putting lipstick on the hockey pitbull.
So if you are a marketer, and you find yourself in a company that has problems that marketing can’t fix, you must first devote yourself to fixing the problems. Easier said than done, but somebody’s got to step up to the plate.
I got it:
“AMERICA: APPLY DIRECTLY TO THE FOREHEAD.
AMERICA: APPLY DIRECTLY TO THE FOREHEAD.
AMERICA: APPLY DIRECTLY TO THE FOREHEAD.”
Shevlin, send the check over the weekend, I’ll cash it Monday.
Agree with Morriss that this is a great post but not with his conclusion that ‘marketing’ can’t fix core problems. That’s only true if you define marketing very narrowly and assume that marketers are only responsible for spending a marketing budget on stuff like contests.
If marketers also have and take responsibility for a company’s (or in this a country’s) actions then they can be part of the solution.
What? You’re not suggesting we measure America’s NPS?
@Martin – You don’t have to define marketing very narrowly to reach the conclusion that most marketers aren’t very interested in fixing a company’s internal problems. Not that they don’t exist, but it takes a pretty special marketing person to do that. Not to mention that doing such things is even harder to measure than traditional marketing, and therefore unless it is done with the rest of managements’ explicit permission, could lead to the CEO asking the CMO “what results are you getting with your marketing?” with marketing having little to show for their efforts.
While I agree that marketers should take a broad definition of what their role should be, I’d like to see a survey of current marketing professionals and see if they are taking an active role in fixing their company’s internal problems. Most are too busy with their other tasks more traditionally thought of as marketing.
@Jimmy: This a performance-based blog. When America the brand shows tangible results, we’ll talk about your check.
@Morriss: I didn’t get a chance to respond to your first comment right away, and Martin definitely beat me to the punch there. I think a hallmark of the best marketing execs that I’ve worked with is that they’re true senior execs — focused on improving overall business results — not narrowly focused on improving the mtkg function.
What’s sad is that in many firms, though, marketing does define itself narrowly — sometimes no broader than just advertising and promotion.
But I’d be hard pressed to agree with you that that’s “most” marketers.
@Chad: NPS = Nasty Politics Score???
Since net immigration to the United States is currently at 1.25 million people a year, I would argue the national “brand” is still quite strong. If that’s not the measurable, not sure what is.
The original question is silly.
First of all, America is a brand. By any standard or definition, countries have brands, starting with their symbols (Uncle Sam, Stars & Stripes, etc.). “Selling something” is not a prerequisite in order to have a brand.
Second of all, marketing can’t solve the problem (as Morriss noted). If America’s brand is tarnished, it is because its actions don’t align with its promises (e.g., truth and justice). We are a country of contradictions and hypocrisies. Saying one thing and doing another is a great way to undermine any brand equity or loyalty you may have previously enjoyed.
@Jeffry
Superman is for truth and justice. America is for SUV’s and Reality TV.
How to fix the brand? The election is tomorrow.
And speaking of a social media strategy, we probably need to address the following word of mouth from Morrissey, the genetically depressed English songwriter:
“America your head’s too big, Because America, Your belly is too big. And I love you, I just wish you’d stay where you belong
In America, The land of the free, they said, And of opportunity, In a just and a truthful way.
But where the president, is never black, female or gay, and until that day,
you’ve got nothing to say to me, to help me believe
In America, it brought you the hamburger. Well America you know where, you can
shove your hamburger. And don’t you wonder, why in Estonia they say, Hey you, you big fat pig…”
– Stephen Morrissey, “America is not the world.”
Editor’s note: Interestingly enough, the posting of the lyrics alone was enough to inspire four pages of angry blather at http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/America-Is-Not-The-World-lyrics-Morrissey/0C813E9E95F7A82948256E920010300F
Jinkies! I’d need to start my own blog to comment on everything attached to this post. Ok…. 3 thoughts:
Thought 1: Unfortunately, marketing is usually at the mercy of its client and not its audience. That said, with the myriad of clients and audiences for the American Brand, you really gotta wonder what’s in a “fix”?
Thought 2: It’s a beautiful thing when an organization opens core problem solving to it’s marketers, but marketing talent does not default to core problem solving talent. If you find a marketer that can do both, make them CEO. If the CEO doesn’t care, turn on the lights and put the disco ball away….. the party’s over.
Thought 3: I thought we already confirmed via Twitter that NPS stood for No Porsche Shevlin?
I think we’re well on our way to fixing ‘America, the Brand’ now that we’ve elected Barack Obama to be President of the United States. The whole world is rooting for us now.