What’s In It For Me?
4th July 2006 by Lorenzo Sierra, ABC
In my career I have worked at three organisations listed in the Fortune 500. In fact, all three of those companies were in the upper half of the list.
Early in my career, I thought it incredulous that people did not know what my large, highly profitable companies did.
As my waist has grown thicker and my hair thinner, I noticed a trend at each of my Fortune 500 organisations – fellow employees at each bemoaned the fact that “no one knows who we are or what we do.”
As a communication professional I have sat in countless meetings with the intent of determining the best way to get people to “know who we are.”
Perhaps it’s wisdom. Perhaps I’m just a grumpy old man. But I have come to the conclusion that no one cares who you are or what you do. That is, unless, who you are and what you do has in impact on that person’s life and/or livelihood.
I have come to embrace the fact that my organisations have finite audiences. Chances are, your organisation has a finite universe of people who can (or will) participate* in your product or service.
As a marketing communication professional, it is crucial that you help your organisation’s leadership understand that the greatest return on marketing investment will be made by completely understanding your organisation’s finite universe and comprehensively addressing their wants and needs.
Once you have a full understanding of your finite universe and have put your product or service in the forefront of their minds, then you can go about the task of getting the rest of the world to “know who you are and what you do.”
Please do not infer that I am advocating ignoring the general populace. Good corporate citizenship is crucial. And I will address this, but that is a blog for another day.
*I use the term “participate” to generically capture that which you want from your audience (e.g., purchase, join, donate, become aware, etc.).