Old Rules and New Tools

There’s lots of new tools around: the internet, social media, smartphones, Skype, and other technology flavors of the month.  From a marketing perspective, danger lurks when we depend on the new tools and forget the old rules.  Marketers have to be careful not to throw out the traditional baby with the digital bathwater.  They both have to work together.  Old rules and new tools are just one tool.  Don’t separate them.

Below is an example from my family history: The Atkins Saw Company, founded by my Great Grandfather, Elias C. Atkins in 1855.  It’s a 1940 POP retail window display.  I bought it on eBay for both its legacy and marketing value.  Not many, if any, still exist:

This retail display is a classic example of traditional advertising.  It was intended for a store display rather than a PC display.  The Atkins name is echoed five times and a story is told as to why “Atkins Always Ahead” was the motto of this former company–a company that was the world’s largest manufacturer of saws in 1945.  Its rules are simple.  The logo, the story, and the basic product descriptions tell the potential customer about the benefits they receive when buying an Atkins saw.  “Atkins Saws And You And A Home” is the tag line or unique selling proposition.  You use the saw and it makes and repairs your home.  It’s personal and direct.  Whether it’s a huge tree or a 2X4 for your home, Atkins will get you ahead in either your business or your home.  Simple, traditional, and direct.  The target market is both the consumer and the contractor.

Now jump forward roughly seventy-three years later in 2013.  Atkins Saw no longer exists but the internet does.  Were it not for the internet I would have never found this display.  Thanks, eBay and the concept of search.  This represents an ironic blend of an old tool being found by a new tool.  And yet, the same tried and true principles of marketing used in 1940 are what makes internet marketing successful: target markets, clear messaging, marketing plans, advertising campaigns, customer-focused marketing, SWOT, the 4 Ps, telling your story, and channels.  Not much has changed.  Really.  Digital marketing is simply the core principles of marketing dressed up to go to church.  The old rules makes the new tools work.  There must be balance as they work together.  It’s not really a “brave new world” as much as it is a digital new world built on proven principles of marketing.

Old rules and new tools must be married.  They can’t separate, however they can change and adapt.  As you use tomorrow’s new tools, don’t forget the old rules…