Date: October 2012

A marketing consultant is not necessarily a marketing consultant.

From one to another, they are completely different. Some have great skills in strategy, others in tactical development and execution of marketing plans. Some are great at communicating but not fully across social media or what role advertising plays in the digital age.

In the past year, I have travelled the world talking to marketers and each one has something different to offer. They all have honed their skills in one area or another.

I first started my involvement in the marketing industry 21 years ago at an advertising agency in  Queensland. I remember watching the owner of the business operate and being completely fascinated by his skills and creativity. He had started his career as a window dresser for David Jones and way back in the early nineties was making more than a million dollars profit out of 5 man agency. Incredible.

Walking along the canals in Amsterdam this morning, I came across this piece of art. A park bench made out of old books.

It is a piece of art and each book has a story that it wishes to tell. Each book was put together by people who loved what is inside and wanted to share it with others. Each page is full of dialogue from authors all over the world, wanting to explore their inner most thoughts, passion, and view on something that they believe is meant not just for themselves but for others around them.

We each have a story to be told - don't we? As I sat in a coffee shop with my friend Huib today, we discussed some interesting life stories that people have shared with us in public forums. What we believed was a good story and some that we thought could be told in a different way, or perhaps should not be told at all.

It must have been the weather or perhaps it was the welcome from the airport hosts dressed in their cowboy boots, wide brimmed hats and bright red vests - but Calgary sure has got my heart pumping.

Having derived from Australia, I always wonder how people feel when they land on Aussie soil.

In LA, I always feel that it is the same as anywhere else. In Atlanta, the same. New York, the same. But in Calgary, it was something else.

I work in a very busy marketing agency.

Like mechanics who never fix their cars, we as marketers, are the last to market ourselves. As the owner and founder of Marketing Eye, I am the only person who makes time to ensure that our brand is somewhat visible and I do this in the most time efficient way possible.

While watching prime time TV last night, I could not help but notice how popular PSY’s Gangnam Style has become. 

In case you haven’t seen it, the Korean music star pops some hilarious dance moves while wearing his trademark sunglasses, tuxedo and loafers and has enjoyed global fame since his video’s release.

Before it became all the rage, I watched the video just a couple of months ago when my friend recommended it for its catchiness and cool moves. I watched it and was amused, but that was about it. It was out of my mind after a couple of hours. 

In the background, my television was screening the news. I was half-listening while typing away on my keyboard a hundred words per minute, trying to finalize some last-minute communications with my team.

Then I heard a voice. It was familiar. Manly. Strong. Thoughtful. Original.

I looked up.

We have all stumbled upon a myriad of marketing and social media latest phases and without hesitation either jumped in and had a go, or stood back and watched what our competitors have achieved before investing valuable cash and resources to the latest, hottest marketing platform.

There has been one consistent marketing platform that has been more central to a marketing strategy in the past couple of years, than any other marketing activity bar social media.

Content Marketing

If you have been hearing this buzz word for some time, and haven't done anything about it, then you are in a minority. Unlike the phases of social media platforms and apps popping up into our strategies then quickly falling to the way-side, content marketing underpins all online marketing strategies, whether we like it or not.

"We have a client that is 100 per cent focused on using content to drive leads in the next 12 months and this trend is catching on with many other small businesses," said Julie Schoneveld, CEO, Marketing Eye.

"It's not difficult to out-perform your larger competitors through mileage out of content marketing  that is useful, targeted and information rich."

Happy people are more successful, just ask Shawn Achor, the author of The Happiness Advantage.

"People who cultivate a positive mind-set perform better in the face of a challenge and in every area of your business, you will show improvement if your brain is positive" said Achor at a recent speech to 800 global entrepreneurs.

In fact, sales people who were happy outsell their less positive colleagues by more than 37 per cent and positive people in organisations are not only happier, they perform better and live longer, healthier lives.

I saw this picture when I was travelling overseas. It's brilliant. A young boy watching an older woman walk past and clearly recognising that she is a beauty. It doesn't matter what age she is, or he is for that matter - beautiful is beautiful. There is no gender or age specifications around beauty.

When it comes to brand, it is important to have a brand that is timeless. Yes, it may evolve, but you wouldn't change it year-on-year and hopefully not within 5 years.

An Australian brand that always comes to mind when talking branding is VB. "You can get it walking, you can get it... " voice over on all of their television and radio campaigns played with exactly the same voiceover decade after decade. I remember it, my mother remembers it and my grandfather remembered it. It lasted the generations and VB will never be the same without it.

When developing a new brand, think about how long you  can live with it and whether it will be timeless or not.

As an ex-journalist, interviewing people of all backgrounds and walks of life is second nature to me. I've interviewed police officers, politicians and met the Prime Minister, but have never been asked to have a sit-down interview with my former news organisation's owner (who would be Rupert Murdoch himself - eep!).

Today, I'm on day two in the marketing industry and have been given the chance to pick the brain of Marketing Eye founder, Mellissah Smith – it’s a slightly daunting ask, especially when you consider that she was little older than I was when she first branched out and went solo in her first agency.

“I’ve been in marketing for 20-odd years and was 25 when I started my first agency – what inspired me to start was an account opportunity falling in my lap,” Mellissah said.