Sorry for the long hiatus. I had been tied up on a special project for quite some time, but I am back full time doing what I love most – marketing. I don’t believe there is any better job than to be a marketer. Marketing allows one to be analytical and creative all in the same job. Plus, it is always evolving. Our super-sonic, cyber dominated world of information is a constant education. I completed a graduate degree over twelve years ago. At that time I felt comfortable that I knew all the latest marketing techniques. Had I then stopped taking courses and learning new things I would be woefully behind the rest of the marketing world.
The business world as we know it is evolving and we must be prepared to recognize the major trends as opposed to the time-limited ‘fads’. What new technologies will change our world and which ones will fizzle out? I remember standing in an appliance store listening to the salesman explain the two latest video tape players, the Beta versus the VHS. At that time both were being sold as the “new way to watch movies at home.” VHS won the home market battle, but later lost out to DVDs, which are now losing out to streaming videos. Who knew that our plastic 32 RPM and 45 RPM records would be replaced with 8-track tapes, which would be replaced by cassettes, which would be replaced by CDs, which are being replaced by direct downloads to various recording devices.
I recently contacted a few other marketing executives in the packaging industry and inquired about how they are using new social media forms in their marketing mix. They have all been in the industry for over 20 years. Without a single exception, they told me that they do not utilize any of the new social media. They do all have websites and send out e-mail marketing messages, but none of them ‘believe’ that social media will work for their company. For their sakes, I hope they are right.
I don’t believe that the packaging industry is so special or unique that change will not affect it. When I received my MBA in 1999 there was no such thing as blogging, videos going viral, YouTube, twitter, Facebook, QR Codes, Linked-In, podcasts, and a string of other new and exciting opportunities to promote business. While some of these may turn out to be ‘fads’ and/or not right for all companies, don’t become an 8-track by thinking all the new techniques are ‘not suited’ for your industry or business. Your competitors won’t be making that mistake.
The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment