"Way Back in the Day": How Marketing Has Changed

We are proud to sponsor a one-time FREE performance of The Actor's Charitable Theatre's production of Broadway's Bright Star, inspired by a true story and featuring the Tony-nominated score by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, on Sunday, July 25, at 4:00 p.m. at the Bama Theatre in Tuscaloosa, and you are invited!

The play has many poignant themes, but it is, at its heart, about the power of the story. One of its lead numbers is, “If You Knew My Story.”

In this series, we have discussed and shared our story and talked about the importance of your story. Now, let’s discuss why and how you need to tell it.

Another powerful song in Bright Star is, “Way Back In The Day.” The musical’s story is told through flashbacks to the 1920s from its setting in the 1940s. Way back in the day, advertising was the only form of marketing. People hired advertising agencies to help them sell their goods and services, to inform potential customers or clients of their offerings. They placed ads in a few select venues – newspapers, radio, television, and billboards. Those days are over. People are inundated at every turn on multiple platforms with information, with sales pitches. The marketplace is now more competitive than ever before and there are many more ways to inform consumers of the services offered. One has to have a presence before their target audience and then find some way to connect and engage them.

Traditional advertising agencies have gradually shifted to digital advertising, with some struggling to add website design services to their offerings. Many advertising agencies are good at advertising but not necessarily at big-picture, strategic, all-encompassing marketing, much less digital marketing. Many technically savvy web designers are great with code but ineffective communicators. And rarely do these professionals listen to you to understand what you do, and how you do it. They don’t care about your story. They want to fit you into one that they already know.

One of Bright Star’s final numbers is, “At Last,” which aptly summarizes what we have heard from so many of our clients. Finally, someone who will listen, who understands what we do, who can help us create a strategic marketing plan to expand what it is that we want to do, and who can effectively communicate our message to our target audiences so that they will remember us when choosing or recommending the goods or services that we offer. In other words, here is someone who can help us tell our story.

We started Cartography Consulting to help people tell their stories. Telling them gives potential customers and clients the opportunity to make a connection. Stories are the most effective means of connecting with your potential customers and stakeholders, yet few incorporate them into their marketing efforts. This doesn’t mean that your marketing material should be a sappy, heart-wrenching biography. It simply means sharing more than the basic information your competitors.

We work with our clients to identify what makes them unique. We build a brand and a strategy based on that distinctiveness. We then implement the strategy with engaging words and graphics across all relevant platforms. We help get folks to your door. Then you can do your thing. Wouldn’t you rather spend your time doing what you’ve chosen to do than marketing? Don’t you want to have the ability to engage in your work to the fullest? We are here to help. Let us help you tell your story so that you can continue living it.