Meatball Sundae: Is Your Marketing Out of Sync?

It’s been four years since the publication of Seth Godin’s Meatball Sundae, yet much of the landscape that he wrote about still holds true today.

“A meatball sundae is the unfortunate result of mixing two good ideas.”

Godin likens the products and services companies are used to sell to meatballs, and “New Marketing” to toppings of a sundae. Taken separately, each of these things taste delicious. Put together, well, they seem rather odd.

So what exactly is “New Marketing”?  Google. Blogs. Podcasts. Social media. Anything that allow consumers to talk to each other over the Internet.  These are arguably not new anymore. After all,  Twitter just celebrated its 10th birthday and Facebook was formed 12 years back.

Seth Godin argues that businesses have to change their models fundamentally to adapt to New Marketing instead of the other way around.  The experience that your advertising message promises should be integrated with that of your products and services.

But brands are still using these channels as extensions of traditional marketing. Got an ad? Let’s put it on Facebook. Made a TVC, let’s have it on YouTube. We are making Meatball Sundaes and hoping they would sell.

Marketers are still doing it, even as consumers are blocking our ads and more than 50% of digital ads are not viewed by humans.

Companies need to think smarter and start creating products of value. We need to be where consumers are at and speak their language rather than shoving ads down their throats.

An important book with great advice that should be heeded.

5/5