Where’s the Strategy?

Sometimes it seems the strategy involved in marketing today is as tiny as the hamburger in the old “Where’s the beef?” ads. What gives? Have marketing professionals been relegated to simply placing ads? Maybe some, but that’s not why I entered the game.

Anyone can purchase space in a newspaper. Where the rubber hits the road in this business is strategy. Clients hire agencies – in theory – because they rely on us to tell them what to do with their marketing dollars and how to do it. And yet, I see a lot of guesswork going on.

Perhaps I should have titled this blog “Where’s the research?” because it’s the research that gives marketing recommendations a leg to stand on. It’s not about pretty pictures and clever copy. It’s about getting into the head of your client’s customers and finding out what pushes their buy buttons.

And if we want to elevate the status of our profession (and ourselves as marketing professionals), we can’t just guess about that.