Reimagine Motivation
BRIAN ALFOND: Hello, folks. Welcome to this episode of the Reimagine Marketing podcast. I'm your host Brian Alfond. And I'm part of SAS's Global Customer Intelligence group, where I work with customers to find elegant and creative solutions to their marketing problems.
When I was 13 and a budding bass player, a friend gave me Rush's album Exit Stage Left, and a lifelong obsession was born. Geddy Lee is their lead singer, keyboard player, and most importantly bass player. And it was his bass playing that hit some sort of nerve. The sound of his Rickenbacker bass took residence in my soul. And I needed to have that sound.
I figured the easiest way to get it was to go out and get a Rickenbacker myself. So for over a year I detailed cars, I mowed lawns, cashed in a couple of savings bonds, sold a trombone that was not getting me a lot of dates, and finally bought a used Rickenbacker 4001, just like the one Geddy Lee played. And I played that bass all through high school and into college, but I never sounded anything like Geddy Lee, and I was frustrated.
A few years later Geddy switched to Steinberger basses, so I bought a Steinberger. But the only one I could find was fretless, which wasn't the same thing at all. So obviously, I still didn't sound anything like Geddy Lee. But a few years after that, Geddy switched to Wal basses. And the sound of that bass completely displaced the sound of the Rickenbacker for me. I sold all four of the basses I owned at the time to buy one used Wal. I even drove all the way from Boston to Philadelphia to get it.
But while I loved the sound I could get out of the Wal, it still didn't make me sound anything like Geddy Lee. Then in the early 2000s, Geddy went back to basics with a Fender Jazz Bass. But this time, I was way ahead of him. For reasons best left untold in this setting, I'd been forced to sell my Wal, along with all the other basses in my arsenal. And I'd replaced them with two basic vanilla Fender Jazz Basses. And guess what. After all those years and all those bass guitars, I still didn't sound anything like Geddy Lee. And I wasn't having any fun trying to either.
I started thinking back to my youth when I'd play 8 to 10 hours a day when bass was all I wanted to eat, drink, sleep-- heck, even sleep with. And I realized that I had never played anything that played as nicely as that first Rickenbacker. So I bought another one, but this time I didn't want to sound like Geddy Lee. This time, I wanted to sound like, well, me. And then at the advanced age of 46, I realized this was OK.
The Rickenbacker is a dream to play. And I found a sound I and my bandmates loved. And I started having fun again. How's that for reimagining things? Which brings me, in my usual roundabout-- it happens to be also another great song played on a Rickenbacker-- way to marketing. I'm sure many of us have met with or have been part of a company that has found their own Geddy Lee in the form of another company that they think does everything right. And I'm sure many of us have seen these organizations go out and buy the same martech stack that their hero company uses. And lo and behold, they aren't performing the way that their hero company does. And the results, while perhaps adequate, are not the amazing results they expected. And they want to know why.
I found that just like me when I was a teenager, companies can become trapped in a mindset that if they could just find the right tools, they would be successful. Don't get me wrong. Tools are important. And you want to acquire the best tools you can-- be it a bass guitar, or a ratchet set, or marketing software. But for young, bass-playing Brian, well, my failure was a failure of vision. Inspiration and emulation is all well and good, but at some point, you have to set your own goals that take your own abilities and situation into consideration.
I'm not sure a company can be successful with a pure emulation strategy. If the culture is different and the people are different, but the goals are the same, can they succeed? Wouldn't a company need to understand its own business challenges and issues that are preventing them from achieving their goals, then craft a solution to meet those unique requirements? And sure, it may involve some or all of the solutions that the competition uses, or it may not.
Trying to be something or someone you aren't could end up being a massive waste of time and money. And even if you use the exact same toolset as your competition, your results are most likely going to be different because your business is different. And just like there's only one Geddy Lee, there's only one of you or of your organization.
As I was thinking about my days as a wannabe rock star, I realized there are other parallels in the mistakes I made then to what I see in my professional life now. For example, I can now admit I suffered from what my bandmates would describe as shiny things syndrome. Basses aside, I always was attracted to the newest and hippest technology. A black light lit amplifier? That looks wicked cool! Yes, please! But did it help my sound at all? Sadly, not enough to justify the expense, and that's just for the amp itself. I hadn't even taken into account the cost of the time I spent trying to get a decent sound out of the thing.
Now, I'm sure you can draw the parallels to working with organizations trying to solve their business issues. How many organizations go out and get the latest trendy and self-proclaimed innovative software only to find out it isn't really what they need? And it has added minimal to no additional value whatsoever.
Now, the good news for me was that at least I could sell my failed amplifier experiment. I'm not sure companies can do this. Most likely, they'll stick this software on a shelf somewhere, the literal definition of shelfware, and look for ways to write off the cost without arousing the interest of the taxman.
If there's a common thread to my meandering down my musical memories and making them marketing metaphors, I suppose it's this. You have to do the hard work first. You have to determine what it is that you're trying to accomplish. Understand what you need to get that done, understand what's in the way of you getting it done, and understand how you can address those issues.
Like I said, it's the hard work. And organizations often need help with this. Fortunately, I've enjoyed a career of helping organizations with this. And over the past 20 years, I've worked with others who also excel at taking reimagined goals and crafting processes, teams, and technology solutions to make them a reality. So I guess I'm saying, don't be afraid to ask for help. After all, if it was easy, I'd probably still be out there trying to be a full-time rock and roller. And trust me. No one should ever see me in leather pants.
On that distressing visual, I'm slightly nervous to say that if you enjoyed today's show, or even if you didn't, you can head on over to sas.com/reimaginemarketingpodcast, all one word, to join in the conversation. You can subscribe to the series on your favorite podcast platforms, too. Just search for Reimagine Marketing. If you have topic, or guest ideas, or other feedback, please email us at reimaginemarketingpodcast@sas.com, where, once again, reimaginemarketingpodcast is all one word. I appreciate you listening. And I hope you'll consider joining me next time. Until then, this is Brian Alfond hoping all the important things in your life are good.
