George Silverman, on his marketing blog, has summed it up nicely: "Marketing is not something you do to customers; it's a service you do for customers, the service of making the right choices easy." I like that definition, because it puts the customer first, and it speaks to the real value we, as marketers, add to the value chain.

We help customers make the right choices, and we help make those choices easy. If we compare all the marketing going on out there to that objective, we can see that our profession hasn't fully caught on yet. There's still a lot of dreck, and some is complicated dreck.

Just look at our PromoSweep results: Some in-store promotions are better than others, for sure. Fortunately, our agencies are focused and headed in the right direction. You're probably asking yourself, "How do I make it happen?" The only way to successfully implement this tactic is to become the customer.

Our agencies are committed to differentiating our products and services from the competition. With PromoSweep, the Logistix team hits the streets and heads into the stores to see firsthand what is being presented/offered to the customer. In taking this vicarious approach to marketing, we understand what our customers need, and we make it easy for them to understand.

Good marketing is easy to spot. Around here, we're all for the good kind of marketing!

Jim Holbrook
CEO, EMAK
Publisher of Stay Tuned