Each year I sit on a panel of judges for a college marketing course. This year the students pitched Buffalo Wild Wings and Chick-fil-A. One presentation stuck out for a few reasons.
- They started by calling out the brand for what it was doing terribly at. Not just listing problems, but actually showing and reporting that these were true pain points from the target, not just their internal fodder.
- They dug deep to focus on business solutions, not merely marketing tactics. Sure, they showcased some flash, but they weren’t there to win a pitch, they showed up to grow a business.
- Lastly, and most importantly, they understood the philosophy that if a business invests in its employees, employees invest in customers and customers invest in the business so the cycle can continue. It’s this cycle that make brands like Zappos, Dupont and Delirium Cafe so remarkable.
If you’re going to pitch anything from a marketing plan to an idea, then stand for something. If you’re going to stand for something, standing up for the team members is a great place to start.
Stay Positive & We Before Me, Right?
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Garth Beyer is a Certified Cicerone®, Senior Content Specialist at Encompass Technologies, owner of Garth's Brew Bar and a Madison-based freelance writer.
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