Sometimes you wonder if we over complicate marketing.
And sometimes you wonder if it starts with how we describe the work.
Unfortunately, I have a number of friends and former colleagues who are between jobs at the moment. Some were agency professionals in their most recent employment. Some were corporate marketers and communicators. When possible, I pass along job openings they might find of interest.
Tonight I found myself reading a position description for a Segment Marketing Manager. The company seeking to fill the position is no slouch — Fortune 500. Here’s what my old-school journalism professors might call the description’s “nut paragraph”:
As a part of the Segment Marketing Team identify, validate and implement Enterprise customer segmentation models, including project management activities to effectively roll out segmented customer views. Recommend programs that will seek profitable market share gains and sales of key customer segments through the design and development of programs to increase customer loyalty, arrest attrition and acquire new customers. Develop and sustain effective relationship marketing technologies and targeting mediums. Become the enterprise expert on customer segments and collaborate with internal stakeholders on execution of enterprise-wide segment marketing strategy.
How’s that for a call to arms? Kind of raises goose bumps, doesn’t it?
Let’s see now: Am I selling our products to the customer segment or actually selling off our customers? As I’m rolling out these customer views, should I be arresting attrition or merely detaining it over lunch hour for questioning? And while we’re executing the enterprise-wide marketing strategy, do you mind if I wear the blindfold?
David Meerman Scott, social media savant and a thought-leading speaker and author on marketing, has been crusading against corporate gobbledygook for years now. Much of his criticism has been directed at the rampant use of jargon and puffery in corporate news releases. It appears the same critique and advice could be leveled at a certain percentage of HR departments and marketing hiring managers.
How likely is that a marketer who gets hired for the position above will report to work that first Monday absolutely fired up and laser-focused on the stuff that truly matters:
- Thoroughly understand the needs, wants and lifestyles — the personas — of the company’s sweetspot customer and potential customers.
- Imagine, and then work with colleagues, to develop a category-best combination of products, services and customer experience.
- Make sure key suppliers and channel partners are fully engaged and feeling as though they’re in a win-win partnership.
- Establish an ongoing stream of value-adding information, interactions and experiences that makes all of these key audiences feel not sold, not marketed to, but in community with our brand. So much so that they’re inspired to give us most if not all of their business, and they feel great about recommending us to others.
What does your job description say? Are you “arresting attrition” or pioneering fresh, relevant ways to add value? Are you “developing and sustaining effective relationship marketing technologies,” or are you talking to customers and potential customers on a regular basis, and then providing them with content that enriches their lives or empowers their businesses.
Effective marketing is a challenge. And merely describing the work in more human, customer-centric terms doesn’t make things any easier.
But it might make the task at hand sound a whole lot more clear, worthwhile, and fun.
Nice article, Vince. And it hits home….imagine reading through this stuff 12 hours a day, trying to find a job. It makes your head hurt, not to mention, drives the worthy to WalMart to work for “real people.” (Well, maybe Target.)
Hi Vince. Just for kicks I ran that description through David’s Gobbledygook Grader. It got a score of 0. I ran one of my recent blog posts on the 50th anniversary of Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style and got 100. It’s really not that hard to write in English that everyone understands. The mystery is why so many feel it necessary to gunk things up to the point of total incomprehension.
Hi, Dan. Good to hear from you. Wow, zero, huh? I thought it was thick with mumbo jumbo, but might even have underestimated the density. Of course, gobbledygook is something we’ve all got to be wary of. One of the words/phrases I tend to lean on too much is “value add/ed/ing.” Congrats on earning 100 for your post. Sounds like you did justice to one of written communication’s great resources.
Cyan-colored type impossible for me to read. But then I’m old.
Oops, sorry, Dave. The only thing worse than mumbo jumbo is lightly colored, italicized type that is hard to read. I tweaked it. Come on back and try again, if yoiu’re interested.
EXCELLENT point. I have been in HR and recruiting for years and people come up with this type of job description WAY more than you would think. I too was until recently a champion of ANTI JARGON! This description would have been shot back to the hiring manager faster than you can say boo with a note that would have said something like “The people who would respond to an ad like this are not the people you want working in your group or at our organization at LARGE!” And, in some organizations I have worked in, and mostly from the marketing folks, they would have been right back in my face about it.
Almost as if they want to use it as a test to see if the people have the moxie to figure it out, then those ARE the people they want. HOW silly is that? People really do think like that. I have also seen job descriptions FOR HR managers that are two pages of so many tasks and things to do that no one in their right mind would take on a job like that. So, it’s not just in marketing. Corporatespeak is a disease! Let’s make a pledge to do our best to make it go AWAY!
No, I’m sure Marketing doesn’t have the corner on this. Thanks for your comment, WSR.
Guess there’s something to be said for convoluted uniformity (or is that uniform convolutidy?), eh, Brian.
At least as scary? This looks absolutely typical and I think I even understood it more or less. Welcome to the sad, linguistically tangled world of corporate marketing. No wonder my wife says I talk funny.
Wow – I don’t think I made it through the whole description…in fact, I got a bit of anxiety reading it…
Great post! Thanks Vince.