Generation Rx

Subject: Generation Rx

I have to disagree with Mehbs Remtulla who said marketers, 'have a way sometimes of overlooking the obvious, ' in the recent article by Laura Pratt 'Generation Rx.'

 

Marketers and marketing communications professionals have spent so much time and effort chasing the latest and best buzz word or next miracle to make $1,000,000 'branding miracle,' they have forgotten the basics of marketing.

 

The basics of marketing is to identify your market, and decide how to communicate with it.

 

It is a widely, and old, know fact that when you sell a car or suit to a husband, that you must also sell it to their wife, spouse, or girlfriend, or the car or suit will be back sooner rather than later.

 

It is also widely known that you not only must have a sales message designed to bring the customer in the start, but a message to keep them in the store, a message to buy the service or product, and a message after the sale is made to make the lucky customer sure of their sale, after they leave the store, and when they are bragging about their purchase to their friends, neighbours, and immediate circle of family and friends.

 

Figuring out who the gatekeeper is, is old news.

 

Ramesh Srinivasan's quote, "but we try and communicate to both audiences in a single piece of collateral," is older news.

 

Splitting up the message is as simple as choosing different venues for it to appear in, has been around since the cavemen started to draw pictographs on the cave walls.

 

Why it is only now, this is a surprise in the marketing efforts of health-care professionals must be the biggest surprise here.

 

The source of this problem can be placed at the feet of the large chorus section of the marketing communications choir, who seem bent to beat the phrase, 'branding, branding, branding,' to death

 

Lets close the lid on that horse, drink a dram of the good stuff, and kiss the bandwagon that pulls, 'branding,' off in to the horizon goodbye. After the wagon is gone, we can then drink another dram in salute to the return of the use of real marketing principles in all that we do in the marketing communications field.

 

Hell, lets finish the bottle, dram by dram.

 

Thank you

Norm Greenfield

Provoco Status Quo

Corporate, Marketing, and Political Communications

Calgary, Alberta