Ryan Caligiuri is a Winnipeg-based marketing specialist who has worked for companies ranging in size from five people to ones employing thousands. He has collaborated with sales teams and marketing departments to introduce new ideas that he argues have refreshed the way people think about marketing.
Here, in his words, is his vision for the future:
"There are newly graduated, ambitious adults who are fresh out of university eager to implement knowledge that is 50 years old. There are CMOs and marketing directors who are sticking to these strategies and are still asking why their business is not growing. All of these people will either suffer or are currently suffering because their approach to marketing is outdated. Marketing directors to new graduates are all stuck in 1960 and until they bring themselves to 2010 they'll stick to wasting money on ineffective tactics interrupting as many people as possible with forgettable communications.
"As creative marketers we need to refresh our approach to marketing and get past using cold calls, billboard/radio advertising, self-promoting websites and direct mail as our main strategies of promotion and focus on the more recent and often ignored strategies. These strategies include:
- Communicating powerfully with the goal of evoking emotion
- Building movements and engaging communities
- Creating products and services that are worth talking about
- Breaking current models and introducing solutions
- Storytelling
"All of this is what I call 'emotional marketing.' The game has changed, and too many of us have been left behind wondering why our business isn’t growing and marketing isn’t working. Companies like Sirius, Apple and Bath & Body Works have all figured it out. Now the word needs to spread to the rest of the companies who have yet to be taught the new methods of marketing that support growth and were never taught in school."
Mr. Caligiuri earlier took your questions and comments.
