Marketing Maestro

Intellectually, I agree with you. Many, if not most businesses are the same or face similar problems, but you need to look at how you, as a consultant, make people feel.

It's like dating. What woman would want to hear "oh, you are like most of the other women I've dated?" :-)

There are common and unique elements and companies/orgs are no different. Just need to satisfy that innate desire to be recognized as 'not like everyone else.' Like Rohit's personality idea...

member1777984,
Thanks for the note. I hear you loud and clear. Excellent points. Everyone want to be unique even if they are not.

Josef, allow me to first comment on the new look of the website.

When I see the lion standing on two legs I think of things Anglican, English. I'd ask Ivanka if she could think of some icon perhaps more Slavic, Russian to stand beside the TRUMP name. I myself would offer and suggest a few ideas were I asked. Futuristic ideas, for New York and a more benevolent world would I suggest ...

Choosing a marketer, public relations firm isn't an easy task. Supposing I need an electrical engineer for my start up company. One resume is from an 4.0 MIT graduate, candidate's place of birth Egypt, or Bangladesh. Parents are wealthy. Another resume and the graduate is from the United States, 2.5 to 3.0 grade average from Rensselear Polytech, and this resume mentions one being interested in electronics since childhood, with various details which describe childhood projects and endeavors portraying an early interest in electronics. I'm trying to portray the difference between one with stellar grades and prestigious schools, and another with practical know how developed from a passion for the subject, since early years, though this person perhaps is less academically astute as others.

Who knows which is better. And the bottom line is always where to find and when to spend money to acquire help and resources. It's sort of fascinating to watch how Google transforms itself with billions of dollars at its disposal, yet the similar billion dollars of cash Microsoft sits stuck on that reef, as if it's waiting for the next hide tide to lift itself up and out of its slump. How does Microsoft remain languished for so many years, yet Google grows up larger than the Jolly Green Giant?

...

As founder of a marketing services firm, I've repeatedly heard the "no one knows our business like us" line. I’m not exactly sure why some executives say this, but I do know it’s a surefire way to perpetuate the status quo.

At our direct marketing shop, before we make strategic recommendations or start the creative process, we send a client questionnaire and do a set of one-on-one interviews, among other things. By stepping through this process, our work reflects our client's best thinking, as well as the OBJECTIVE (never discount the importance of objectivity, especially in groupthink-inclined organizations) views of agency members who share relevant problem-solving experience.

Clients often mistakenly believe the most likely marketers to solve their problems are people who've worked in precisely the same space for a lengthy period of time. Actually, those people are often most likely to merely wheel out variations on techniques already in place. People with a diverse set of relevant accomplishments may be far more likely to genuinely "think out of the box" (rather than merely talk about it) and hit it outta the park.

I have to agree with the other DM agency poster.
Part of our job during discovery is to listen to the client and learn what they know about their business. Then we apply our knowledge of best practices we've developed over years and multiple clients.
An appropriate analogy is a psychologist or therapist. Everyone thinks their problems and perspectives are unique -- and they're right. But that doesn't mean that an outside expert can't bring focus, perspective, and fresh thinking to their problem.
Also, I love the new site. And your new blog banner.

Thanks everyone for the comments. The new look and feel of the site was the result of a lot of hard work by a number of talented people.

We get the same type of comments when we approach businesses. "Oh, the videos you did are great, but we don't need a (training, demonstration, fashion) video." They think because we haven't done their particular industry yet, that we must not know their needs at all. It's yet another area where we must educate the consumer!

In other news, I had posted a while back about internet video & video marketing. Our Viral Video campaign that I had mentioned is being released today, and I wanted to share it with you. I will be tracking the success of this campaign, so check out my blog for future updates!

http://www.jobmatchvideo.com

Thanks!
Darcie
http://www.evideoproductions.net/blog

I just found Trump U today for the first time. A lot of good advice here. This post about "No One Knows our Business" was right on. I've heard it many times and it always kind of made sense. I guess it's human nature to believe this kind of thing. Excellent advice and an excellent site.

Thanks,
James
http://www.surfbouncer.com

@Darcie Thanks for the comments and I will keep an eye out for the results of your video effort.

@James Thanks for the compliments and comments. Glad to have you as a member of the TU community.