Lo intangible, as always, is relegated to the ethereal world of "it doesn't matter". Everything we do not see and touch with our hands is difficult to measure and even more difficult to value.
In the world of communication, there has always been a somewhat misunderstood relationship between pure and simple marketing and communication as such, to the extent that there are different university studies belonging to different "branches of knowledge":
- on marketing is still more typical of the schools of business, of the world of numbersalthough it encompasses a part of advertising o promotion of a product or service.
- the communication is studied in the faculties of social sciences (where I studied).
But where do these two sciences meet and how should they go hand in hand? Do they complement each other well? Do they come to understand each other?
Marketing VS Communication
To make an overly simplistic recapitulation:
- Marketing focuses on the sale. It is concerned with what is the most effective way to sell a product/service taking into account variables such as price, promotion, distribution etc. He likes to measure everything quantitatively and has a certain blindness towards everything that is not sales.
- The communication, instead, it carries out a more qualitative analysis and its mission is to planning, developing and delivering messages. Take care of the brand and its image, so that it projects the values and philosophy defined in a coherent manner in all media. Its tools are texts, images, the channel... In short, any element of language, moving a little further away from numerical issues.
When they say I'm a marketing person, I always point out that I don't think I studied more than 3 marketing subjects (the bulk were sociology, consumer psychology, copywriting, creativity...).
It is true that there is one ingredient in which they come to come together our Pin and Pins, the epigraph of the "advertising". This is an aspect of marketing in which communication also has a lot to do, as it is necessary to plan which messages to launch and how.
Let's say it's like the slow song that you both dance to comfortably on the dance floor.
Measurement is power
It goes without saying that when it comes to measuring results, marketing has it much easier. A euro is a euro and a sale is a sale. The more sales, the better it is doing.
This is obviously a reductionist summary of the many complex analyses that lie behind it, but that is the crux of the matter.
How do we assess whether our brand is positioned in the mind of the receiver in the way we want it to be? What value does this have and what direct influence does it have on sales?
Marketing is all-consuming
In my opinion, the marketing industry has gone over the top in the last few years, gobbling up everything in sight and making everything identifiable with marketing.
That Coca Cola sells a lot... marketing, that it communicates well digitally, digital marketing etc. etc. etc. The term "marketing" is associated with issues and tasks that have nothing to do with it in origin.
Translated to the world of websites, for example, a website that is communicatively well thought out (with a style guide in line with the corporate identity, with well thought-out and coherent texts and images, with an effective and simple architecture, etc.) has little to do with marketing.
It is communication. Here we are not discussing what price to put on the product, how to distribute it or what advertising to do... Let's take as an example Tessellated, the latest project we have been working on, a blog that will nothing sells (except for itself) but which has been thought out from a communicative point of view.
We are talking about a detailed and thoughtful exercise on how to capture the essence of a brand on a digital canvas and make the user think "ooh, this brand is X" as soon as they enter.
What value does this have on sales? It is not known. It is the harsh reality. Because it is difficult to measure (they told us this at university).
That's why communication people and their work have always been undervalued in a certain sense. Because you can't see the results with the naked eye (even if there are results).
And people prefer the tangible, the corporeal... and they prefer to speak about marketing.
Does communication sell?
It's not silly, people will be more willing to pay a higher price if they perceive you as a TOP brand than if they perceive you as average (just ask Rolex or Apple).
Our brains are that easy. You don't pay for the quality (very relative), you pay for the brand image, and the construction and maintenance of the same always goes through communication professionals.
I would go so far as to say, to return to the example of big brands (Rolex, Coca Cola), that they are among the few that invest a lot of money in communication, even if the term is no longer fashionable.
They know perfectly well that positioning themselves as a premium brand allows them to set a higher price and be accepted by the public, because the brand is "worth it".
So the answer is: yes, communication sells (and marketing goes with it). That would be my conclusion.
Fashions
Nowadays it is strange to say that you are a "communicator".
Firstly, because few people understand it, perhaps because they are unaware of the network behind the brands.
Second, because the numerical imposition The current situation at all levels means that everything has to be dictated by numbers and sales.
Perhaps we are witnessing a renovation The concept of "marketing", which also encompasses communication work, will lead to a slow death of the term "communication".
To a scenario where the binomial "communication & marketing". The term "marketing" becomes obsolete and becomes "marketing" without further ado, taking for granted that it also deals with branding and communication planning and execution.
Perhaps I, who am very traditional in some ways, still see a clear difference between the two sciences and am in favour of specialisation and the need for both professions separately, but recognising to both of them for their work.
What do you think this scenario might look like?