Years ago, when I
was the chief marketing officer for a large bowling chain I was sitting in a
management meeting when the subject of business building ideas came up. As we
took our turns around the table to discuss and offer our ideas, I made the
statement that “Everything Is Marketing!”
Needless to say,
the other department heads, in typical corporate man style, put on their
defensive shield and interpreted this statement as a “power grab.”
I was shocked, and
no doubt naive, about how they took that statement. I could have cared less about a power grab or
becoming the President of the company. I was doing what I loved and whatever would
come of that, well; my merits would speak for themselves. So I did what I
could to first explain my statement and then to calm their inherent
insecurities.
What I said went
something like this:
“Hey guys, if you
will sit back and give me a few minutes to discuss this with you, I think you
will understand what I was saying is the present and future not only of our
business, but all businesses.”
I watched as they
stared at me with arms folded across their chests and hands over their
mouths. Their collective body language
could have stopped, the great orator, Daniel Webster, in his tracks.
“You see the customer votes with his feet. If
we put out a bowling product where the lanes are not consistent or the
pinsetter has too many stops or the food is cold and the beer is warm or the
house balls are all cracked or the roof leaks or the parking lot is not well
lit or our people have no customer sensitivity skills or the bathrooms have old
and cracked urinals, sinks and graffiti riddled stalls, THE CUSTOMER IS NOT COMING BACK…EVER.
Because all of the items (and probably more) that I just mentioned are
the components of our product.”
Silence.
No one said
anything and I watched as their arms started to unfold and the hands over their
mouths came down and one manager (of our facilities) said, “So that makes me a marketing guy right?” I
said “No, you’re still an A1 facilities manager, but if you look at what you do
as being a vital part of what the customer buys, the experience, the time or
whatever you want to call it, I hope you see why I said everything is marketing.
He kind of leaned in, smiled at me and started nodding his head and I saw the
light go on. I think he got it.
Years later, after
the company was sold and I started my own kaploe
marketing group, I was pretty much able to tell which new clients and potential
clients were successful just by going into their bathrooms.
If it sparkled, if
the corners were clean, if the flushes worked automatically and the tiles and
sinks and toilet seats were first rate and spotless and the hand drier was NOT
broken and the bathroom stalls were clean and the toilet paper was easy to get
out and full and the ceiling tiles were clean, I knew that this new client or
potential client had a passion for making sure he was delivering a great
experience.
And whether he
consciously knew it or not, he was able
to demonstrate that the total experience was his product. And all of the elements of that comprised the product
were the result of his marketing…understanding
what the consumer wants and expects and gives it to them in an exciting, entertaining
and “WOW” way.
18 years later,
the tell tale sign of clean bathrooms still tells me what kind of a marketing
mindset a proprietor has and how strong her passion is for continually
developing and marketing new and improved products.
And that is why to this day, I still say,
“Marketing Is Everything.”
