1. What does it take
to think like a
Marketer, in 4
weeks?
Four weeks to changing your behaviorism in becoming
to understand Marketing and Brand Building tactics.
Author- Jasleen Kaur Gumber
5/3/2015

2. What does it take to think like a Marketer, in 4 weeks?
1
Jasleen Kaur Gumber
ell the age is rather different today in terms of results and so are the
requisites of a particular profile. Companies no longer expect a
Finance guy to be confined to numbers alone; it is probably a very usual
sight to hear him talking about 4P’s too. The age is rather promoting a
balanced generalist-specialist approach. You can’t talk just one!
My peer circle comprises of people who have specialised in a work
domain but are way too competent to comprehend, argue and provide
valuable insight on cross-functional realms as well.
This trend is putting a lot of pressure on Non-Marketers who have been
brought up all their life with sheer numbers, logic and simulations. These
bright chaps have had little exposure to the creative and insane world of
Marketing.
Though, I have myself had a few friends who have complained about a
complete absence of knack in Marketing since they feel they are not
creative enough. Others argue, Marketing is vague and because there is
no set path to achieving results & it lacks consequential approach. This is
exactly what has compelled me to think for a few days and jot down an
unbiased opinion on the attitude changes you need to make if you are
even a teeny bit interested to be able to understand the world of
marketing.
How threatening a situation we will create in our companies if we have
outstanding engineers creating super-duper products and completely
abandoning their creations when it comes to GTM Strategy (Go To
Market). Whilst the sweep to learn Marketing nuance is hitting a lot of
technical guys, it still has a long way to go. I strongly feel that a basic
amount of Marketing understanding in the folks who actually create stuff
can work wonders if they understand Marketing. Because their slightest
W Disclaimer
Contents in this article are
exclusively of the author based
upon her experience of the
industry, peer group and
corporate life.
Please use her name for
citation upon contents picked
up from the article body.
©Jasleen Kaur Gumber

3. What does it take to think like a Marketer, in 4 weeks?
2
Jasleen Kaur Gumber
indication to marketing specialists over that product can lead up to
shaping some cutting-edge marketing strategies.
The below agenda needs to be practiced for Four
weeks. Each week is linked with a perspective
change.
Week 1
Objective- Learning the most important
component of Marketing- ‘Game of Choices,
Preferences and Distribution’
This week all you have to do is strike a memory
alarm. Each time a purchase is complete and you
get the transaction alert of having used your card
you have to ask yourself below questions and pen
them down in a notepad each day.
Why did I buy it?
I needed it immediately; Or
I don’t need it right now but bought it in
anticipation that I might want to use it later
What did I go for this brand?
It was readily available. I didn’t use lot of
logic in picking it
I have always been using it. Pretty satisfied
This is a new brand I am using and someone
suggested this to me
I saw some marketing information over
this- right now/ a week back/ on outdoor/
on TV, Radio, Print, etc.
This exercise will open your eyes towards the world
of choice and preference that work on us without
we even knowing. This is what brands have done
over the years. Some brands might not have done
this kind of brand building but they have worked
up some fabulous channel partnerships to ensure
their product is everywhere. And therefore even if
you weren’t too keen on the brand you picked it
because of convenience.
Week 2 and 3
Objective- Learning the second important
aspect of Marketing- ‘Communication,
Influence & Brand Affinity’
In these two weeks together we try to explore what
pleases us as a consumer. By the end of first week
already you would start to feel a temperament shift
so this becomes easy to do. Again you will have to
use mental and memory alerts on yourself,
especially your social behaviour. You have to keep a
tab of the below things that you might do in these
two weeks- week 2 and 3. Don’t forget what you
were doing in the first week continues along with
this.
List down all the likes, comments, re-tweets,
and shares you might have done on your
social networks. How many of them were a
brand sponsored/ produced/ created/ co-
created/ endorsed?

4. What does it take to think like a Marketer, in 4 weeks?
1
Jasleen Kaur Gumber
How many times during a conversation did
you did use a brand as a verb?
o Xerox it!
o Google it!
o I am doing Facebook!
How many times during a conversation did
you recommend a brand?
The purpose of this week is to dig into yourself as a
consumer and analyse how brands have hit a cord
with you and how you as a consumer are
responding back to the brand with purchases,
mentions during a conversation, sharing the brand
message/ promise/ advert, etc. on the social media.
You will realise in this week how you have bought
into a particular brand and have become a loyalist
for that.
This exercise would even help to explore you as a
personality. There would be common patterns in
communications that you like. By the end of this
week, you should start studying on Positioning,
Targeting and Segmentation principles of
Marketing. You would be highly receptive to
understanding those concepts under the 3 week
study you have done on yourself as a consumer.
Week 4
Objective- Learning the third important
aspect of Marketing- “This or That”
Your last two exercises will continue rolling over
this week, besides a new one in which you would
be practiced to becoming critical. As a Marketer,
there are ample situations in which multiple
versions are worked on to get the best one. Be it
advertisements, graphics, artwork, pricing, etc.
Marketers know it’s not a single shot game. They
would work on different routes of communication
and then through their lens they would boil down
to one. May be again test market it, do some more
focus group discussions and then finally emerges
your strategy ripened enough to put your stakes on.
Thereupon, to conclude the schedule one needs to
get the hypercritical eye. You got to do the below
exercises to hone your skill of hair-splitting:
When you chance on print or digital ads/
outdoor/ TV commercial/ communication
ask the below questions to yourself
o Is the tag line/ main message
compelling?
o What is the RTB (Reason to Believe)
in the communication?
o Could the change in colours do some
magic on the impact?
o Does the position of the ad matters?
o Were you able to comprehend the
message in the given short duration
that you were exposed to it?
o Do you think the ad was talking
about your pain point?
o Was the communication doing
justice in differentiating the brand
relative to others or was it just
another run-of-the-mill?
Lastly, from this week start asking yourself if
you were to re-vamp it for a Million Dollar
contest, putting all your stakes on this one
communication- how would you do it?
Yes, that’s because when Marketers are creating
anything they put huge stakes on it, they are ready
to absorb the consequences of floating that
communication. And most vital, every time a brand

5. What does it take to think like a Marketer, in 4 weeks?
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Jasleen Kaur Gumber
is making a communication to the outside world its
exposing itself, we have seen so many marcom
(marketing communication) disasters happening!
About the Author-
Jasleen is a Senior Executive working in Canon. She
has an extensive 5 years of experience in Marketing
and has acquired Double Master’s, in Business
Administration and English Literature.
She is an alumnus to the top colleges of India like
Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Delhi
University, Indian Institute of Technology, Jamia
Millia Islamia and Management Development
Institute.
She would be happy to hear your suggestions on
this at iamjasleenkaur@gmail.com or
Jasleen.kaur@canon.co.in