Unless you are a surgeon, buying a scalpel will not make you capable of performing surgery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So why do you think that having a keyboard is enough to be able to handle marketing and communication?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Probably because if you press the keys, words come together much more easily than anyone would think it is simple to keep someone alive after cutting their stomach open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if the spelling is wrong, a little red squiggly line appears underneath to tell you it is not right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unlike the patient, who is generally unable to provide feedback regarding the correctness of the operation they are undergoing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fact, from a criminal law standpoint, the consequences of bad communication are less severe than those of a surgical procedure performed by someone who is incompetent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From a commercial standpoint, however, they can have the exact same gravity: killing the subject we want to cure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A story from a few days ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I received a request for an article to be written for a trade magazine about a shipyard that wants a company profile presentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The interview with the head of sales was a succession of “I don’t know”, “I’m no expert”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was like talking about football to write for a major sports magazine with someone who has seen a ball once and knows that more or less you only use your feet, but sometimes you don’t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, they know that offside, the manager, and man-marking exist, and that they are good things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, to get some useful information, I retrieved the info from the company website and from a few articles previously published in newspapers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And I prepared the piece, which had the task of making this shipyard interesting and alternative to the countless shipyards that already exist and sell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since it is a job commissioned by a paying client, I sent the manuscript to the company in question for review, saying: “check that all the technical info is correct”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I received a reply email in which the hook of the piece was completely changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mind you, there was nothing technical, but only the accompaniment of the reader toward the core of the story: why you should buy a boat from this company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Note from the sender (verbatim, and as they used to say in American TV shows: the names have been changed to protect the innocent):<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00abIn this first paragraph, I would start by picking up the introduction we have on our website regarding our shipyard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A thought that has accompanied John Doe from the very beginning, since he first imagined the Beautiful Boats shipyard: to create vessels capable of combining performance, elegance, and innovation without compromise, where every technical choice stems from a precise vision and every detail has a reason to exist.\u00bb<\/p>\n\n\n\n
WOW, I am moved\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aside from being the hundredth time I have read these words tied to a shipyard, think about how useful they can be to differentiate it from the rest of the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And second: it is obvious that they do not understand one of the basics of communication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If I, the reader, see an article in a magazine that publishes text that precisely mimics what is written on the company website, what I think is: this is a plug, and a poorly written one at that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That an entrepreneur steps in to state the direction their company must take is fundamental.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But why confuse what pleases the “boss” with what convinces the market?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why do you ask for communication and then expect to base it on corporate slogans?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let me flip the question on you: would you want to sail on a boat designed and built by someone who deals with marketing and communication for a living?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then why do you entrust your communication to someone who designs and builds boats for a living?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ah, outsourcing the work only to then pretend to tell them how to do it falls under the exact same case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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