Being Clear

The marketer’s new task is one of clarity: “How do we make it clear to our audience that we’re in
business to help them (and not to hunt them)? How can we get a clearer view and understanding of our
audience, so that we can design a business that best meets their desires? How can we provide them with a
clear view and understanding of the value of our offering? How can we make it clear to our people that
their activities define our brand?”
Clarity should be the guiding principle behind every marketing effort. Clearness of thought. Clearness of
appearance. Clearness of message. Clarity should inform every campaign, drive every question, and
rationalize every dollar spent and every piece of data captured and analyzed. Whether you’re launching a
large scale branding effort, producing an event, or simply crafting an email message, follow these two
steps to marketing clarity:
1. Discover. Ask yourself; are we truly clear about how to create superior value such that customers
are continuously attracted to us? And by value, I mean the qualities that render your product or
service highly desirable by your audience. It may be performance value, financial value, time
value, entertainment value, identity value, or some combination. Note: Market research rarely
reveals new insights into value creation.
2. Execute. Now that you understand how to create superior value, you must clearly and precisely
align all spending and activities to both communicate and deliver that value. Note: If you can’t
find the value in an activity, it does not exist.
That’s it. Until marketers understand and embrace the concept of clarity, we’ll continue to witness
millions wasted on new logos, goofy ads, viral campaigns, reality TV, blogs, stadium naming, et al. And
CMO’s will continue to lose their jobs (as they should), on average, every 22 months. Open your eyes
marketers! Your marketing plans are a smorgasbord of expensive and misguided tactics that collectively
fail to add up to a clear and compelling brand.a reason to choose. We can see it. Why can’t you?

© 2005 Tom Asacker
Tom Asacker writes, teaches, and speaks about radically new practices and ideas for marketplace success in chaotic times. He is a
brand adviser and author of critically acclaimed books including his latest, A Clear Eye for Branding, published by Paramount
Market Publishing, New York. Visit acleareye.com to learn more.