At risk of sounding old - in an industry plagued with ageism - I’ve been in the marketing game since the turn of the century. And I consider this a blessing, because it means that I trained in the pre-nonsense era. I learnt a definition of marketing that was simple: I understood that marketing was about promoting things (goods and services) to people (AKA humans).

So you’ll forgive me when I scoff at the breaking-news announcement that brand-X is now “humaning”. And - what’s more - declaring this as a “new approach to marketing”.

The chutzpah.

Let’s digress for a quick grammar lesson.
Humaning isn’t really a word. Obviously! Human is, of course. And the suffix -ing is a real thing too. Just not in the way it’s been used in this case. In the English language, -ing shouldn’t really be stuck onto the end of a noun. But, they’ve done it anyway. Call it creative license, or describe it as utter hogwash – the bottom line is, the fact that it isn’t a proper word is the least of the problem (in my opinion anyway).

The real problem? Marketing has always been about human connection; there is no question that it is an intensely human activity. This shouldn’t be seen as something new. In fact, if marketing is about only one thing, that thing is personal connection – resonating with your market on an individual level. This so-called new marketing approach focused on human connection is in fact the very essence of marketing. Not so innovative after all.

Now, don’t get me wrong: this isn’t a dig at Mondelez. I am a BIG fan of Mondelez (or many of their products, anyway: work-from-home has been much nicer thanks to my ample stash of Bourneville and Top Deck.) But when they declare that “we are no longer marketing to consumers, but creating connections with humans”, I can’t help but giggle just a little and holler to my empty home office, “Baloney!”

Of course you are marketing to consumers; you great big, purple confectionary and food giant! You want – nay, need - consumers to buy the things you sell. Yes, you’d like your consumers to be in a relationship with you, so they continue to buy from you again and again and you can lower the associated cost of customer acquisition over time. But – let’s be honest – even the most die-hard chocaholics* seldom consider themselves to “have a connection” with their beloved confectionary brand. And how exactly do you plan to buy media for these airy-fairy connections you’re creating? Or measure the strength, and by inference the value, of those connections? While Psychology today has some interesting tests, they are probably less useful when being applied to chocolates than to the assessment of one’s romantic partner.

Cynicism aside, marketing’s reputation suffered for the longest time, taking a beating in many organisations for focusing too much on emotion and lacking a solid understanding of how business works. More recently, marketing has taken great strides to demonstrate its worth, through proving its effectiveness and tying performance back to the bottom line. Spouting this sort of vague waffle does little to further our collective cause.

But we’ll let this one slide because to err is human, and chocolate, divine. 

*ahem – me

If you need some advice on how to market to your consumers more effectively - let’s have a chat. Jack Be Nimble has developed marketing strategies for clients in a broad range of categories, and would love the opportunity to learn more about your brand.

Image Credit: Ben Sweet of Unsplash