Symonds Says…
In researching this week’s column – one that I hoped would speak directly to the industry’s marketers in Boston for the 2006 CTAM Summit – I came across a lot of great quotes. So great, in fact, I was fired up just reading them. And then it hit me; pass them along. So with that, I offer up a collection of some of the many pearls of marketing wisdom I stumbled upon over the past few days. Never confuse your aspirations with marketing strategy. From the book, "Quotations of Chairman Mark" Sell to their needs, not yours. Publisher Earl G. Graves You must have mindshare before you can have market share. Consultant Christopher M. Knight I am the world’s worst salesman; therefore, I must make it easy for people to buy. Retailer F. W. Woolworth In marketing I’ve seen only one strategy that can’t miss — and that is to market to your best customers first, your best prospects second and the rest of the world last. Video game developer John Romero If you’re trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language, the language in which they think. Advertising executive David Ogilvy Advertising is the greatest art form of the 20th century. Media prophet Marshall McLuhan In the factory we make cosmetics; in the drugstore we market hope. CEO Charles Revson Authentic marketing is not the art of selling what you make but knowing what to make. It is the art of identifying and understanding customer needs and creating solutions that deliver satisfaction to the customers, profits to the producers and benefits for the stakeholders. Marketing consultant Philip Kotler Customers buy for their reasons, not yours. Author Orvel Ray Wilson Strategy and timing are the Himalayas of marketing. Everything else is the Catskills. Marketing author and guru Al Ries The best public policy is made when you are listening to people who are going to be impacted. Then, once policy is determined, you call on them to help you sell it. Senator Elizabeth Dole If you make a product good enough, even though you live in the depths of the forest the public will make a path to your door, says the philosopher. But if you want the public in sufficient numbers, you would better construct a highway. Publisher William Randolph Hearst We read advertisements to discover and enlarge our desires. We are always ready – even eager – to discover, from the announcement of a new product, what we have all along wanted without really knowing it. Historian Daniel Boorstin We find that marketing works the way the grass grows. You can never see it, but every week you have to mow the lawn. Media researcher A.C. Nielsen And last but not least, my favorite: Business has only two functions – marketing and innovation. Business author Peter Drucker Symonds says to all my marketing colleagues and to my many friends at CTAM, enjoy your time in Boston and have a great Summit. Curtis Symonds can be reached at [email protected].
