Alright, let’s start this post off with context. I’m forty years old. I’m a software developer by trade but have been a marketing executive since I was 29. Early in my career I realized I loved technology but had definite attention span issues. Sitting in front of a monitor was not conducive to my happiness even though I enjoyed it in short durations. Accordingly I transitioned into consulting, product management, product marketing, marketing and sales. My heart is in marketing. I learned classical marketing while doing it. I became street smart. I managed budgets with the best of them. I was there before Windows, the Internet, client/server, Y2K, dot com bubble, dot com crash, and software as a service. I’ve lived them all and become a better marketer for it. In other words, I’m old.

And then along came online marketing. And it’s a different beast.

As a marketer, it is awesome. Great tools, cool applications, real-time feedback, and immediate and measurable results. It’s word of mouth on steroids. Yet, for most of my contemporaries, it scares the hell out of them. They don’t get it. They don’t have time to learn it. And they end up outsourcing all facets of it to the very people who read these blogs; the next great generation of marketers.

A recent article published by Wharton, with inputs from the CMO Council, suggests that CMO’s of the future will come from the digital side. That’s a mistake.

The problem with people who solely do interactive, or online, marketing is that they don’t understand the full picture. They don’t understand the power of product roadmaps, or of industry analysts, or of direct marketing, or of public relations beyond the online medium. They don’t understand the importance of long-term strategy and tactical execution, integrated marketing campaigns tied to corporate objectives and financial forecasts. Conversely, the problem with marketers with traditional skill sets is that they are equally missing the big picture.

I know I’m generalizing but having worked with so many staffers and vendors I know I’m pretty safe in these statements. What evidence do I have? Current statistics say Americans spend 14 hours a week watching TV and 14 hours a week online. Talk about a split between the old and the new!!!

So what am I blogging about today? I’m blogging about Marketing as a trade. If you’ve chosen this trade, make the effort to learn both sides of the business. Think big. Use all of the tools of the trade to achieve big goals with big results. Marketing is an awesome career if you treat it as an apprenticeship and learn every aspect. Be an online and an offline marketer and you’ll avoid the Peter Principle.

Over the coming posts we’ll examine things to think about in a complete and integrated marketing plan and strategy. It won’t be a marketing course and it won’t be a Harvard discussion. It will be Marketing from the streets. It’ll integrate online and offline and provide the big picture you can use to achieve your goals. Best of all, it will address processes, measurements and budgets - the three things marketers hate to talk about.

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