Connecting the Dots

If you went back in time and asked 8 year old Mouyyad what he wanted to be when he grew up, he would have easily and emphatically answered a detective.

Flash forward 17 years…Mouyyad is now a marketing consultant.

How did I go from detective to marketing?

Eight year old me did not want to be a detective to arrest criminals, solve murders, carry a badge or gun nor to clean up the streets. Eight year old me wanted to be a detective to connect the dots, solve the puzzles, and find the solutions to problems. A detective is given multiple pieces of unrelated evidence and asked to solve the crime.

Flash forward 17 years….that’s exactly what I’m doing.

Marketing is all about connecting the dots, solving puzzles and finding solutions to problems.

A company has a product or service. A marketer’s job is to find a way to establish the connection between product and customer, that is, connect the dot between a product or service and the prospects mind. Marketing campaigns solve the puzzles of presenting that product or service to the consumer. A marketer is given a product fact sheet, company background, market research and customer testimonials and then asked to find the connection between all the information and present it in such a way that will ultimately generate sales and profits.

Dos Equis connected the dots between a man that is a mixture of Indiana Jones and James Bond and drinking an imported (and more expensive) beer.

Taco Bell connected the dots between a dog with a catch phrase and eating fast food Tex-Mex.

Kellogg’s connected the dots between a cartoon tiger and breakfast cereal.

Marlboro connected the dots between a rugged cowboy and smoking cigarettes.

Discount Tire’s connect the dots between an angry grandma and quality tires.

Visa connected the dots between traveling the world and using a credit card.

All these companies had the right marketing campaigns that were able to take a quality product or service and present it in such way that established a direct connection with potential clients and customers. These companies connected the dots, and found solutions to the problems.

Bottomline…..8 year old me would be happy with the career path I chose. I’m still a detective…gathering evidence, finding a connection and solving crimes….only excepetion is I do it without a badge or gun.