Christopher Lochhead

If somebody's going to buy a solution... They need to have a problem. And one of the biggest unlocks in category design as distinct from idiotic marketing is don't market your product. markets your problem. Because the bigger, more urgent, and more strategic the problem, the more time, money, and energy people will invest in solving the problem. But we don't do that, do we?

Marketing is not focused on customers. It's focused on us. Branding is about us branding our name in their head. That's what it's about. Well, that's a big mistake. Branding is terrible, the way it's practiced today. Even the word is terrible. Most people don't even realize where the word comes from. It comes from putting a stamp on animals to prove that you own them.

Marketing is not focused on customers. It's focused on us. Branding is about us branding our name in their head. That's what it's about. Well, that's a big mistake. Branding is terrible, the way it's practiced today. Even the word is terrible. Most people don't even realize where the word comes from. It comes from putting a stamp on animals to prove that you own them.

Marketing is not focused on customers. It's focused on us. Branding is about us branding our name in their head. That's what it's about. Well, that's a big mistake. Branding is terrible, the way it's practiced today. Even the word is terrible. Most people don't even realize where the word comes from. It comes from putting a stamp on animals to prove that you own them.

And it's painful and horrible to the animal. And a bunch of marketing idiots got together and said, oh, let's call, why don't we do that? We want to fire burn our logo into our customers' heads. Really? Don't market your brand or your product. Market the problem. Because without a problem, nobody buys a solution.

And it's painful and horrible to the animal. And a bunch of marketing idiots got together and said, oh, let's call, why don't we do that? We want to fire burn our logo into our customers' heads. Really? Don't market your brand or your product. Market the problem. Because without a problem, nobody buys a solution.

And it's painful and horrible to the animal. And a bunch of marketing idiots got together and said, oh, let's call, why don't we do that? We want to fire burn our logo into our customers' heads. Really? Don't market your brand or your product. Market the problem. Because without a problem, nobody buys a solution.

And so I guess my point is, on a lot of things, if all you do is take a step back and go, listen to the words. What do the words mean? And let's be thoughtful about, well, why are we using those words?

And so I guess my point is, on a lot of things, if all you do is take a step back and go, listen to the words. What do the words mean? And let's be thoughtful about, well, why are we using those words?

And so I guess my point is, on a lot of things, if all you do is take a step back and go, listen to the words. What do the words mean? And let's be thoughtful about, well, why are we using those words?

Sure, it's easy to be a little bit lulled to sleep. I'll give you another great one in the agency world. We hear this a lot. Full service. We're a full service marketing agency. Okay. Have you ever once, have you ever once heard anybody say they're a half service agency? We're a quarter service PR agency. You know, this guy was telling me about full stack. We're a full stack developer.

Sure, it's easy to be a little bit lulled to sleep. I'll give you another great one in the agency world. We hear this a lot. Full service. We're a full service marketing agency. Okay. Have you ever once, have you ever once heard anybody say they're a half service agency? We're a quarter service PR agency. You know, this guy was telling me about full stack. We're a full stack developer.

Sure, it's easy to be a little bit lulled to sleep. I'll give you another great one in the agency world. We hear this a lot. Full service. We're a full service marketing agency. Okay. Have you ever once, have you ever once heard anybody say they're a half service agency? We're a quarter service PR agency. You know, this guy was telling me about full stack. We're a full stack developer.

We train full stack developers. Yeah, but sometimes when I go to have breakfast, I like a half stack. I can't eat a full stack. What the fuck's a full stack developer? Now, you know, if you're in that world, you know what that means. But outside that niche-y little world, it's meaningless. And so there are all of these throwaway things that we say.

We train full stack developers. Yeah, but sometimes when I go to have breakfast, I like a half stack. I can't eat a full stack. What the fuck's a full stack developer? Now, you know, if you're in that world, you know what that means. But outside that niche-y little world, it's meaningless. And so there are all of these throwaway things that we say.

We train full stack developers. Yeah, but sometimes when I go to have breakfast, I like a half stack. I can't eat a full stack. What the fuck's a full stack developer? Now, you know, if you're in that world, you know what that means. But outside that niche-y little world, it's meaningless. And so there are all of these throwaway things that we say.

Here's another stupid one that never gets thought of in marketing. I always love this one.

Here's another stupid one that never gets thought of in marketing. I always love this one.

Here's another stupid one that never gets thought of in marketing. I always love this one.

So let me understand this. You are paying to put an ad in the world where you tell people to not take your word for it. You're telling people, you're paying to tell people not to listen to you. Fuck, that's dumb. Don't take our word for it. Here's what the customer says, or here's what Gartner says. Are you out of your mind? You're undermining yourself.