Problem with being aware of something is, once you know it is out there, you begin to notice it in everyday life. For example, if you are a photography enthusiast and have just learned about the rule of thirds, you will notice it being implemented in each and every movie, tv serial, painting and what not. Similarly, once you start reading marketing, you can not help but notice their real world implementations, all around you in your daily life.
Whether it is the advertorials in newspaper and television, dressed to look like real reporting (which is in a way, unethical) or press releases made to look like articles or stars getting extensive coverage for something, which just happens to be related to and is perfectly timed with the launch of their upcoming movie/serial.
And when you see all this and much-much more, you can not help but wonder, is there actually any field out there, where one can not only survive but prosper, just on the basis of their talent?
Or do we all need to become the next Apple, Twitter, Royal Enfield, Ken Rockwell, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Arundhati Roy or Rahul Gandhi, in order to succeed?
Now I don’t mean to say that the above individuals/companies do not have talent or aren’t good in their field, just that, their marketing quotient makes them seem larger than life and if you dig deeper, you will notice, most of it is actually due to clever marketing, rather than their talent.
In fact, there are several individuals and companies out there, which are far more innovative or talented, yet do not even figure on the same plane, because their marketing abilities just aren’t as good or they aren’t even paying attention to marketing and are rather indulging in what they do best, innovate and perform.
With this in the back of my mind, I can not help but wonder, on which aspect should one focus his energy, talent or marketing?
What do you think?
One Response
Dude,
I’ve got a compact answer to your post. It is, in fact the talent factor which they incorporate to market their brand. It’s only an extension to what all they are capable to do best, and you should respect it and not cry foul at it. Moreover, it is, indeed a proven fact, marketing sells, but its the product/the after-sales(another enriched talent to take care of their brand, product and eventually the people looking forward at them) which keeps consumers coming in, and the reliability intact.
Fell free to discuss, if you still have doubts!