Mention "marketing" to most design professionals and their thoughts turn to bloated ad campaigns based on broad conclusions drawn from dated demographic research. Marketing has been perceived as manipulative, pushy and greasy. It's that breathless, in-your-face infomercial or the annoying guy calling you at dinner. Some traditional marketers have given the craft of marketing a bad name. But a new strain of marketing is less about manipulation and deception, and more about two-way conversations, transparency and personalization. It's about building something that people actually want to use, or writing a blog post that 200 people comment on. The old mindset has been that designers craft the product & marketers peddle the product. Today, effective marketers and designers both build loyalty, trust, perceived credibility and meaningful experiences. This directly affects profitability, retention, satisfaction and word-of-mouth recommendations. As designers venture further into creating evocative experiences, the line between design and marketing blurs even more. Now great marketing - and, yes, there is such a thing! - comes from truly understanding who your users/customers are and what they want/need to do. Throw in deep understanding of their emotional triggers and cognitive expectations and "marketing research" starts to sound a lot like design research. We remember the TV ads that make us cry - marketers count on that. But designers know that products that deliver a compelling and elegant experience stand out from the crowd because they evoke and sustain emotion from the user. Great marketing, like great design, goes for our hearts as well as our heads.

1. Marketing is not a four-letter word
Megan Grocki
@megangrocki

2. ICE BREAKINGgeneralizations
Sweeping … yum!

3. Why designers gotta hate on marketers?
ICE BREAKING
FPO

4. We’re all marketers*
ICE BREAKING (gasp!)
ê Blog
ê Website
ê Business card
ê Job Interview
ê Portfolio
ê Date
* Kathy Sierra: You ARE a marketer. Deal with it.

5. Who do you think of?
ICE BREAKING
FPO

6. Out with the
ICE BREAKING old, in with the new
Did not cross channels

7. great
marketing—and
yes,
there
is
such
a
thing!—comes
from
truly
understanding
who
your
customers
are
and
what
they
want
or
need
to
do.
Does
that
sound
anything
ICEthere overlap?
Is BREAKING Do we want the same things?
Great marketing, (and yes, there is
such a thing!) comes from truly
understanding who your customers
are and what they want or need

8. Who is doing it right?
ICE BREAKING

9. Who is doing it right?
ICE BREAKING

10. Who is doing it right?
ICE BREAKING

11. I can’t help it … I’m a matchmaker
ICE BREAKING

12. C’mon, people!
ICE BREAKING

13. Thank you!
ICE BREAKING
Megan Grocki
Experience Design Director
Mad*Pow
@megangrocki