Innovate Mag on Marketing

3 lessons on Marketing from Paul Bennett, Creative Director of IDEO, in BusinessWeek's new magazine, Inside Innovation

1. "The hardest thing that marketers and brand managers have to do right now is simplify. Marketing and branding need to get back to first principles -- people, feelings, stories, and things. Tangible things. Not weird words. And for all of us agencies out there, we need to feel more confident that actually the best thing we can do is to tell it simply, both to the organization we're working for and ultimately to the consumer. "
2. "Wells Fargo CEO Richard Kovacevich, "I could leave our strategic plan on a plane, and it wouldn't make any difference. No one could execute it. Our success has nothing to do with planning. It has to do with execution." "
3. "to your parents. Now sit them down at the kitchen table and, in 50 words or less, tell them what you do for a living, what product you make or sell (or if you're a consultant, what process or deliverable you sell), and what's good about it. Don't use weird words or anything with lots of syllables. Don't quit until they understand you." IF YOUR MOM OR GRANDMA CAN'T UNDERSTAND IT, NEITHER CAN YOUR AUDIENCE.