Half asleep, glaring into the bright whiteboard at nine in the morning; I listened (or tried to listen) to my University lecturer talk about Digital Marketing today and adapting to change. After forty-five minutes of intense daydreaming, yawning and morning stretching whilst listening to a teacher read off a powerpoint slide, I decided to tune in when he used an analogy to describe digital marketing. He pointed at a chair, and said “If I walk away from this chair, am I going forward or is the chair going backwards?” to which no one answered. Again, he walked further and further away from the chair and said “I may be moving forward, but the chair is remaining stagnant and is therefore going backwards, this is how it is with digital marketing”.
What did this all mean? Adapting to Change
My stubborn morning self refused to believe that a chair could move itself backwards, but when 10:00 hit and my brain decided to finally turn on, I started to understand what this little man was trying to say. If a digital marketer, or any marketer refuses to adapt to modernized methods of marketing then they are falling behind the pack; moving backwards in a sense. Then, I took this analogy further and applied it to everyday life and human development. I thought about someone who was born in the 70’s but refused to use a computer for their whole life up until today; yes, they remained stagnant and had not gained any computer skills unlike the rest of his peers. However, he also declined and moved backwards from any position that he was ever in; a lower skill set than his peers meant Lower Paying Employment, lower paying employment meant less luxury in his life and less luxury in his life meant less enjoyment of life.
Little Marketing Lecturer Evolves Into Philosopher? (*not clickbait*)
Stupid subtitle and unrealistic example aside, it summed up to me the evolution that is occurring in our everyday lives. The importance of adapting to our environment and surroundings is pivotal in developing as a being. Suddenly, my 9am boredom became my daily inspiration. Every time I become too lazy and unmotivated to take on a new challenge; I fear remaining stagnant, but more importantly I fear moving backwards. I’m now somewhat scared of not challenging myself and developing.
So, the lesson I took from this was to take on challenges, learn new things and to continually move forward and adapt to my environment. There you go, your little bit of inspiration for today; straight from the mouth of my little Australian lecturer.
How Does This Affect Marketing
Obviously, the original analogy was designed for use in Marketing terms only, but I decided to over analyze as usual. However, I also analyzed how this mindset can allow Marketing agencies or marketing managers to dominate. The constant development of technology means new and innovative ways to promote your product or service. Taking advantage of such technology allows you to get ahead of the rest. Not learning how to take advantage of them means that you allow your competitors to capture a segment of your target market.
This may be obvious, but it’s important also to not neglect more traditional forms of digital marketing. For example, a large portion of your target market will still be watching live television or listening to live radio. Therefore, the key word is ‘adapt’ but don’t ‘neglect’. If you can achieve this, then you’re well on your way of dominating the marketing scene (a lot easier said than done).
Originally published at www.thebusinessguy.org on April 23, 2018.
How Remaining Stagnant Is Basically Moving Backwards: Adapting to Our Environment was originally published in The Ascent on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
