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November 4, 2009
Maybe They Were On To Something
I am sitting the lobby bar of the Marriott Marquis in downtown San Francisco and working at my computer. This behavior nominally subscribes to the logic of some uber-consultants in social media...except I am doing this by necessity not choice (I could not check in because the reservations were not in my name!)
Nonetheless, I am happily engaging with real customers in real settings. I can hear the talk around me. I see all the people tapping on their computers, yet we are interspersed with people who are here for social reasons...to have a drink with friends/colleagues or to watch the World Series game in a public venue. I can talk with people in between my work, about business or personal topics.
This environment is strangely energizing. Coming from my workaholic, baby boomer ethic upbringing I feel oddly "bad" about working in the "bar". But, watching the flow of people, the small gatherings, the ebb-and-flow of activity, is actually educational.
As a B2B marketer whose roots are in the theory and practice of "proper" marketing, the realities of a socially-driven marketing world are being driven home every day. Working in the bowels (or towers) of major corporations, it is easy to forget that our constituents are social beings who not only carry our brand message, but who help define it. The people around me are talking about financial topics (one table), about using social media like Facebook in marketing (no joke...one table), about sales, and yes even about the game. These are smart, connected, intellectual people who are likely the target for many of our pitches. They are also social beings who interact and operate as humans, not as "targets" or "prospects."
I am not suggesting you spend a lot of evenings tapping at a computer in the lobby bars of major hotels in large cities. But, if you are an enterprise marketer, I encourage you to try this exercise out once in a while - even in smaller venues in your own neighborhood. Listen to what you hear, and watch the flow. Become your own personal ethnographer. It may give you a new perspective on how to manage your day job.
Posted by jcioban at November 4, 2009 9:59 PM
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Comments
Greetings - thank you for this well-done article...
Posted by: SEO Company at January 22, 2010 4:48 PM
