Selfish Communications

Recently, I’ve been wrestling with the motivation behind both personal and corporate communications and their ugly, loud cousin, marketing. I had a conversation recently with another communications professional about the idea of whether it was possible for “communications” to ever be unselfish. basket nike And how you answer that question could very well determine your go-to-market strategy for your brand…and your success or failure. On one hand, humans, the building blocks of organizations that aren’t run by aliens, robots or house pets, are incredibly selfish creatures and we fight against our factory hardwiring every single day. bottes timberland pas cher People communicate because we want something. Could be information, could be goods or services, could be a feeling of connection, or to fill some need inside of us, but the act exists for a selfish purpose. Now, companies communicate because essentially they want something too. Could be attention, sales, market share, to tell their stories, defend their reputations, etc. But they communicate for a reason which has to do (either directly or indirectly) with helping themselves in some way. It ain’t really about you. nike air max 97 I believe that if communications is a bit selfish, then marketing is a like a giant pig at the trough. Asics 2017 Good marketing organizations are supposed to listen to the needs of the market and deliver goods and services to meet those needs better than anyone else. Lovely. But are they listening and responding because they actually care or is it a means to an end that ultimately serves themselves. Oh, you guessed it. So, in the wake of this realization that most of our communications are pretty selfish (sorry), what are we to do? We still want and need stuff and communications is a darn fine way to get those things. I think the key lies in the idea of respect. If you know you’re being selfish by interrupting someone’s day with your post, tweet, marketing messages, collateral, advertising, PR or e-blast, then temper that with enough respect for their time to make your message relevant, entertaining and useful.