I couldn’t agree more that we need to understand our customers – that’s where VALUE comes in. It’s one thing to understand the needs of your customers, but you have to connect how your products or services solve a problem. I also think Seth touched on this when he says: “telling a story to a consumer that they WANT to hear”.

On the contrary, I don’t think Jantsch has come up with a definition for marketing. I’d love to see someone in marketing say to a CEO that I just met someone who wants to know, like and trust me. Now, give me a raise.

Thanks again for a great discussion. We need to have more of these in marketing

Thank you for adding your favorite definition of marketing. Godin’s definition is very similar to Jay Conrad Levinson’s and to Jon Jantsch’s definitions. My marketing career has primarily been centered on that major facet of marketing, so I am proud that all three of them emphasize that marketing role in their definitions.

However, I think that those definitions miss the huge role marketing must play in not just persuading customers to buy, but in also determining what products, and what product innovation to pursue before the persuasion even starts.

Glad this post sparked you to write your own post! I look forward to reading it. And it was great to finally meet you face-to-face last week at Event Camp Twin Cities. I hope to make it to your ISES talk this week.

There is no greater compliment for marketing than to be called the voice of the customer.

And talk about great minds…when he asked me how to be seen more as the marketing guy, I told him, like you said, that trade shows are a great place to learn about direct mail, advertising, telemarketing, email marketing, and social media, as all are used to drive traffic to the booth.

To be honest, I think it’s done a better job highlighting why marketing has become an overly-complex and ill-understood practice than it’s done in defining what marketing is. If we, as marketers, can’t come to a consensus about what our business is, how can we possibly expect those who don’t practice marketing to understand it?

In my opinion, Seth Godin says it best:
Marketing is the art of telling a story to a consumer that they want to hear that lets them persuade themselves that they want to buy something.
- Marketing is about selling something. Any definitions that skirt around that are missing the mark.
- Marketing is not about tools. Any definitions that lack an essence of strategy are incomplete.
- Marketing is about communicating value. The only way someone buys is if they feel there is an exchange of value for money spent. Many marketers miss this fundamental point.
- Marketing is persuasive. Let’s be honest, our job is to influence our customers.

Thank you for creating this post and for your thoughts. It’s sparked me to write a post about this very topic

Marketers not only need to put the customers’ needs first in everything they do…but they also need to be the customers’ champion. If your student wants to be perceived as something more than just “the trade show guy” he needs to facilitate the discussion between the customer and all departments in the company.

The trade show booth is the perfect place to start your company down the road to integrated marketing communications.