Marketing: The 3,500-Pound Weapon

On my first day of driver's education, my instructor gave me one word of warning: "Haley, remember, you're in the driver's seat of a 3,500-pound weapon."

He said this to teach me a respect for the vehicle I was driving. I needed to recognize that an automobile is not a toy, but a very large, very powerful tool. This tool could be very useful to me. But if I used that tool improperly, someone could be hurt - or even killed.

Marketers use a set of tools with similar potential for much usefulness or much harm. The design we choose for our products; the pricing model we set; the sources of our supplies and labor; our manufacturing processes and distribution channels; the way we communicate with customers; the messages we send; the language we use; the values we promote - all of these things can be beneficial for identifying the needs of customers and delivering products that serve their needs.

However, when used wrongly, marketing tools can also do much damage - causing an organization to hurt or lose customers, lose marketshare, or hurt its reputation.

So how do marketers use their tools dangerously? Let's take some examples from driving school.

Tools become weapons when their drivers:

(1) Stop paying attention. When a driver stops noticing what is going on around her, she is driving dangerously. She is at risk of ignoring a lane change, missing a traffic signal, or failing to stop for the brake lights in front of her. When a marketer stops observing her organization's position in the market and the movements of customers and competitors around her, she similarly impedes her ability to respond to changes, or even to continue moving in the right direction.

(2) Move too fast for the conditions. A driver moves too fast when his speed prevents him from maintaining control of his vehicle and adjusting safely to unexpected changes along the road. Driving too fast can occur out of recklessness (i.e. cruising well over the speed limit just to see "how fast this baby can go") or failure to pay attention to warning signs (i.e. a speed limit sign, or the start of a rain shower). Marketers must use appropriate timing, and pace their actions based on the market conditions and their own capacity.

(3) Fail to yield the right-of-way. Car accidents are often caused by the failure of one driver to yield appropriately to the other, as when a driver runs a red light, or pulls out in front of another driver. Similarly, a marketer fails to yield the right of way when she fails to yield to the customer's needs and opinions instead of her own. When the marketer forgets that the customer comes first, crashes (or clashes) happen.

Remember, marketers, you have plenty of tools at your disposal - tools that are powerful. Tools that are 3,500-pound weapons. Use them respectfully and responsibly to bring benefit - not harm - to your organization, your customers, and your world.