Is your marketing team strong-up-the-middle?
If not, take some cues from Major League Baseball. GMs of baseball teams always like to be strong up the middle when building a team: catcher, shortstop, second base and centerfield. Think early 80’s Phillies: Boone, Bowa, Trillo, Maddox. Here’s how I go “strong up the middle” when building a marketing team:
Be a velvet sledgehammer.
And some other necessary behavioral traits for marketers. I do a fair amount of mentoring of young marketing professionals. Often-times I’m asked my opinion on the behavioral traits needed for success. There’s certainly a long list of traits needed for success; here are just a few that come to mind: For those involved in marketing, […]
Advice to marketers: Don’t solve problems at the table.
Don’t blurt solutions. Take a step back, process things, build a thoughtful plan. I took a break from the corporate side of marketing in my early 30’s. I wanted to work on a variety of brands in a variety of industries, so I moved to the agency side of marketing. At one of my first […]
It’s Day-1 of your marketing leadership role.
What’s your plan? Whether you’re taking on your first or tenth marketing leadership role, the toughest thing you’ll face in getting started is…well…getting started. There’s so much you need to do and learn that it can be positively overwhelming. So, how to get started to put yourself, your team and organization on a path to […]
You’re not a resume, you’re a brand.
And well-built brands stand-up and stand-out from the crowd. There are many reasons why you need to invest in uncovering and marketing your personal brand. Please note, I said “uncovering” and not “building”. Building implies that you’re starting from nothing. Uncovering means that your brand is already there, you just need to reveal, refine and […]
Status quo doesn’t have to be status quo.
For organizational growth, you have to challenge conventional wisdom. My grandfather was born in 1908 and grew up as baseball was being woven into the fabric of America. He loved the game and played semi-pro ball into his early twenties. In the late 70’s and early 80’s as I was playing little league and travel […]
I’ll never get rid of this.
It’s much more than an old license plate. My first new car after college was a bright red, 1990 Chevrolet Cavalier Z24 and this was my license plate. This plate has been in and out of circulation on family and kids cars ever since, but no more. My daughter moved to Texas, became an official […]
40 under 40? That ship has sailed.
Build a life and career for the right reasons. Who the heck is this guy? Jeez, that was my first corporate headshot. Summer of ’99, age 32. Back My hair was heavier, my body thinner. I have 35 years of a career in the rearview mirror. No more opportunities for 40-Under-40 for me. I may […]
Patrick, I feel terrible for you, but I can’t feel sorry for you
You need to plan to succeed. I said words to this effect to my son in March 2010. He’d just failed to make the junior high baseball team for the third straight year. He was heartbroken and in tears. He wasn’t the most gifted ballplayer on the field; he was very small for his age […]
What is a premium brand?
Premium brands have customers traveling further, paying more and giving greater consideration to acquire them. People will travel further, pay more and give greater consideration to brands considered premium. Like my Grandmom McMenamin would always say: “long after the price is forgotten, the quality remains”. I bought these socks in late November 1997. These thick […]
