Locations Wow… I am so excited to share with you a new role here at Projectline. The New Media and Digital Content Consultant is just one more way to see how Projectline is growing. Remember, you must have something to bring to the table and you must have a sense of humor that can pull it all together. So check out the link and let me hear from you.
So I, along with six other Projectline marketing consultants, attended the Puget Sound American Marketing Association’s annual conference, MarketSmart, Thursday. Great speakers, great atmosphere, great day all around.
What I found interesting, and what I hope some of you will be willing to discuss with me, is how I left the conference with mixed feelings about the content of the presentations—most of which focused on brand, brand protection, brand as something beyond the product, brand as a lifestyle, brand as an “emotional connection” with people. Nothing really new, but even more “emotion” speak than usual. For me, the idea of making an “emotional connection” with someone solely for sake of selling a product seems (and maybe is) a little smarmy. Isn’t it?
This is a discussion as old as marketing itself, but one that I think should be top of mind for all marketers and consumers. As a proud professional marketer, I, of course, don’t think of myself as working in the smarmy camp. Yet, I do consider emotions and connections every day. I want empathy and genuine connections between me and my customers (and between everyone at Projectline and all of our customers). I talk about how if our customers trust us, they’ll hire us. And I want to help our global customers think of their own customers as individuals with emotions and needs beyond the features of a particular product. I want their brands and messages to be bigger than just the item being sold, and to be loved for how it makes them feel. Positive emotions. Paul Isakson, marketing genius, says that modern marketing = making people lives better. These days this means providing addictive content and utility. For what? So they’ll buy (more) products? Am I a smarmy marketer, just providing information to make an emotional connection? Where is the line between emotional connection and emotional manipulation? I think I know where it is for me. But I am not sure where it is for the big brands, that is for sure. I hope someone is still thinking about it.
As an aside, if you haven’t checked out the Brand Tag experiment, you otta (thanks for the link Patrick).
Are you a stellar project manager who is passionate about technology, marketing, and creative projects? Do you thrive in a dynamic and energetic environment? Projectline Services, Inc. seeks an enthusiastic creative project manager to help our clients get the creative marketing materials they need when they need it. Our new Creative Marketing Consultant position is both strategic and creative and requires the ability to move from planning to implementation while effectively working with the Creative Lead and a virtual creative team of copywriters, graphic designers, and web developers in all project stages.
We made it to Washington CEO’s list of 100 best companies to work for again!
To make this list for the second year in a row means a lot to me as the HR Manager because we’ve grown from 20 to 80 employees and are still getting good grades from our employees 
. I like to think that is because of our dedication to our mission and values as well as our caution not to ‘dilute’ our company culture as we’re growing and changing. Whenever I describe our company to candidates or new hires I talk about how simple our mission and values really are. It’s all about integrity, ethics, trust, respect and accountability—to the team and the greater community. What makes our company so great though, for me, is seeing those values in action every day.
Check out the list to see other Washington employers big and small! http://www.washingtonceo.com/home/events/100-best-companies-2008.html
