Out of the Box

Can Marketing Be Self-Taught?

By Menachem Lubinsky on June 06 2008

The other day a 20-ish young man named Sol asked me if he could possibly acquire marketing skills without going through formal training. He very much enjoyed observing the dynamics of marketing and was seriously considering making marketing his career. “Marketing?” I asked. “What part of marketing are you interested in?” The question surprised him.

Marketing, I explained, was the umbrella term for a process that begins with the raw materials and ends up as a finished product in the consumer’s hands. I used my desk as an example. The wood company that manufactures the oak begins by marketing its wood to the manufacturer, who in turn produces the desk with all of the other materials that are needed. The company will then market to distributors or brokers that that sell to furniture stores or perhaps sell directly to the stores. They will use sales catalogs, salesmen, advertising, and public relations to pique the interest of their perspective buyer. This process may very well repeat itself as the store tries to sell the desk to the end user. They too will use many of the marketing vehicles that were used to sell them for the purpose of selling the desk to the ultimate consumer.

The marketing example that I shared with Sol also included a list of all of the people that may have been involved in the process: researchers, salesmen, writers, graphic artists, strategic marketers (that plan the marketing road map), printers etc. So when I persisted in determining what part of marketing he could possibly be interested in, he chose the strategic marketer, which is really a combination of being very knowledgeable about markets, consumer behavior, research data, the marketing vehicles and using logic and reasoning well.

I have met some people that seem to have an inherent marketing sense, sometimes as a result of working alongside a person who is well grounded in marketing. But even they lack all of the ingredients that are necessary to make smart marketing decisions. They are, however, smart enough to seek outside help to augment whatever expertise they do not have. If they are good marketers but lack marketing skills, the obvious solution would be to hire a good writer. And yes, there are some people that just have the smarts for marketing and do well in some marketing capacity.

Sol was determined to at least give it a try. At the urging of several marketing people, he began to read marketing articles in the daily papers. He read several basic texts on marketing and did some role playing on his own in handling various scenarios of companies that were in the news.

Sol imagined being the marketing director of a well known high end woman’s clothing company that suddenly found that market conditions were no longer rife for the luxury goods. Sales had declined by nearly 25% in just six months, according to the business daily that reported on the company’s troubles. He was curious whether the company had developed new markets in the past year or so or just watched the dip in sales. He wondered why the company had not simultaneously produced a less expensive line of clothing that might be more in sync with market conditions. Finally, he thought about some ideas to target consumers that would be ideal loyal customers.

The questions that Sol raised were impressive since in all likelihood the company’s marketing director had also considered them. We speculated together as to what the answers might be. Develop new markets? The company most likely had a sales staff that added stores, but in all likelihood they served the same type of customers who were in the same bind. Did they create a program to reach out to private shoppers, for example? Probably not.

A less expensive brand of clothing? While it sounds like a good contingency plan now, the company had spent a lifetime branding its label as an exclusive designer brand. Like many other companies in their position, they did not want to confuse the marketplace with a cheaper brand. It’s probably like Samsonite’s desire to be perceived as the leading brand of luggage and they would never consider a B brand that might possibly confuse the market. What they and others occasionally do is to create a different line with a different brand that is totally separate from the higher end label.

Sol’s creative plans to generate new business included opening their own retail outlets, creating a private shopper’s club, expanding into accessories, and co-branding in foreign markets. While these were good and innovative ideas, the company was like many conservative companies that pretty much stick to their boilerplate model.

Sol had certainly passed my initial test. His questions showed that he did have a marketing mind and that he perhaps can be self-taught to eventually embark on a marketing career. With all the reading and role playing, the real test would only come when he faced real everyday challenges that often separate the men from the boys, even the best trained ones.

Obviously, not everyone that is interested in marketing has the capacity to think like Sol. They can do some research, see whether they really like the field, and consult with an expert. Can marketing be self-taught? It depends.

Out of the Box is a collection of strategic marketing articles that Lubicom has published on various topics, trends and ideas in the marketing world. The articles have been published in the Hamodia weekly newspaper circulated on three continents to a readership of well over 100,000.

The name, "Out of the Box" is a term used frequently in business nowadays to describe creative thinking that is not the norm. It is meant to help a business pull away from the pack or separate oneself from the competition. It is to some extent fraught with risk, simply because it is not the run of the mill thinking, but it is at the same time the key to reaching the next opportunity.