Marketing Genius - Not so Genius, Just a Smart Guy

Today I attended a marketing conference with Peter Fisk. I have to say Peter is a nice and wise guy but I was really disappointed by the following statement:

Marketers are the ones who create value in a company!

In my opinion this could not be further from the truth. Marketers do create value, but are certainly not the only ones who do so. People who innovate are not usually marketers but multidisciplinary people who can connect various ideas from different fields.

The knowledge of marketing (not advertising) is a basic skill for anyone who is aiming at creating a product but is far from enough.

Apart from that Peter Fisk had a nice keynote. Here is the agenda:

1. Market strategy from the “outside in”
2. Customer insights that redefine markets
3. Green propositions that embrace ethics and environment
4. Engaging experiences delivered on customers’ terms
5. Building brands that capture your big idea
6. Business innovation designed from the “future back”
7. Delivering results for customers and shareholders
8. Inspiring leadership that engages the whole business

He also mentioned a couple of nice stories I did not know much about. This might come handy to someone searching for material.

• Innocent Drinks (Wikipedia)

Innocent was founded by three Cambridge graduates - Richard Reed, Adam Balon and Jon Wright. In 1998, after spending six months working on smoothie recipes and £500 on fruit, the trio sold their drinks from a stall at a music festival in London. People were asked to put their empty bottles in a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ bin depending on whether they thought the three should quit their jobs to make smoothies. At the end of the festival the ‘YES’ bin was full, so they went in the next day and resigned. After quitting their jobs, the three had a lucky break when Maurice Pinto, a wealthy American businessman, lent them £250,000. The company’s HQ, Fruit Towers, is based in Shepherds Bush.

• Umpqua Bank (Wikipedia ; Nice article ; Umpqua Store ; Must see .pdf)

Umpqua Bank, a regional bank with over 65 branches located throughout Oregon, wanted to reinvent retail banking. The first step in achieving this goal was to create a flagship store that would embody their brand and translate its unique style of banking into a compelling experience for its customers. The new bank store was to be used by a range of customers including businesses and individuals. It was to provide these customers with all their banking needs including investing, savings, loans and insurance. A store manager and a staff of Universal Associates would operate the bank. Both would be responsible for providing Ritz-level customer service.

• Jones Soda (Wikipedia)

Peter van Stolk founded the Urban Juice and Soda Company Ltd. in 1987, intending to compete in the alternative products segment of the beverage industry. Until 1995, the company was a distributor of other beverage lines such as AriZona Iced Tea and Thomas Kemper sodas in western Canada. The Urban Juice and Soda Company changed its name to Jones Soda Co. on August 1, 2000, most likely hoping to benefit from the fact that over 85% of the total revenues came from the Jones Soda brand.

Anyway it was a well spent day. I refreshed some concepts and had the chance to meet new people.