If You're Not Part of the Solution...

Marketers are often the butt of jokes, and it's good, maybe essential, to be able to laugh at yourself. I can remember being with a friend in an auto supply store reading flowery product description brochures. My reaction was visceral: "Who writes this s**t." My friend started laughing at me, eyebrows raised, and I realized, oh yeah, I do.

At its best, marketing communicates value; at its worst, it obscures value.

Peter Drucker once wrote that the only things that generate value are innovation and marketing.

Harry Beckwith noted that the typical Japanese company does not have a marketing department, because the whole company has a marketing mindset.

Until your company has achieved such an omnipresent marketing mindset, it's up to your marketing professionals to provide leadership. To paraphrase Drucker, good management is doing things right, but good leadership is doing the right things. Are you managing or leading?

I know some good engineer jokes too.