Barry
LeBrock
In
journalism we call this a "story with legs." As the Richie Incognito/Jonathan Martin issue
continues to blow-up, elements of the story seem to resonate with people across
all lines; racial, industrial, social, financial, etc.
Interestingly, with the application of some basic Social/Content Marketing
principles, Incognito could have likely prevented this seemingly untamable
monster from becoming a story at all, and therein lay many lessons for
marketers.
Seen
through the prism of common marketing mistakes, it's obvious why this story
became the far-reaching, attention-grabbing beast that it did. Here are some of
those mistakes and how they apply to the situation with the Dolphins...
1)
SEEING YOUR AUDIENCE AS YOU SEE YOURSELF.
Jay Baer
(@JayBaer) President of convinceandconvert.com, put it this way: "One of the most dangerous mistakes that
marketers make is believing that how they
see the world is how their customers see
the world." And, obviously, that is
not the case.
It is quite
apparent now that Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin are two very different
people; different role models, different upbringing, different college
experience (Nebraska, Stanford), and obviously two very different views on how
teammates should interact. Whatever message Incognito wanted to send might have had some
merit, but the way it was delivered was completely unpalatable for his audience
of one.
2)
DELIVERING AN INCONSISTENT MESSAGE.
Debbie
Williams (@SproutContent), co-founder of Sprout Content, writes, "Inconsistency in tone, voice and message makes you look
like a brand with multiple personality disorder. Having a consistent content
voice, across all channels, will connect with people and make a more memorable
impression."
Two years of mixed messages from Incognito
were apparently too much for Martin to handle.
As a result, he left the team and checked himself into a hospital. Granted, your mixed marketing messages
probably won't send your customers to mental health facilities, but even worse,
they might send them to your competitors!
3)
PRODUCING YOUR CONTENT MARKETING AS A
1-WAY STREET.
According to Matt Heinz (@HeinzMarketing),
"Creating content isn't enough. To
really accelerate your audience and impact, you must devote time to responding,
commenting, engaging questions and so on. If you're just a one-way
communication channel, even with good content, your prospects will go elsewhere
for the interaction they crave."
Fair to say there wasn't much two-way communication going on with the
Dolphins linemen. Incognito revealed Sunday that Martin sent him texts messages
similar in tone and nature to the ones Jonathan received from Richie, but
parroting is not communicating. It's
parroting.
4)
DISTRIBUTING CONTENT THAT LACKS SUBSTANCE
"Too
often, we focus on platforms, channels and formats, rather than the substance
of the information and the story it supports," says Carmen Hill
(@CarmenHill) of Babcock and Jenkins. Hill
quoted Audrey Gray of AMEX, adding, "Create content that celebrates human
artistry, has real-world value or that makes you feel smarter."
What story did Incognito's profanity-laced message support? "I'm going to punch your mother"
doesn't exactly reek of human artistry. Nor does it have any worthwhile real
world value. Whether delivering that message made Incognito feel smarter, who
knows, but the point is, a delivered message should.
Regardless of message, regardless of style, marketers must have a strong
grasp of their intended audience and distribute content that speaks to that
audience in a way that is consistent, interactive and substantive. Oh yeah,
and one more thing... when creating content (or not), leave the N-word in the garbage where it belongs.
.
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