Ok, so we’ve been exposed to the Apple Campaign from 1997- “Think Different” right? How could we not? It still resonates today. With the recent passing of Steve Jobs, we’ve reflected on his life as a successful business man from humble beginnings, and reveled in the fact that his vision and legend will live on. It’s because he chose to take the path of what some would consider “crazy” and “unconventional”, but with a vision that nothing less than perfect would do. He simply saw things differently. That vision and theme defined Apple as a company and quite frankly rescued them from a downward slide. According to marketing expert Carlos Hidalgo, if we as marketers accept this concept, it can rescue our businesses as well. To review, here are a few lines of that commercial. See if it doesn’t apply in some part to us…
“ Here’s to the Crazy Ones… the ones who see things differently… You can quote them, disagree with them, disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing that you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They explore. They create. They inspire.”
Let’s break it down to usable bites. The words (change, invent, imagine, explore, create, inspire) are the important elements and attitudes that today’s B2B and B2C marketers need to embrace. Because traditional marketing has been perceived as a negative within our organizations due to extreme lacks (lack of visibility to C-levels, lack of aligning with sales, lack of justifying budgets, or lack of measurable results, which may be all or partly true), it may also be due to continuing to do the same things over and over in hopes of achieving different results. I refer to Albert Einstein’s definition of “Insanity”: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
So, in that spirit it’s time for a change for the better and to “THINK DIFFERENTLY”. In order to do just that, there are things today’s marketer can do: Don’t believe the hype, Defy traditions, Fight for the right to change, Have realistic expectations, and Lead! If you want to know how to further define the above, one2one Marketing at JD Young can help you do just that. It’s time to start taking it Personal!