Categories: Articles

Remember: Marketing Is Art

Are you inspired to create the work that you were meant to create? Is it your art? Is Marketing art?

There’s a video interview at the end of this Blog post that leads me to ask this question: is what you are doing the art you were meant to create? If not, why do it? Yes, it’s a tough question to answer and yes, the answer or negation of this thought/question will include countless uses of the word, "but." In the end, it is spot on: whatever it is that you are doing for the majority of your waking life better count, and it better be something that is your art. Your work (your art) must make a difference in the world and it must make you proud.

How much do you care about Marketing?

Do you care enough to think that it’s more than a job? More than the work you do? That it is important? That it changes lives? That it validates your very existence? The most successful musicians feel this way about what they do. We’re talking about everyone from U2 to Motorhead and from Slayer to the Rolling Stones, and it’s not because of the money (they like the money and they’ll take your money, but it’s not the reason they do what they do). They make music (or create art) because it is who they are. "It’s easy to be passionate about rock n’ roll, the sex, the drugs, the excess," you might be thinking, but dig a little deeper. There are those who are just as passionate about fixing things (some of us do it with our hands, and some of us do it with our brains) and are simply magnificent at it (true artists).

Design your passion.

Bob Lefsetz blogged about an amazing video where Jonathan Ive (the Senior Vice President of Industrial Design at Apple – the principle designer of the iMac, MacBook, iPod, iPhone, etc…) talks about how they designed the unibody of the MacBook (Jonathan Ive On Design). It’s a clip from a 2009 industrial design documentary titled, Objectified and it is inspiring. Forget that he works at Apple. Forget that he has a cool job, and just focus on what he’s trying to accomplish and the words/questions he asks himself (and of his team).

Industrial Design is his art. Is your work your art?

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.