While interviewing a candidate today, I got asked a fairly
fundamental question – “What do you love about your job as a marketer”.
The answer came instinctively and very quickly, even to my
surprise – CRAFTING.
The thrill of crafting an interesting product idea, a strong
concept, a beautiful pack design, a sharply articulated campaign idea, a
clutter breaking piece of digital content, a tightly executed event or even a
well targeted marketing plan.
The relentless task of continuously improving some or all of
these on a daily basis is what makes me excited about going to work every
single day.
It is because the very definition of a craft is that it gets
better with practice. Rigor.
A good idea needs an even better craftsman to make the
journey from good to great.
It is the journey from identifying a simplistic yet
brilliant design to make it a reality . Working through the realities of
wanting to make a transparent tube design for a face wash but battling the
realities of the product losing color under continues sun light exposure.
Finding a way to maintain the sanctity of your design inspite of this practical
hurdle is the journey of a craftsman.
Or taking “Real Beauty” from being a philosophical north
star to beng a product reality; delivered through superior moisturization
capabilities rather than artificial whitening agents.
Or taking “Open Happiness” from being just a smart tag line
to being the brand’s mantra reflecting on the smallest billboard or hand
painting in a rural bylane of Nigeria.
That is crafting.
It is the ability to have the good sense to spot a great
idea and then being able to execute it, with scale and with minimum compromise
across the marketing mix.
The job of a good craftsman is to successfully undertake the
journey from an idea to reality through continuous chiseling, continuous
polishing and the occasional chip here and there to add sex appeal to the
masterpiece.
That’s craftsmanship. That’s marketing.
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