Comments on: What’s your story? – This is going to be a weird one

By: Andrew Smith

Andrew Smith — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 18:37:10 +0000

I think she should change it so that she has 2.5 kids. That’s probably the national average. I’m not sure what 5 tenths of a kid is like, though.

By: James Archer

James Archer — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 17:27:58 +0000

I consider myself a marketing/branding person (my link even goes to a branding site I run), but if I were at that meeting, it would definitely be time to have a serious talk with the client.

I see a company as a merry-go-round, and as a marketer, my job is to give it a solid push and make it go faster.

My job certainly isn’t to set up mirrors and lighting effects so the merry-go-round look like it’s going faster than it actually is. I don’t think anyone benefits from that.

Unfortunately, there are people who specialize in that latter type of marketing, and it sounds like that’s the kind of marketing your client was looking for. When it’s too hard to explain the truth in an appealing way, some folks are quick to resort to fiction.

I think the biggest problem with this is that we now live in a very media-savvy culture, and people can smell “creeping marketerism” a mile away.

Perfectly-crafted fiction holds little appeal for people who are being bombarded with it daily.

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 17:14:49 +0000

…well, I guess you never said anything about telling a true story.

I write that half jokingly, but it does have an aire of truth about it. Think about it, we all come into a situation from different perspectives. She was obviously slanted toward the strategic / competitive mindset (how do I connect best with my audience?). You, were looking more for context (researching the past to understand the present) – something she might not have a great natural ability to do.

Something that I think is important in an initial interview with a client is to try and gain a good understanding of their personality strengths. For instance: are they positive, strong learners, constantly strategizing, have a great deal of self-assurance – or are they lacking some of these things? When you, as the service provider, understand your client on this intimate level, you can help craft their story where it has the spin they’re looking for along with the truth.

By: Jacek

Jacek — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 17:06:18 +0000

I dislike marketing immensely, I hope one day some ubermarketing firm discovers that marketing is not working anymore. Actually Jesus may return sooner then that ever happens, so until then we have to put up with stupid ending of movies and mindnaming insult to our intelligence.

By: Dale Cruse

Dale Cruse — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 16:21:21 +0000

Did you ask her why she had just committed “eraser-icide?”

By: Me

Me — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 16:12:55 +0000

Wow… that is just cold and calculated.
yeah, i not sure how i feel about that. if you don’t have an interesting story about why you started the business, then just don’t have a story. don’t go making one up.

i am all for marketing and for putting things in a good light and putting a spin, or finding the silver lining, all that stuff, but for me, there is a line and i feel that lady never even saw the line as she blew pass it.