Working With Words
A weblog devoted to spurring a conversation among those who use words to varying degrees in their daily work. Hosted by John Ettorre, a Cleveland-based writer and editor. Please email me at: john.ettorre@gmail.com. "There comes a time when you realize that everything is a dream, and only those things preserved in writing have any possibility of being real." --James Salter
Saturday, February 06, 2010
About Me
- Name: John Ettorre
- Location: Cleveland, Ohio
I'm a Cleveland, Ohio-based writer, editor and writing coach, with more than 25 years of experience, including stints in Chicago and Washington, D.C. My work has appeared in more than 100 print and online publications, from the New York Times and the Christian Science Monitor to local and regional publications. My work has been recognized by awards (including an Emmy) from four journalism groups.
Previous Posts
- Busting Myths With StyleFor decades, Popular Mecha...
- Our Favorite Blog Name of the WeekField Notes from...
- Lebron to be Featured in Super Bowl AdThe advertis...
- No, This is Not a Joke Headline in The OnionBristo...
- Meet the Madoff MinionsMore than a year after Bern...
- We Can't Decide if This is Useful,So We Ask Y'All ...
- On the Need to Find a Fresh WayTo Say Something Qu...
- Ridiculous Sign of the Month'Become an intellectua...
- Emails From Beyond the GraveDearly beloved, let me...
- The Advantage of Belief'Most people do not believe...
8 Comments:
He may be an intellectual genius, but marketing is selling, isn't it?
No, but that's a widely held misbelief, Kass, perhaps because the ubiquitous phrase "sales & marketing" so often puts them on the same plane in our brain. The traditional way that it's been thought about is that marketing sets the table for sales. In other words, marketing increases your awareness of a given service or product, stimulating the demand for it, thus leading to sales. So while they're tied at the hip in that way as compatible activities, they're certainly not the same thing. Does that make sense?
The trouble these days is that I've become aware. I know I'm being marketed at. I know I'm no longer an individual, I'm part of a demographic.
Nothing wrong (at least not for me) with being the object of marketing, per se. It's only bad marketing that gives me problems, and of course there's plenty of that to go around. And to your point, good marketing probably makes you feel more like someone has paid attention to you as an individual than simply as part of a large group.
Perfect sense. As a scriptwriter of videos for marketing and other purposes, I've encountered the challenge, "Can you guarantee the program will work?" I respond, "No, but you can - in the way you follow it up. The most important part of the program is after you turn it off." Now, Chicken quarters. Now, if the message is "Bavarian ham for "4.99/lb today!" that's different ... Hmmm, almost lunchtime.
You said it, Mike. If you set the table but fail to follow up, it's a wasted exercise.
Sorry about the typos, but I think you get the idea.
Not a problem. Damn those typos.
Post a Comment
<< Home