The Meme Generals
HOWARD CAMPBELL:
Marketing is the war of brands. I mean that literally. For some, fighting helps them feel alive and rejuvenated. For me, I just get tired. And I’m almost always tense, and it comes from being in battle day-in and day-out.
[PAUSE]
Of course it is a hostile work environment. We are waging war. We are trying to be the dominant brand in the wireless category. War tactics are manifested on the battlefield of media and on the battlefield called office or corporateland. These war tactics are akin to moves in poker.
In poker, one seeks to exploit positional advantages. Information is powerful, so, you have an advantage over the players to your immediate right, because you always play after them. You play after you know what they have done and before they know what you will do. Less than one-quarter of the time the cards will decide who wins, you always act with more knowledge than the players to your right, unless you are first to act. Meanwhile, the players to your
immediate left have an advantage over you. It is like an M.C. Escher painting where the steps go in a circle and every step to the left is up, only the figurines are real and they are carrying loaded guns. More often than not, a player surrenders their hand when a shot is fired over the bow in the form of a bet or a raise. I just mixed metaphors.
DR. WILLIAM FINK:
Yeah, you had figurines on steps and then suddenly there were bows of boats.
HOWARD CAMPBELL:
I’m glad you are following. We forget that figures of speech often have embedded imagery.
In poker, I might move seats to position myself to the left of a loose player, exploiting their tendency to overplay; in marketing, we might adjust our positioning to exploit another company’s weaknesses—such as their hyping a product with inferior qualities.
Both marketing and poker are games of money that are won by exploiting weaker players. Most weak poker players bluff too much. Most weak marketers over-promise and hype their products: over promising in marketing is bluffing the consumer because you don’t have the goods you purport to have. Bluffing garners a lack of respect. In essence,
bluffing is utilizing resources for a short-term gain. While short-term gain is a viable part of business, if utilized too often, bluffing is a form of unduly exposing yourself to liability.
Marketing is the war of brands. I mean that literally. For some, fighting helps them feel alive and rejuvenated. For me, I just get tired. And I’m almost always tense, and it comes from being in battle day-in and day-out.
[PAUSE]
Of course it is a hostile work environment. We are waging war. We are trying to be the dominant brand in the wireless category. War tactics are manifested on the battlefield of media and on the battlefield called office or corporateland. These war tactics are akin to moves in poker.
In poker, one seeks to exploit positional advantages. Information is powerful, so, you have an advantage over the players to your immediate right, because you always play after them. You play after you know what they have done and before they know what you will do. Less than one-quarter of the time the cards will decide who wins, you always act with more knowledge than the players to your right, unless you are first to act. Meanwhile, the players to your
immediate left have an advantage over you. It is like an M.C. Escher painting where the steps go in a circle and every step to the left is up, only the figurines are real and they are carrying loaded guns. More often than not, a player surrenders their hand when a shot is fired over the bow in the form of a bet or a raise. I just mixed metaphors.
DR. WILLIAM FINK:
Yeah, you had figurines on steps and then suddenly there were bows of boats.
HOWARD CAMPBELL:
I’m glad you are following. We forget that figures of speech often have embedded imagery.
In poker, I might move seats to position myself to the left of a loose player, exploiting their tendency to overplay; in marketing, we might adjust our positioning to exploit another company’s weaknesses—such as their hyping a product with inferior qualities.
Both marketing and poker are games of money that are won by exploiting weaker players. Most weak poker players bluff too much. Most weak marketers over-promise and hype their products: over promising in marketing is bluffing the consumer because you don’t have the goods you purport to have. Bluffing garners a lack of respect. In essence,
bluffing is utilizing resources for a short-term gain. While short-term gain is a viable part of business, if utilized too often, bluffing is a form of unduly exposing yourself to liability.
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