QUALITIES OF A GREAT MARKETER?

In my opinion, great marketers have two qualities: 1. They are #storytellers. This ability of storytelling allows them to build the brand, its positioning and its functional and emotional benefits in the hearts and minds of customers in a language that connects with the customers, while being true to their brand's purpose. 2. They are #analysts. The ability to analyze trends and data allows them to form strong insights, and then turn those insights into opportunities through innovation or communication. 

Great marketers know very well that good storytelling only helps, when not only does it improve the brand health, but also delivers on the financial metrics that matter. So a great marketer looks at his/her P&L to analyze and drive top line, bottom line and market share as much as looking at the advertising spends, video views and digital KPIs. 

Quite often, marketers get enchanted by the creative side only, which can give them a few minutes of fame but cannot sustain them if the numbers do not come. 

So I strongly believe that a combination of storytelling with analysis is the right mix to become a great marketer.

PicStory : Power

Mahijur Rahman had felt intoxicated with power for the first time at the age of 16 when he was chosen as the Head Boy of his school in a small town in Bangladesh. Suddenly, the students feared him and the teachers respected him. This was not a feeling that he had ever felt before and he enjoyed it a lot.

Now he had to figure out how to hold on to that power. So in college he started participating in the elections and soon became the President of the University. It didn't take long for him to realize that no one is as powerful as a politician holding his chair. Bit by bit, year after year, Mahijur began building his clout and within ten years, he had become a critical member of the ruling party.

His golden opportunity arose when the party president and the running Prime Minister decided to step down due to health reasons. The party chose Mahijur as its face and all his hard work paid off. He won by a landslide and was chosen as the Prime Minister of his country. To Mahijur, there wasn't a high, bigger than this in life, and he relished every bit of it.

Unfortunately, this joy of his was short-lived as ten years in office, and he was shot dead by an individual who didn't agree with his policies and decisions. However, Mahijur had such a big impact on the citizens of Bangladesh in those ten years that they asked a well known artist to put up a wall art right at the border so that Mahijur could watch everyone entering the city.

Even after death, Mahijur continued enjoying his power over his country!

                        Pic details: Clicked on the streets of Porto, Portugal in Sept 2019

#PictureStory 45 : Heart

Even before he turned three, Alex's mother was telling him stories of different heroes and different personalities from various parts of the world.

She was keen to inculcate the values of equality, respect, tolerance and acceptance within him as she knew that the world didn't take long to bring its shroud of racism, bigotry, colour, caste, religion and many other filters just to keep differentiating one human being from another.

Quite often, the stories had characters from the figment of Alex's mother's imagination as her objective from every story was to make Alex a better human than the day before. Even when Alex started going to school, his mother's stories protected him from getting corrupted by the worldly views.

At the age of 14, when Alex discovered that he has feelings for other boys, he confided this to his mother. She showed complete support to Alex, and told him that there is only one thing that matters in this world, and that is love.

'It doesn't matter who you love, as long as you keep loving without judging the other person and are willing to open the window of your soul to that person without inhibition. Pure connections happen when two souls connect, the physical form outside is not important as it is just a haven for the soul." said Alex's mother, reassuring him.

Today, Alex felt that among all the heroes that his mother had told him about, she forgot to tell him the story of one hero - herself.

Pic details: Clicked on the streets of Basel, Switzerland in Aug 2019

CELEBRATING 200 YEARS

Collins Stationery, a Scottish brand of stationery just achieved the milestone of celebrating 200 years of being in existence. 

To commemorate this occasion, the company came out with a commercial, walking people through its origins, its history and key achievements. It is a beautiful film, created through hand animation, using only #paper as a medium to tell the entire story. 

The work was done by the #advertising agency Superunion, Singapore, and it just goes to show the power of simplicity and powerful #storytelling.

                                      #communications #history #creativity #simplicity #brand

#PictureStory 15 : Time Man

He always wanted to stay ahead of time. He believed that time is something that can easily be conquered and controlled. He wanted to be the master and wanted time to be his slave.

What he forgot was that time is not money that can be collected, hoarded or accumulated. In his crazy quest, he didn't realize when time overpowered him and stole his identity.

Pic details: Taken at the Oberoi Hotel in Gurgaon, India in June 2015