Smart Marketing

A tip from a marketing consultant about hiring marketing consultants

As a marketing consultant, on the eve of the World Series, I was struck by the backgrounds of both managers for the opposing teams; JimLeyland of the Detroit Tigers and Tony LaRussa of the St. Louis Cardinals.

You see, many potential marketing consulting clients I meet want to know about my credentials. I tell them about my 8 years in the marketing trenches with General Mills, Novartis and Select Comfort. I tell them about how I led marketing teams on such consumer brands as Honey Nut Cheerios, Bacos, Fiddle Faddle, Poppycock, Screaming Yellow Zonkers, and Ovaltine.

Then I tell them how, since 1994, I've worked with over 100 business-to-business companies and helped implement marketing campaigns for manufacturers, distributors, dealers, financial services companies, educational institutions and almost everything in between. But for some of them, my credentials aren't enough. They have their eye on another marketing consultant who has more experience or better credentials.

To them I say; look at Jim Leyland and Tony LaRussa's credentials. JimLeyland was never a major league baseball player, having been cut by the Tigers as a minor league catcher. Tony LaRussa hit just .199 in a 6 year career with 4 different teams.

You see, I think the lesson for all marketing consultants out there is this: it matters less about your credentials and more about your performance. If you are able to focus an organization's marketing efforts and lead them to incremental progress, that will spell success for your clients.

All the rest of it is just window dressing.

Marketing consulting - Direct response advertising for Lawn-Boy

I just finished helping a client, Lawn-Boy (makers of top performing lawn mowers and snow throwers) develop a test campaign for direct response television advertising.

The spots are running in a variety of markets. If you'd like to see the spot, go to this site and click on the upper left hand window. This landing page was developed specifically for viewers of the television ad.

After you've had a chance to view the commercial and the landing page, tell me what you think...