Do you have an Oak Marketing Strategy?

Last weekend, my daughter and I were discussing the trees in our backyard.  Specifically we were discussing what to do about a Burr Oak that we planted several years ago and a Maple that had grown nearby. I was touting the benefits of the Maple, because it had gotten so tall, so fast.  My daughter called it a "weed tree" and complained that it was crowding out the Burr Oak, keeping it from getting the sunlight and water it needed.

Burr Oak tree, West Dundee, IL.
Diameter: 49.7". Estimated age: 300+ years.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It struck me that the debate we were having was a good metaphor for the debate marketers have all the time between short term promotional campaigns and brand building; between short term and long term marketing.

Just like the trees in our back yard, short term marketing has the potential to crowd out long term marketing and brand building.  Opportunistic one-shot advertising and promotional campaigns have their place.  They can be very effective and useful...in the short term.  Like the maple tree, they are nice to look at and it is easy to see their benefits.  But if those campaigns aren't managed, and carefully used within the framework of a larger, long term marketing strategy, you run the risk of using all your resources, all your sunlight and water, on something that grows fast and then is gone.

For those of you who don't have an arborist nearby, let me explain. Burr Oaks are slow growing and long lasting trees.  Burr Oaks can live to be 300 to 400 years old.  That means there are Burr Oaks around that could have provided shade for a young Benjamin Franklin.  Maple trees grow fast and last an average of 75 to 100 years.

Like the Burr Oak, a strategic marketing plan provides long-lasting benefits.  It takes a long time and a lot of patience to build a lasting brand image.  But if you give it the resources it needs, and manage the other activities competing for those resources, your time and efforts will be rewarded with something truly special. You develop something long-lasting and awe inspiring.

You develop an Oak Marketing Strategy.