People Matter

Two things struck me this afternoon, two things from different realms.

• If you're addicted to motor racing like I am, then you were saddened today by the loss of former NASCAR leader Bill France Jr.
• An article from Bookstone about the merits of their relationship with Abacus.

What do these two completely unrelated topics have to do with each other?

The first article illustrates the importance of people, in this case, how one leader shaped thousands of lives and influenced millions of people.

The second article ignores the importance of people. Quotes attributed to a Brookstone executive suggest that a revolutionary product is responsible for unfettered business success.

Catalogers have always known that the creativity of people (and an steely-eyed focus on every detail of efficiently running the operations of a business) drive success.

All too often, multichannel marketing and online marketing focus on technology, on algorithms. We brand our technology, creating demand for a product or service.

But behind the scenes, people invent technology. People create algorithms.

What would happen if a vendor marketed the people responsible for a product? Instead of branding a product as being wonderful, what if the vendor publicly praised the people who created the product? Would we view a vendor differently if we knew that reputable multichannel expert "Bill Smith" is responsible for a product, and puts his reputation behind the product or service?

People matter. If we want multichannel marketing to succeed, we need to reward people for their efforts.

Answer me this: Name three individuals who are well known and respected for their expertise in multichannel marketing? Go ahead and write their names in the comments section of this post.

People matter. Let's start cultivating tomorrow's leaders.