CEO suggests stoic test for engineers seeking the right marketer.
“I think engineers have a tendency to design cool features but they never really get to the point where they sell the
benefits.”
Having already conceded earlier in his intrapreneural career that marketing wasn’t all ‘colouring in and fluffy stuff’,
Flux Federation CEO and Powershop founder, Ari Sargent suggests a few ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ for enagaging marketers for
projects, following his previous commentaries for independent leadership media series, Leaders Review.
Engineers like himself, he claims, had a tendency to want to do everything themselves, “As they know how to solve
problems...That’s probably the first mistake.”
“Recognize that you’re an engineer. Change your mindset to say ‘Actually turning this thing into a bunch of benefits and selling it, is a job for somebody
else better at it than me.’ ”
“Experts who can develop consumer propositions, who can take those features and turn them into a benefit...its a
discipline in its own right. And when you see it done well, it's obvious.”
In terms of ‘how’ to approach, Sargent limits procedure to a few stoic steps. “If you're looking for a marketer tell them what you've got...talk about your product and get them to relay back how they
would sell it.”
“What's the underlying value proposition? And if that doesn't convince you that they know what they're doing...it's not
just full of buzz words...If a marketer says, ‘Your bells and whistles: if you put them together like this, talk about it like this, people are going to want it.’ If you don't get that sense...maybe look for a different marketer.”
“If you think ‘That kind of looks right but I’m not entirely convinced,’ that’s when you go do some market research. Go
and talk to twenty people and say ‘This is what we're trying to sell,’ and get their feedback.”
“Then maybe tweaks and stuff...(and) if eighteen out of twenty people think ‘yeah I'd buy that,’ you know you're onto a
winner.”
“Go through those steps to package it up as a proposition (then) test the proposition on real people. You go with your
gut from that point.”
What: Leaders Review Focus Points (2018). Short-form video series of public service messages for business by invited New Zealand business leaders (televised and
online).
Where/When: On-demand at LeadersReview.co.nz as well as series signature TVC spots broadcast on TV Three various periods throughout the year, before the the AM Show’s 7AM National News bulletins.
ends