Old Marketers — Why Are They Still Trying?
Can you really be old and hip?
Marketing is one of the most widely misunderstood occupations. First of all, the term “marketing” covers a broad expanse of skills and tactics. Second, the typical person sees marketing and advertising as one and the same.
Ask anyone to name a skilled marketer and the two most likely responses will be Steve Jobs or Don Draper. One is a myth and the other never existed.
If you’re a marketer, and you’re over 50 — or in some cases over 40 — you’re basically screwed. Marketers are expected to be hip, in-touch, and always ready with a brilliant idea. Steve Jobs is the touchstone here. Never mind that he was an asshole who treated people like shit and rarely bathed. He is the anointed one, even if you don’t own an iPhone or a MacPro.
No one questions the abilities of a car mechanic in his 60s; it’s assumed that he’s seen it all, knows how things work, and can fix your new status symbol. Over 50 CEOs are seasoned veterans. Politicians keep getting elected into their 80s. But marketers are like athletes; once they pass 30 their market value declines rapidly.
Marketing is a set of processes that needs to be followed in order to deliver results. You define your market, understand its needs, create a product to meet those needs, get a small subset to engage, and build from there. It has nothing to do with being hip or growing your Tik Tok follower base.
Marketing is research, math, sales, design, psychology, and much later, creative. It’s not a brilliant tagline created in the heat of the moment just in time to grab the client. It’s hard work, analysis, and a lot of testing. And yes, experience matters.
I was talking to a college student a couple of weeks ago (she was cutting my hair). She wants to be a marketer, so she’s taking design and art classes. What about statistics, I asked.
“Oh, I don’t do math.” I suspect she will be cutting hair for some time. Maybe she can become a designer. But she won’t be a real marketer.
The best marketers are rarely a member of the target market. They do the research and remain emotionally detached from the results. They take a high-level view and apply the process outlined above and remain objective.
I once worked for a major supermarket chain. The company wanted to hire a new CMO, and leadership was excited to find a woman in her 30s to fill the role. She had no experience as a marketing leader, but she was eager and — best of all according to the executive committee — she represented the target. What could go wrong?
Needless to say she failed in a spectacular manner and lasted less than a year. Instead of doing the work and following a process, she followed her gut and did what she found interesting. Sadly, no one in the target demo found it quite as compelling as she.
Great marketing is not alchemy; it’s a proven process with clear steps. But the belief that there is something magical about marketing makes employment for marketers difficult once they get to a certain age.
The best marketers are those who follow the process, know how to test, and are open to new ideas. They might be 30 or 60 and may look nothing like the target. In fact, it’s better if they don’t so they can remain focused and leave the emotion at home.
If you’re in need of a marketer but you hope that a 20-something with 10,000 IG followers is going to save your business, good luck.
