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The "marketing screws companies up" meme is old and tired. Yes, bad marketing sucks. So does bad engineering. The reality of creating a business is you need to

The "marketing screws companies up" meme is old and tired. Yes, bad marketing sucks. So does bad engineering. The reality of creating a business is you need to market it. It's one company in a thousand that can survive with no marketing, and that happens purely by luck. Marketing is actually really hard. The internet has also drastically altered how marketing happens, since the conversation now needs to be two-way (not just blasting out advertisements). The companies who do this the best don't get credit for great marketing because it just appear natural. What is worse about this meme is it becomes poisonous inside companies. Instead of everybody working together to build the company, you can have people trying to satisfy agendas. Engineers focus on technology instead of products; marketing tells lies in an effort to force engineering down the path they want. The only thing about this meme that has any value is that, at its core, the meme talks about providing real value instead of talking about value. But it is the height of arrogance to believe only engineers can create something of value.

lazylland 14y ago
People just don't seem to be comfortable with grey. And this is a problem I especially see with newer devs: there has to be one right way that fully solves a problem. The balancing act between seat-of-the-pants thinking and methodical problem solving is THE key to business survival.
drawkbox 14y ago
Marketing is very important, as important as the product as my last statement mentions. I think the post was incorrectly interpreted. I was only speaking to when the product stops innovating and everything is solved by more marketing. The meme isn't 'marketing screws companies up' since without marketing or a product there is nothing. It's when the focus goes off the product and into marketing ether (same problem with only making product and doing no marketing). An example might be demoing a product that isn't available for another 6 months to a year. It's a balance but the moment the focus is off delivering product first it is over. The twitter API group verses the marketing group I can bet most of the people in the API camp were developers/product people and the marketers were not. Where do you want the focus in your company? The product or the marketing? One usually wins out or takes the reigns, both extremely important. I think for longevity product wins hands down.

lazylland 14y ago

People just don't seem to be comfortable with grey. And this is a problem I especially see with newer devs: there has to be one right way that fully solves a problem. The balancing act between seat-of-the-pants thinking and methodical problem solving is THE key to business survival.

drawkbox 14y ago

Marketing is very important, as important as the product as my last statement mentions. I think the post was incorrectly interpreted. I was only speaking to when the product stops innovating and everything is solved by more marketing. The meme isn't 'marketing screws companies up' since without marketing or a product there is nothing. It's when the focus goes off the product and into marketing ether (same problem with only making product and doing no marketing). An example might be demoing a product that isn't available for another 6 months to a year. It's a balance but the moment the focus is off delivering product first it is over. The twitter API group verses the marketing group I can bet most of the people in the API camp were developers/product people and the marketers were not. Where do you want the focus in your company? The product or the marketing? One usually wins out or takes the reigns, both extremely important. I think for longevity product wins hands down.