3
O P I N I O N
More than overhead
A recent study by InSource reported that “Creative professionals are being asked to do more work in less time – and it’s taking a toll.” I resemble that remark. Non-creatives have to understand and respect what marketers do, or we run the risk of demotivating those who are critical to our success.
We – the non-creatives – seem to foster this culture, and it hurts our service-minded colleagues in marketing in a unique way, because so few of us really understand what marketing does. I know I am guilty of forgetting how easy it is to fire off an email with a “great idea” about improving our website, promoting an event, or developing a new marketing campaign, without comprehending the effort it takes to execute. Perhaps even worse, I do so without respect for how my “great idea” fits within the firm’s marketing strategy or budget. We all have the best of intentions in wanting to share rich content or interesting approaches we see in other marketing campaigns, but doing so – without more than sending an email – fundamentally underscores the fact that the sender of the email (ahem), doesn’t really “get” marketing. Our marketing team knows what time of day to send an email about a survey versus a seminar in order to drive participation. They know what color backgrounds resonate, and what keywords are over-used by competitors and need to be avoided. That knowledge has to be respected. We give marketing zero credit when we take a
screenshot of a funny idea we saw on Instagram – and for an apparel company, to boot – and text it over with, “Hey, we should do this!” How infuriated would any non-marketing person be if we had to contend with all these quick ideas – coming willy-nilly from other areas of the business – while continuing to deliver proposals and executing strategy? We have to do better, or deal with turnover in the marketing department. “In-house creative/marketing teams aren’t just at risk of being overworked, they are also susceptible to demotivation when they are referred to as ‘overhead’ or ‘admin.’” In-house creative/marketing teams aren’t just at risk of being overworked, they are also susceptible to demotivation when they are referred to as “overhead” or “admin.” This industry can be brutal to our colleagues when we keep referring to these
Jamie Claire Kiser
See JAMIE CLAIRE KISER, page 4
THE ZWEIG LETTER June 11, 2018, ISSUE 1252
Made with FlippingBook Annual report