Marketing Myth: Unicorns Exist
Posted by Website Director on Dec. 6, 2023 / Subscribe 0
You can’t find a unicorn, you don’t want a crab, but a monkey would be nice.
In marketing, the search is always for the unicorn, but usually the results are horses, crabs, monkeys, and everything in between.
We all have heard of the Unicorn. The elusive, mythical being that is a master of all aspects of marketing, can lead any group to the greatest heights of marketing success, and will have zero problems achieving the impossible in the blink of an eye.
Rarely can we find a human that reaches the legendary level of a unicorn. We can find the white horse, the jack of all trades who understands the concepts and methods – who might even be able to make things happen in record time. But something is missing: the magical horn.
Marketers may dream of mythical creatures, and hope to find a white horse, but I find marketing teams fall into two real-world categories: Crabs or Monkeys.
Allow me to explain.
A few years ago, I had a hiring manager ask me if I understood the phrase: Marketers are like crabs in a bucket… and it’s taken time, but I finally get it. Do you?
It took me experiencing this phenomenon for it to really click (crabbing last summer helped visualize, but my professional experience made it true for me as a marketer).
A crab’s natural reaction to being dumped into a bucket is to get out and back into the water. To do this, they must climb over, leverage, and fight their way to the top, using other crabs as a means to success. This is typically a futile effort as someone may be dumping more crabs in or putting a lid on the bucket.
Marketing is a profession that, in many firms, has an understaffed team with the only way up being over the others on the team, or themselves if they are a solo show. There is no career path. If there is, it might be one that is already filled. This can create a possessive, untrusting, barrier filled, and ultimately toxic environment for a team. I know that was a lot of adjectives, but if you have experienced this, I’m sure a few examples have come to mind.
Hopefully, staff will leave this team and environment to find a place where they can grow, contribute, and feel valued. Where does that take them?
Ideally, to a team of monkeys.
Remember that game, Barrel of Monkeys? The objective of the game is to get as many monkeys out of the barrel by hooking them. Each turn might get you one or more monkeys and then another, resulting in a chain of supporting monkeys.
Think of a marketing department, that has one director and a few managers, each having a varied staff structure supporting them. Each tier is responsible for leading their subordinates to reach the objectives and goals of the marketing plan.
To do this, they provide an environment that allows for mentorship, training, team camaraderie, and a space of psychological safety so that everyone can grow to their fullest potential and work through challenges. This yields a successful marketing team that might have long tenured, cross-trained, supportive staff that will go the extra mile.
What does your marketing team look like?
Are you a bunch of crabs in a bucket? Are you monkeys swinging from goal to goal, climbing together to the top of the canopy? Or are you a mixed group? Are you playing to your strengths? Have you identified your challenge areas to grow as a team? Are you providing that extra guidance your team needs to succeed?
About Nikki Campbell, CPSM
Proposal Development Manager
Walden Security
As the 2020 winner of the Kelly McGann Path to Certification scholarship, Nikki went on to earn her Certified Professional Services Marketer (CPSM) designation and is now on a mission to help others achieve their certification. With six years of experience in the AEC industry in steadily advancing marketing and proposal roles, her versatile background has fostered a deeper understanding of the Domains of Practice. Nikki is director of the SMPS Philadelphia Education Committee.
0 Comments