Stop selling media, start selling ideas

In the world of publishing, media and advertising which I have lived, breathed and thrived in for more than three decades, the dynamic, constantly changing, inconsistent and unpredictable nature of its eclectic DNA never fails to excite and intrigue me.

For the fact it is neither an art nor a science, marketing as a discipline continues to challenge practitioners the world over to adapt, change, try, learn, innovate, experiment, and in the scheme of things, strive to bag enough winners on the run. For most, you are only as good as your last product launch, advertising campaign, on-ground activation, pricing scheme, publicity stunt, in-store promotion and channel strategy.

The uni-dimensional era of yesterday has, within a very short period of time, exponentially evolved into the full-blown multi-dimensional universe of today. The 4Ps many of us learnt in business school is now 8, 9, 10 and more. People don’t merely read newspapers or listen to the radio – they embrace compelling content.

Advertising is no more a full-page full colour piece of artwork printed on newsprint, it’s whatever that’s necessary to connect your product and brand to your targeted consumers of choice. Media is now expressed as paid, owned, earned, shared, converged and more.

Face it – we live in an integrated world. Our customers demand fully fledged solutions that accord function, value, convenience and gratification. Breadth of delivery with depth of accountability is now the natural order of the day.

With the privilege of a full arsenal of modern-day marketing armaments at our disposal – targeted technologies, business models, communication channels, big data platforms, intelligent dashboards – there seem to be no more excuses left for marketing pundits not to attain their ROIs.

As media specialists and communication experts operating across this 21st century stage, my colleagues and I have long positioned ourselves as valued partners alongside our advertisers. Making it as seamless as possible for our valued clientele to share the delight their product or service brings to consumers at large has always been our focus.

As the largest publisher and media owner in Singapore, Singapore Press Holdings is able to present to brand owners an extensive range of qualified consumers – comprising loyal readers of our print titles, avid listeners of our radio stations, regular viewers of our outdoor screens and video channels, etc.

The effort to “acquire” must feature as importantly as the drive to “retain”. The white spaces amid our customer matrix must seriously be addressed, as opportunities often lie in less-than-obvious crevices. Instead of thinking “big data”, think “small data” but deep insights.

In this day and age where business is harder to come by, ideation must feature high on everyone’s agenda. However, creative thinking alone will not guarantee you results; the ability to successfully translate ideas into efficacious applications will.

Reminders for 2015? Stop selling boxes, start selling solutions. Stop selling media, start selling ideas. Stop transactional selling, start consultative selling. Adopt the C.O.D. [change or die] protocol. And recite this rhythmic incantation to kick off each work day with – “ideate, investigate, initiate, integrate” – preferably in the style of Gregorian chants!

And as a parting shot, I’ll leave you with my favourite quote from Steve Jobs which speaks for itself: “Let’s go invent tomorrow instead of worrying about what happened yesterday.”

Geoff Tan is the senior vice-president and head of strategic marketing at Singapore Press Holdings Limited.

This article was from Marketing Magazine’s special edition The Futurist, the January-February 2015 issue.

For more articles from the Futurist read:

Getting up close and personal by Mike King of IKEA Singapore
Still a touch ‘Mad’ but not for long by Anna Bory of Audi
The death of traditional and digital marketing, by Rahul Asthana of Kimberly-Clark
Up, up and away with Millennials, by Rick Harvey Lam of Accor Luxury and Upscale Brands
Welcome to the ‘third age of travel’ by Karun Budhraja of Amadeus Asia
The future(s) of B2B marketing by Andrea Lin of Citi
The mobile customer experience will fuel digital transformation in Asia Pacific by Forrester
Communicate… or die by Greg Klayton of Kadence
4 tips to becoming “2015 Marketer of the Year” by Ambrish Jain of Lenovo
What’s a bad personality trait for a marketer? by Abdul Rahim Bawa of MasterCard
How does a mobile led future look like? By Rohit Dadwal of the Mobile Marketing Association
Do you have the skills to be a futuristic marketer? by Marcus Chew of NTUC Income
Marketing will soon be everybody’s job by Alvin Neo of Integrated Healthcare Holdings/Parkway Pantai.
From mad men to math men: How marketers need to evolve by Anthony Shiner of Singtel

For the full issue, click here.