Everything a company does is part of its marketing

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Good morning, Marketers, here’s some perspective on branding.

Everything a business does is marketing. Every activity, whether or not it’s customer-facing, either supports the brand value or it doesn’t. Example: A friend got a sales job at a retail chain which is famous for its customer service. She told me all about how good they are at onboarding, rewarding and respecting the sales staff. That supports the brand by empowering the staff. 

Things like that are beyond marketing’s purview and difficult to measure. Still, they should be kept in mind when getting the holistic view of the customer’s brand experience. Ultimately all companies are selling the same thing: Trust. When the organization’s values don’t align with the brand values, that trust is eroded.

Constantine von Hoffman,
Managing Editor

About The Author

Constantine von Hoffman is managing editor of MarTech. A veteran journalist, Con has covered business, finance, marketing and tech for CBSNews.com, Brandweek, CMO, and Inc. He has been city editor of the Boston Herald, news producer at NPR, and has written for Harvard Business Review, Boston Magazine, Sierra, and many other publications. He has also been a professional stand-up comedian, given talks at anime and gaming conventions on everything from My Neighbor Totoro to the history of dice and boardgames, and is author of the magical realist novel John Henry the Revelator. He lives in Boston with his wife, Jennifer, and either too many or too few dogs.