When I started DK New Media, one of the decisions to make was actually how to brand the company. As I think about marketing and its evolution, I often compare it to a conductor and a symphony. As a consultant, I need to be much like a conductor, helping blend the different mediums and leverage them to hit the right notes at the right times, so that the strategy is fully realized.
I didn’t want to age myself by naming myself as a marketing consultant. I didn’t want to limit myself by calling myself a search consultant or social media consultant. That’s like stating that you’re a violinist, flautist, or percussionist. Rather, I wanted to brand myself more openly.
New media doesn’t mean that I ignore old media, nor does it limit me in the future. There will always be something new. New media consulting can include search, social, video, mobile… or virtually anything that comes down the pipe. That doesn’t mean that I’m going to promote myself as an expert in all of those arenas. I already work with partner firms and agencies that specialize in those topics.
Marketing Orchestration
As a new media consultant, it sets an expectation that I can assist with any media… and educate my clients on the latest developments in communications mediums. And I do try to learn about and build expertise in all the newest trends. From time to time, I state that I do social media consulting or search consulting… but I don’t brand myself exclusively in those areas.
Conductors aren’t necessarily expert musicians with any one instrument; however, they fully understand how to leverage each instrument, get them all working together, and make some beautiful music. This is marketing orchestration.
Too bad we didn’t call ourselves marketing conductors!
Here’s to making some beautiful marketing music!