Oglivy & Godin on The Big Idea

Onlinemarketerblog has an interesting post comparing the words of David Olgivy to Seth Godin both on The Big Idea.  Of course coming from different generation, different styles, and even different goals as marketers, it’s difficult to compare these two but their perspectives come down to this:

Olgivy: “These are the rules that have made me successful.  Break them or follow them, but know them.”

Godin: “All the rules are different today than they ever were.  Follow the old ways at your peril.”

The article quote Olgivy as advocating The Big Idea that needs to be at the core of all marketing and advertising.  Godin basically says that big ideas are still important but they need to be embedded in the product and not in the advertising.

So how does this apply to BtoB?  Oddly, most BtoB companies fall in camp with Seth Godin…in not such a great way.  Most B2B companies want a perfect product that is exactly what the market needs and is like nothing else out there.  Then, and only then, will any marketing be invested.  Unfortunately, those products don’t always come along.  Often in BtoB we compete with similar products of very high quality and end up competing on price.

Leveraging market advantages in marketing is where the big ideas should be.  Coming up with bold, big, brash marketing around the one or two advantages of your product or brand highlights all the reasons why you should not be having a price discussion with your customer.

The biggest mistake a BtoB company can make is waiting for that huge innovative product to come out before investing in marketing.  The risk there is that on launch you customers sees you as a commodity company with an innovative product.  Instead of being something they have to have, your big new product is just something they have to pay more for.

The message for BtoB?  Invest in big bold ideas, but don’t wait for the big bold products.  You already have some advantages — now it’s time to talk about them.

Read the post here: (Link)

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