November 18, 2018 @ 9:39a PST, Pacific Beach, California, USA
Mark Viden is an expert in advertising and marketing. Mark has studied the guru and master of advertising, David Ogilvy. David Ogilvy, commonly referred to as the father of advertising and the founder of Ogilvy & Mather, one of the most famous advertising firms in the world.
Measure everything that you do.
Mark Viden states that “Advertising is an art, but there’s a science behind it, too. It’s data, analytics that wasn’t present in his day but is so important today. Knowing who your audiences are, knowing how effective your messages are, these are the things we think about a lot and it makes me think back to David Ogilvy and his idea to measure everything you do.”
Key Takeaway #1: Measure everything that you do.
Learn to handle rejection. Be resilient and keep trying.
“You have to keep knocking at the door,” Viden says. “You have to be resilient. You have to handle rejection and you have to find the right person who sees something in you and lets you in.”
Key Takeaway #2: Learn to handle rejection. Be resilient and keep trying.
What will people always want? Focus on improving things that you know are not going to change.
“Patience, persistence, respect and listen are really key attributes that anyone coming into any kind of enterprise should adopt. And I said the word ‘listen.’ Listen is what people are looking for in any situation quite a bit.”
Key Takeaway #3: What will people always want? Focus on improving things that you know are not going to change.
RELATED TOPIC: Generating Leads in a Green Rush – Series 1 of 2
Take the essence of what’s true about your organization and make it real in every customer experience.
People want kindness and someone to listen to them, so Viden created a better way to make that a reality. A company wanted to honor their founders from years gone by, religious sisters who believed that everyone should have access to healthcare, and bring the legacy of healing to customers in a meaningful, branded way that stood out.
Viden looked to what the consumer needed and tried to make sure their journey was simple and as pain-free as possible. The company’s goal is to improve people’s lives every day — radically different than so many others’ mission. And they were making it happen through marketing.
“This gets back to what is a brand? Why is a brand relevant? And how can a brand add value to your organization?” Viden says. “A brand is the sum total of the experiences, good and bad, that someone has with your organization, product or service. Advancing a brand has to be true to that experience. What marketers need to do is take the essence of what’s true about the organization and make it real…. What do your people feel? How do they behave? How do they engage and how do people who engage with those folks feel at the end of the day?”
Key Takeaway #4: Take the essence of what’s true about your organization and make it real in every customer experience.
You are who you spend time with. Learn from them.
“What’s so satisfying about working at a marketing company is that you’re hopefully changing lives for the better,” Viden says. “As a marketer, I think that’s a dream come true.”
As his career continues, Viden and his work will no doubt serve as an example for young marketers who are coming up in the business. For them, Viden has a simple advice.
“The best mentors are people that you interact with because hopefully, ideally, you’ll observe their actions and you’ll see how they do things,” he says. “I think watching and observing effective people, there’s no substitute for that.”
Key Takeaway #5: You are who you spend time with. Learn from them.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Matt Sander is the founder and CEO of Sander Point Projects, a digital consulting firm in San Diego, CA. Matt specializes in website design, website management and maintenance, SEO strategy, as well as virtual assistance. With 15 years of sales, commerce and business development experience, and also understanding of consumer psychology. He can deliver a product or service that will be sure to help businesses generate exposure and brand awareness.
