Why marketing in Georgia needs to lift its game
There is so much to love about being headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
The peaches, the honey, the friendliness, the cost of living and the people. Not so much the Grits but I think that's an acquired taste a bit like vegemite.
With so many Fortune 500 companies headquartered here; The Home Depot, UPS, The Coca-Cola Company, Delta Airlines, Aflac, The Southern Company, Genuine Parts Company, First Delta Corporation, AGCO, Rock Ten Company, Sun Trust Banks, HD Supply Holdings and I could really go on and on - but I think you get the picture.
The peaches, the honey, the friendliness, the cost of living and the people. Not so much the Grits but I think that's an acquired taste a bit like vegemite.
With so many Fortune 500 companies headquartered here; The Home Depot, UPS, The Coca-Cola Company, Delta Airlines, Aflac, The Southern Company, Genuine Parts Company, First Delta Corporation, AGCO, Rock Ten Company, Sun Trust Banks, HD Supply Holdings and I could really go on and on - but I think you get the picture.
When I drive into Georgia, as a marketer I cringe. Your billboards are designed as if they were done in the 80's or early 90's. I literally die and the first thing I think as a marketer is how wrong the people responsible are for the lack of design and creativity used in billboards around the State. They really all should be fired. There is no excuse for a lack in creativity.
But they are not alone. If you pick up a newspaper or a magazine that is local, it's the same. The design is so amateur and so old-school, I doubt too many people are getting the responses they could be getting from this expenditure if they had the right marketing team.
I don't want to bag our competitors. We are not a advertising agency, we are a marketing company. But, there really is no excuse and it's embarrassing to the city.
It's the same as photography or anything else. Step up your game Atlanta and give companies every chance to be successful and if they are already successful, make sure no newer player comes in with more innovative marketing and takes away market share.
I had lunch today with a friend Megan Burton, and client. I named her business that is in the remittance software space CoinX. One of my favourite name brands and very relevant to the business that she does. She flies to New York to get her photos done by talented photographer Tommy Mendes because she hasn't found one in Atlanta quite good enough. She is about the future of technology. She can't be photographed without showing that.
So, Atlanta, step up your game. If you need more education, speak to Marketing Eye. We are teaching our competitors over the next 12 months how to be better marketers.
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comments ( 2 )
Steven Winokur
09 Sep 2015While I agree with your sentiment, I think part of the problem lies on the client side as well - too many small businesses in this town don't understand the importance of marketing. And branding. So while I do think there's room for improvement from the Atlanta marketing community from a creative standpoint, I think there is probably even more we could be doing to educate business owners on the value of creating compelling marketing. But as long as businesses hire unqualified employees/agencies/contractors to do marketing, you're going to see the lack of creativity you've expressed. I can't tell you how many companies I've seen think it makes sense to have someone with 3 years of experience run their marketing group, doing everything from strategy to messaging to design. The result is exactly what you see...
ReplyRick Hancock
08 Sep 2015Ouch! LOL!. As a Native New Yorker, I love your bravado. I'm still kind of new to Atlanta myself. I've had similar observations. I'm not going to give the city's marketing companies the same beatdown you did in your article, but I totally get where you're coming from. Back when I use to write a technology blog for the AJC I once took to task all the ATL tech cheerleaders in town who seemed to want to overlook the plethora of reasons why Atlanta struggled to keep its best tech talent and companies in the city and why it was tough for some early stage companies to raise money. Oh boy, did I catch hell from the tech establishment (and loved every minute of it). I suspect you'll catch some of the same defensive heat from the established marketing community. That said, just as you noted Grits is an acquired taste (I love 'em), there a ton of reason why all of those Fortune 500 love being here, despite the shortcomings of billboards and lack of photographers. Atlanta is not New York, but I think most companies that operate here are fine with that. Finally, you may want to correct your headline. It is "its" not "it's." A marketing company that publicly flubs on grammar is open to its own criticism.
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