One of my goals is to encourage people to take some time to think about what they read and hear in the world of marketing.

Whilst we’ve always been guilty of a degree of self-aggrandisement, I’m starting to see a greater number of articles and features masquerading as expert opinions which are simply ludicrous – and yet the industry seems to lap them up.

Each week Marketing magazine devotes its back page to ‘Marketing Mole’ – this includes the feature ‘Who does Google think you are’?  which examines the on-line profile of people
in the marketing industry and then provides a verdict and action plan on each profile.

On the face of it you might nod sagely and agree with the recommended action that someone should ‘establish themselves as a recognised thought-leader’ or ‘set-up/update their LinkedIn page’ (the default recommendation for most of the people featured) – but on what basis is this counsel being given?

How does ‘Marketing Mole’ know that the individual wants to raise his/her profile; that the individual wants to share their views on a specific sector with the all and sundry?

It seems there is an assumption that we’re all becoming miniature brands, and that to be successful fame is as important as substance, if not more, – perhaps we are starting to believe the hype from business TV reality shows?

Fame for brands and for marketing people comes from great work – research, product development, branding, sales and distribution, and yes, creating and executing brilliant campaigns too – it comes from substance not just a shallow ability to shout louder.

On the subject of fame it was good to see Yeo Valley and BBH pick up the Grand Prix at the 2011 Marketing Society Awards for Excellence for creating a campaign* that not only presented a refreshingly different face for an organic brand, but also delivered a reported £3.5 million incremental sales – a particularly creditable performance in an organic sector which has seen sales stutter as consumers face increasing pressure on spending in the recession.

*Of course, I suspect that fantastic product quality, some new products, a rebranding exercise and a keen pricing strategy also helped increase distribution and sales!