Deliberate Spelling Mistakes - who said MARTECKER

Editor's Note: This is a guest article contributed by Mr. Sameer Agrawal, Creative Director at MarTeck Consulting. In the realm of technology businesses, there are 2 types of sales that happen: <ul> [*]Consumer driven sales where the buyer is disconnected with the product's technology. Eg - XBOX, Mobile Phones, Automobiles, etc. [*]Business driven sales where the buyer is concerned about the underlying technologies. Eg Enterprise Software, Clouds, network storage, etc. </ul> The former is what's easily recognizable as commodity sales. You'll see these products in shopping malls, retail stores, etc. The latter is subtle and you don't buy the latter on a weekend trip to the mall. Sure we can argue that the second type is quickly becoming commodity - but lets leave that for a different post. When building marketing communication for the former, a PR or an advertising agency can more than fill the requirement since they're equipped to 'creatively communicate'. Their audience doesn't really care and the stickyness of the communication is all that matters. Let's take the example ofÂ #-Link-Snipped-#. Vodafone is a service provider. It's a technology heavy business. In their business, ie the Telecom business, the one with better infrastructure and software will have a competitive advantage - period. So Vodafone installs best-in-class software and hardware in its premises to provide various telecom related services to you and me. When they hiredÂ <a href="https://www.ogilvy.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Ogilvy</a> for their marketing communication - O&M createdÂ <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZooZoo" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Zoozoo</a>. The Zoozoos don't talk software or hardware or anything even remotely about Vodafone's infrastructure. Even O&M for that matter doesn't know or care about Vodafone's infrastructure. Another example - do you really care what's the company or technology making the 8.1MP camera on the newÂ #-Link-Snipped-#? In this case - a consumer media company like O&M is totally comfortable building a communication campaign for Vodafone. However, whenÂ <a href="https://www.onmobile.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">OnMobile - Global Leader in Mobile Entertainment</a> tries to sell a new product to Vodafone - what does it do? Vodafone is not like you and me. An advertisement with a leading superstar won't cut it. Vodafone's executives will not be impressed with just 'sticky' communication. It has to go beyond just a regular advertisement. In a nutshell - communication for these type of businesses requires a more disciplined approach. It requires a different kind of a skill set. The primary reasons are : <ul> [*]Unlike consumer businesses, the purchase audience is smaller. What this means is that traditional communication delivery channels like TV will not succeed. That's because the number of prospect customers watching the AD is far too less to justify the investment. [*]The audience is intellectually driven. This means that the audience doesn't buy the product or solution because their favorite TV star is an ambassador for it. The audience looks for intellectual capital on the communication and has a steeper convincing curve. </ul> So what this leaves us with is a predicament. How do these companies market themselves and create compelling communication. This is where a Technology Marketer comes into the picture. At MarTeck Consulting we call these TECHNOLOGY MARKETERS as MARTECKERS. A Martecker is a marketing expert who is tuned towards the technology ecosystem. These individuals are well versed with technology to an extent that they can market it. They don't need to develop technology - but they should be able to join the dots in a business sense. They are good articulators who can create compelling pieces of communication that bridges the gap between key technology and marketing aspects of a product or a solution. Unfortunately most of the great pieces of communication are not viral and omnipresent. They are restricted to papers, articles, and blogs. And hence I cannot give you a precise example that will ring a bell. There are no ZooZoos in this world. Hence youâ€™ve perhaps never seen it or read it. Thatâ€™s because you arenâ€™t perhaps a prospect for the company thatâ€™s selling it. A few key attributes of a tech marketer: <ul> [*]Great awareness about the last 3 decades of technology businesses. This awareness should cut across industries. For eg - how has salesforce impacted manufacturing in East Asia. [*]Experience with the latest tools on various media platforms. Social applications, Email, Voice and Video channels, etc. [*]Ability to relate and join the dots. Tech Marketers are often caught between the lack of industry insight and a superb marketing initiative. Finding a middle ground requires an ability to join the dots and relate. [*]Great communication skills. Besides on the job, this is extremely important to clearly outline benefits of a good campaign and get budgets approved. [*]Appreciation for risk and reward theory. No risk - no reward. Enough said. </ul> About the Author A graduate from MIT Pune and born to a defence officer, this semi-nomadic creative director for MarTeck Consulting is passionate #-Link-Snipped-#about the convergence of technology with marketing and believes itâ€™s time technology businesses leverage fantastically innovative marketing philosophies to build advantages that reflect on their balance sheets. You can follow Sameer on Twitter â€“ #-Link-Snipped-# MarTeck Consulting on FB â€“Â #-Link-Snipped-# #-Link-Snipped-#