When the publisher suggested—and by suggested, I mean told—Dan Japhet and me to look back over our careers and share how things have changed, it sounded like a pretty easy assignment. On reflection, I believe it’s as much about what’s stayed the same as it is about what’s changed.
I began my career in the mid-’70s, and the primary tools I used when creating and selling newspaper ads were an IBM Selectric typewriter and a now-obsolete pica pole. My guess is that people entering the industry today would have heard about typewriters or may have seen one in their parents’ attic. I doubt that more than a few could draw or describe a pica pole.
I remember the days when I edited commercials in a radio station and we used tools like tape cartridges, magnetic degaussers and, yes, even razor blades. I won’t describe how they were used, but they were necessary to get news and advertising on the air. Back then, the beast of the airwaves was AM radio. The FM format was an outlier for advertisers with the most courage or the biggest budgets.
When I started managing brand advertising, television choices were limited and stations were able to flex their monopolistic-like muscles in more pronounced ways. To see a local brand advertising on TV was much less common, dominated by a handful of regional department and specialty stores. (Remember names like Frederick & Nelson, the Bon Marché, Ernst Hardware and Pay‘n Save?).
The signals that carried those commercials still were being received at home by antennae with tree-like metal limbs, anchored to chimneys or bolted onto rooftops in neighborhoods all over the Northwest. There was no cable, no set-top box, and to change the channel, someone had to get off their butt and walk to the TV to make it happen. To say choices were limited would be an understatement.
And remember how I began by reminiscing about newspaper ads? Well, we all know what happened there. Subscriptions are down. Ad placements are down. Classified ads have virtually disappeared. Papers, like the once-indispensible Yellow Pages, have nearly vanished. There definitely are no jobs for paperboys on bicycles. For those of us who once drove our businesses with regularly placed newspaper ads, that’s sort of sad thing.
The Big Three marketing tools have changed. No doubt about it. But the goal remains the same.
The people we serve, whether local, regional, national or global, still need communication and information. Their hearts beat the same way. They have many of the same wants and needs. They’re still influenced by marketing messages they trust. Yes, they’re more discerning. Yes, the influence of a trusted friend is much more significant and valuable today than what shoppers read or hear in the media. The voices of their fellow consumers pack much more weight than the voice of corporate America. But it’s still communication, merchandising, marketing and reputation that influence them.
During my career, I’ve seen the birth and advance of the Internet, the advent of digital communications and the maturing of a society that expects more, in less time, in easier ways and in the format that they want to receive it. Technology and consumer demands have changed the way the game is played.
What hasn’t changed is the importance of the individual consumer experience and the responsibility we have as marketers to stay in touch with them and ensure our brand promises are delivered to them consistently and effectively, at every touch point, every time.
I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to contribute to this space over the past several years. I hope that you’ve found some of it useful, inspiring and perhaps a little stimulating. I’ve enjoyed my 40-plus-year career and the changes I’ve seen and experienced. I look forward to what comes next, both in MARKETING and in marketing.
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Rod Brooks is the VP/chief marketing officer of PEMCO Insurance. You can reach him at rod.brooks@pemco.com.
