[Maestro Salieri and the priest, from Amadeus, 2:35]
This week, so far, we talked about setting up listening posts to serve customers better as first line of response and to be proactive, building a framework to develop valuable content to deliver as a service, and measurement. Today we focus on participation. That mix of attention, time, interaction, with a sprinkle of human thrown into it that makes relationships start and grow.
What did you see in the movie clip above? [hat tip Rohit Barghava for leading me to Amadeus]
Antonio Salieri was the most famous composer in Europe. He wrote 40 Operas alone. In an intimate conversation with a Priest we find out that the only music the cleric can recall having heard is not his. The Priest can recall a simple, playful tune, one composed by Mozart (Amadeus), Salieri's nemesis. How could that be?
Mozart didn't choose to be a genius and in fact he didn't even look the part. In the movie he's depicted as an irresponsible, fun loving, spontaneous... human. Salieri, on the other hand, is all perfection, expects the best because he followed all the rules. There's something else.
It's the interaction with people - and in the movie wine, it seems - that makes the music inspired, and popular. If Salieri was able to listen to real music, and to distinguish inspired notes and passages, Mozart could make it work so it would not just communicate, but connect. Every fiber of his being participated to getting what was in his head - the idea - done.
The work wasn't any easier, it was just distributed differently and coming from a different place. Compare in the movie - Salieri wanting to become the best for himself, to get recognition; Mozart wanting to get his music and story out, told, shared with the public.
Some are musing today that social media should be its own department. While I agree that resources and time should be allocated to exploring your level of participation, I disagree that it should have its own label and silo.We shouldn't be creating a separate practice. We should enroll and practice across the organization.
In fact, I disagree with the current silos in marketing departments overall. Why? Because marketing is changing, and skills/experience now need to go across relationship building and positioning, online and off line.
As IBM and other companies do for PR and advertising, it's time to merge the strategy of all the communications and conversations functions in an organization so they build value for customers around market insights, agile development, testing, and measurement.
Separate line items in a tactical project management sheet and turfs with little or no collaboration will hold a company much further back in this environment. This begs the question of how the organization will restructure how people get credit for meeting goals, perhaps a topic for another post.
Marketing today is adaptive. How well are you trained in following all the rules of marketing?
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Interesting anniversary: this is my 1,001 post.