The Great Forest Park Balloon Race
By Dana
My son Harrison turned 12 just last week, and as we have done almost every September of his life, we went to Forest Park for the balloon races as part of his birthday celebration. And this year, as he has done for at least the past five years, he asked me a difficult question:
Why doesn't Business Audio Plus have a balloon?
Now, I could explain to him the difference between business-to-business marketing and business-to-consumer marketing. Or I could talk about some of the differences in size, scale, and budget between BAP and, for example, Energizer Battery or Pepsi-Cola. Or the fact that balloons are probably expensive, and no one on our staff has any balloon navigation experience. But I think there might be a larger lesson in all of this.
Harrison, I think, has leaped to the idea of a tactic without adequately building a strategy first. And before any of us take unwarranted pride in the fact that we're better at marketing than a 12 year old, let me just say this: Most of us in the business world do the same thing.
The reasons are pretty straightforward: Tactics are easy, and strategies are hard. By that I mean that it's much more difficult to measure the success of a strategy, and much scarier to outline one because you can't be sure it's going to work. Tactics, on the other hand, are much simpler. Put a line in the sand and say "I'm going to do this", and if you do it, you've succeeded. Hopefully the tactics you decide to work on are all heading in some strategic direction!
Business Audio Plus has been working on a new product and new website, search engine optimization and other methods to get our word out, and we're starting to delve into social media through methods such as this blog and our newsletter. Those are tactics. The strategy behind them is to enhance the image of multimedia, particularly audio, as viable and potent marketing tools. We'll know we're successful strategically when there's no silence on hold ... when text-only websites are in the minority ... when handing a prospect your DVD instead of brochure and business card is expected rather than surprising ... when small businesses stop thinking of audio as unaffordable. I have so much passion about this concept that I feel like a political candidate saying "even if you don't vote for me, be sure to vote". The BAP version is, even if you don't choose us, choose audio.
If part of the BAP strategy is to get our name in front of as many eyes as possible, then entering a balloon in next year's race might be an excellent tactic. Harrison will understand why, if we don't ... and in the back of his mind he will still be thinking something like, "But it would be so cool, and so much fun!" He'd be right, of course ... but here's to a commitment to marketing like a strategist.
