Today I was told I do “Neutral-Marketing” and “Neo-Marketing”
I’m pretty excited, two people close to me had some interesting ‘titles’ for me, it’s a benchmark for me as my passion for connecting to customers using online tools is starting to take hold. I’ve been focused on this stuff for over a year now –when I first started I think folks thought I was a crackpot. Here’s what they said:
“Neutral” Marketing
One respected and experienced marketing professional told a group of folks that I’m working on some programs that are “Neutral Marketing”.
Hopefully because I’m willing to show customers a variety of options, (this Wiki is an example) even if I suggest competitors. My goal is to be an advocate for customers, let them know all of their options, and be a trusted resource, I want them to succeed!
It’s silly to think that customers wouldn’t’ know who our competitors are anyways. Scoble was the one who told me about how he did this at his San Jose camera shop.
I’m not sure how I feel about the term Neutral Marketing, as I’m not neutral –I’m a customer advocate. Perhaps an analyst or a reviewer is neutral but I’m trying to help customers (even if they don’t choose my company)
“Neo” Marketing
Another friend saw in a college or enrichment schedule, a class called “Neo-Marketing”. It taught how to use blogs and social media to connect with customers. We had a great discussion, I told her about YouTube, Google Video, Pandora, Riya, and other web2.0 companies that are harnessing society and communities.
I’m not sure if I like that term “Neo-Marketing” as what will you call it in 5 years? You can be sure it’s not ‘new’.
If “Social Media” is the medium, then I prefer the term “Community Marketing” as we’re being part of the community. Oh, and hopefully I’m still considered a crackpot. 
Related:
- I’ve been called an Evil Liar
- I’ve been called a Web Hippie
- Found this interesting table between “Old Marketing and Neo Marketing” from Womma
8 Comments so far
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Hi Jeremiah,
Hmmm…don’t like either of those titles. A good community person is actually a company advocate & a customer advocate (something I’ve referred to as “comsumer advocate” on my blog).
Does Evangelist sound too lame? Perhaps it is a title thrown around too much these days…
Yeah Evangelist is overused and hyped, I avoid saying that now. But it was an effective term last year when I was a ‘blog evangelist’. Last year it opened eyes, now it gets shrugs.
Honestly, I try not to worry about it too much. I really like “web strategist” for what you do.
That way, your title can evolve with you. Technologies will evolve, and you know for a fact that you’re going to stay on top of them.
At my company, I started as “User Interface Designer”. But that’s really just a part of what I did. I work on web and desktop apps… I work on the front end and sometimes the backend… I really have different roles on different projects. But where I really get off is the beginning of a project where we decide how the heck to implement the damn thing. It’s at this time that I started throwing out some community ideas for government R&D type projects.
So, we finally got another designer and she talked about titles. One she threw around was “creative specialist”. I was like… “whoa”.
It covers the front end, the back end, the strategy involved… it’s all creative.
Web strategist is really what you do—you keep tabs on the current market and recommend strategies for the web. I’m sure that your skill set goes beyond community—you would recommend blogs as “personal notebooks”, I’m sure… is that community?
Sure, community is a hot word. But this way, you have a title that isn’t going to change every six months. People will always know what you do.
Adam
Thanks for this, I agree (and am pleased) that the title Web Strategist is a good fit. That’s how I really think of myself thanks!
(FYI I started out doing UI design as well)
Hey, depending on the project, I maybe borrow Web Strategist from time to time. It also goes in phases. I’ve got a project going right now that I’m a web strategist (looking into things like blogs, wikis, and podcasts for a certain audience) but by the end of the project, I’ll be the coder.
Adam
One of my future posts will be defining a “Web Strategist” –stay tuned.
This thread has moved on a fair bit - I took the question to be a requirement to define the activity not the job title - we like the term ‘Value Marketing’ - ie market to your customers by giving them something that might actually be of value to them and they might be interested in, so its not forwarded to the Recycle Bin unopened and might be the first step in building a relationship based upon trust.
I’m not sure if we are quite your ‘customers’ in a financial sense, but I certainly find value in the thoughts and insights you offer. Hence I come back for more. Heaven forbid the idea of giving customers something they might value should catch on with marketing depts…
[…] I’m going to be a bit cranky, here, I don’t mind being called a web hippie, an evil liar, a neutral marketer, or a neo marketer, but PLEASE don’t call me a WebMaster. It’s like we’ve gone back to 1997, and uploaded ‘under construction’ rotating gifs and black star backgrounds. The modern day web manager is purposeful and is supposed to make decisions based upon sound understanding of user experience research, understanding business needs, and understanding of technology (see the three elements of a web strategist) […]