I can’t explain exactly why it is that marketing lends itself to slogans. I don’t mean the kinds of slogans that companies use, the Just-do-it’s and the Built-Fordtough’s. I mean the jingoistic nuggets that you see on book jackets, the “sell-the-sizzle, not-the-steak” kinds of aphorisms that reap so much arrogant scorn from so-called serious disciplines, like finance or chemical engineering.
I don’t know why it is, although I’ve got some ideas. What I’m convinced of, though, is that if you find yourself mulling over any of the many quotable quotes in this issue, it’s a good thing, not bad. It means that you’re recognizing there’s a trigger in that quote somewhere, and that it’s a trigger you’ll be able to pull.
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So here, in no particular order, are just a few of my favourites from this issue. Some of them will keep me musing for years to come.
“Marketing isn’t the act of selling, it’s the act of knowing,” says Jerry Bouma in the article Eight Steps to Better Marketing. Bouma, analyst with Toma & Bouma Management Consultants of Edmonton urges farmers to think of what they can control, not what they can’t.
“I just hit singles all day long,” says Alberta farmer Ken Motiuk, who tells us in Eight Steps to Better Marketing that the goal is to win the ball game, not the at-bat. Says Motiuk, “I don’t have to swing for the fence anymore.”
“Most reasonable targets have been getting hit.” Also in Eight Steps to Better Marketing, Frank Backx says that with volatile grain and oilseed swings, plus marketing tools that let you extend sales of a crop over two years or more, there’s a chance on almost every crop to lock in profitable prices. Says Backx, “The main skill needed is discipline.”
“Our customers expect results from our products, and from our people.” Dow AgroSciences president Jim Wispinski says this about his own company in Believer, our story about his innovative approach to marketing. Isn’t it interesting, though, to think what this might entail if you were to say it.
“The market is more or less random.” After a career of market watching, Brian Oleson tells us in his new Margin Calls column that there isn’t any system or any analyst who can predict markets, especially in the short term. That makes betting on the market just that, a bet.
“On my BlackBerry.” Manitoba farmer Ian Lepp tells us in Eight Steps to Better Marketing that electronics are crucial for executing on his marketing strategy. If he likes his BlackBerry, you can be sure that buyers will soon be dependent on farmers who wear them 24/7.
“I felt like I was making some sort of drug deal.” In Market Signals, John Toone tells us why he feeds his family local food.
I’d be interested in seeing your list. Which quotes in this issue strike you as being spot on? Which are dead wrong? It’s easy to reach me. I’m at 519 674-1449, or e-mail me at [email protected].
