The Marketing Bible

Today's marketing musings are prompted by an atypical source, the Book of James from the Bible.  In the third chapter of James, is the following passage:

"From the same mouth come blessings and cursing.  ...[T]his ought not to be so.  Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water?  Can a fig tree...yield olives, or a grapevine figs?  No more can salt water yield fresh."  James 3: 10-12

I am not sure that religious leaders or Biblical scholars will agree with me, but when I read that, I get a very clear marketing message.

What James was saying was you have to speak with one consistent voice.  In theological terms, that means issue blessings or curses, but not both.  In marketing terms, that means you cannot be the low cost provider to one market segment but a value added provider to another.  In the 80's, Peters and Waterman referred to this phenomenon as "sticking to the knitting" in their book, In Search of Excellence.  A few hundred years earlier, Shakespeare indicated the same thing when he wrote "to thine own self be true."

Especially in today's marketplace where organizations and marketers can't control the message as much as manage it, it is important to have a consistency of message.  Furthermore, in this cynical age, if your consistent message isn't based on reality, consumers WILL see through the charade.  The challenge for the business communicator these days isn't to "spin" the message (a term that I think all reputable communicators should eschew) but to craft a truthful and sustainable message.

James continues his writings saying primarily the same thing.

"Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you?  Let him shew out of a good conversations his works with meekness of wisdom.  But if ye have bitter envying and strive in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth."     James 3:13-14

Good marketing, it turns out, is common sense.  You can find marketing inspiration in many places, even a good book!