In the kitchen
Hello, my name is Sabine Muller-Glissmann.
On paper, I'm an integrated marketing communication specialist with over 30 years experience developing, delivering and evaluating brands and marketing communication strategies for some big and small names in private, public and not-for-profit sectors.
Today, I work with business owners and operators facing challenges such as strategic inefficiency, organisational change, market shifts, competitive environments and high consumer & community expectations.
I'm also an unashamed channel geek which means I'm insatiably-curious about how we humans connect with each other, what motivates us to connect and how we behave when we are connected.
Here are some of the organisations I've worked for and, if you scroll a little further, an answer to the question I'm asked the most: What's with all the pies?
On paper, I'm an integrated marketing communication specialist with over 30 years experience developing, delivering and evaluating brands and marketing communication strategies for some big and small names in private, public and not-for-profit sectors.
Today, I work with business owners and operators facing challenges such as strategic inefficiency, organisational change, market shifts, competitive environments and high consumer & community expectations.
I'm also an unashamed channel geek which means I'm insatiably-curious about how we humans connect with each other, what motivates us to connect and how we behave when we are connected.
Here are some of the organisations I've worked for and, if you scroll a little further, an answer to the question I'm asked the most: What's with all the pies?
What's with all the pies, Batman and the retro images?
The pie is a great symbol for how many different things can work together to create something powerful
Like baking a pie, strategic storytelling is as much science as it is art and instinct. The first stories I really engaged with were in books and then on radio (in the kitchen with my Grandmother, baking and listening to morning serials) and television (which seemed to instantly connect me with the world ... and Molly Meldrum and Countdown). My love affair with storytelling took a big leap with my first foray into email thanks to my then employer's own internal global system (one of the first in the world) and then the big Kahuna - the world wide web - which set me free to surf endless breaks and connect with people's stories from all around the globe.
"Holy molars Batman! I'm glad I brush my teeth!"
Sweet innocence. Simple truths. Good guys. Bad guys. Lessons to be learned for kiddies around the world. The 1960s TV series Batman offered us all this punctuated with graphic action and Robin's exclamations of earnest conviction to make sure we received those key messages.
The 50s and 60s (even the 70s) were a golden era for advertisers and marketers.
During those times, our community of practice was suffused by wonder, inspiration, innovation, mad men and women, and an explosion of new technologies, similar to today. This excitement encompassed not only marketers and advertisers, but also consumers. I wanted to remind us of the spirit of those times because I believe we are in another golden era where accessible, digital channels bring marketing communication professionals and consumers together again in a world of potential for co-design, creativity and, above all, mutually-satisfying efficiencies and exchanges.
Like baking a pie, strategic storytelling is as much science as it is art and instinct. The first stories I really engaged with were in books and then on radio (in the kitchen with my Grandmother, baking and listening to morning serials) and television (which seemed to instantly connect me with the world ... and Molly Meldrum and Countdown). My love affair with storytelling took a big leap with my first foray into email thanks to my then employer's own internal global system (one of the first in the world) and then the big Kahuna - the world wide web - which set me free to surf endless breaks and connect with people's stories from all around the globe.
"Holy molars Batman! I'm glad I brush my teeth!"
Sweet innocence. Simple truths. Good guys. Bad guys. Lessons to be learned for kiddies around the world. The 1960s TV series Batman offered us all this punctuated with graphic action and Robin's exclamations of earnest conviction to make sure we received those key messages.
The 50s and 60s (even the 70s) were a golden era for advertisers and marketers.
During those times, our community of practice was suffused by wonder, inspiration, innovation, mad men and women, and an explosion of new technologies, similar to today. This excitement encompassed not only marketers and advertisers, but also consumers. I wanted to remind us of the spirit of those times because I believe we are in another golden era where accessible, digital channels bring marketing communication professionals and consumers together again in a world of potential for co-design, creativity and, above all, mutually-satisfying efficiencies and exchanges.
What do marketing communication professionals and business owners have in common?
They're busy!
Thanks to the explosion of channels and significant social change, we are working in what is arguably the most exciting environment for anyone who is passionate about creating things, sharing knowledge, communicating and exchanging.
But it's challenging.
There are now more ways to connect with people then ever before. This has created more ways people can control what reaches them and avoid what they don’t want. We are simultaneously getting closer to people around the world and fragmenting into micro communities and tribes. A campaign we have invested money and time into can get less attention then a 15-year old kid having fun on YouTube. It's a lot to stay on top of and marketers, communicators and business owners are understandably struggling.
Added to that are consumers' expectations and perceptions. Everyone is suddenly a marking communication expert. In one way it's true: we all use marketing communication channels in our everyday life; we know how they work. However, the evidence-based science of marketing communication has become a little lost in opinion driven by personal experience and preferences. As a result, professionals are spending valuable time having to educate their clients, before the work can even begin their work. In worst case scenarios, clients hang on to their own opinion and the resulting compromises can lead to bland, mediocre, ineffective work.
Finally, gone are the days when there were many specialists employed to undertake the different stages of the marketing communication process, from research and planning to delivery and evaluation. Today, anyone wanting to market or communicate must wear many hats. To do their jobs, they have to be:
Thanks to the explosion of channels and significant social change, we are working in what is arguably the most exciting environment for anyone who is passionate about creating things, sharing knowledge, communicating and exchanging.
But it's challenging.
There are now more ways to connect with people then ever before. This has created more ways people can control what reaches them and avoid what they don’t want. We are simultaneously getting closer to people around the world and fragmenting into micro communities and tribes. A campaign we have invested money and time into can get less attention then a 15-year old kid having fun on YouTube. It's a lot to stay on top of and marketers, communicators and business owners are understandably struggling.
Added to that are consumers' expectations and perceptions. Everyone is suddenly a marking communication expert. In one way it's true: we all use marketing communication channels in our everyday life; we know how they work. However, the evidence-based science of marketing communication has become a little lost in opinion driven by personal experience and preferences. As a result, professionals are spending valuable time having to educate their clients, before the work can even begin their work. In worst case scenarios, clients hang on to their own opinion and the resulting compromises can lead to bland, mediocre, ineffective work.
Finally, gone are the days when there were many specialists employed to undertake the different stages of the marketing communication process, from research and planning to delivery and evaluation. Today, anyone wanting to market or communicate must wear many hats. To do their jobs, they have to be:
- business strategists
- research experts
- behavioural psychologists
- consumer advocates
- architects
- engineers
- explorers
- navigators
- curators
- designers
- project managers
- production co-ordinators
- IT gurus
- multilinguists
- data scientists
"Sabine offers a great service for a small business with no time to spare and no marketing experience.
"We were told it would cost a few thousand bucks to get a website up.
"Sabine came in and showed us it would be much more effective and efficient to use our Facebook page and Google Plus to their full potential.
"She taught us how, did a marketing audit and plan for us, helped us with signage, was always available to answer questions, showed us new opportunities, gave us confidence, made it all simple and put it in language we could understand … and all for only about 15% of what we were told it would cost.
"Great value for money. Our Facebook page is humming. Would recommend her service to any small business operator."
Taylor's Motorcycle Services, Bathurst, NSW.
"Sabine came in and showed us it would be much more effective and efficient to use our Facebook page and Google Plus to their full potential.
"She taught us how, did a marketing audit and plan for us, helped us with signage, was always available to answer questions, showed us new opportunities, gave us confidence, made it all simple and put it in language we could understand … and all for only about 15% of what we were told it would cost.
"Great value for money. Our Facebook page is humming. Would recommend her service to any small business operator."
Taylor's Motorcycle Services, Bathurst, NSW.
Shift happens.
There's no doubt our current environment is challenging, but it is also bursting with opportunities. If there's a consumer revolution going on (and believe me there is) then marketing communication professionals and small business owners have to start thinking in a revolutionary way. We live and work in a knowledge economy and this is the heartland for anyone passionate about communicating and marketing.
"Behaviour is the mirror in which everyone shows their true image." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
With the explosion of channels, particularly social media, and channel monitoring services, there are many ways we can gain now insight into human behaviour. This is a priceless gift for marketing communication professionals to inform thinking, analysis and decision making.
But how do we sort through the glut of information and insights out there to get reliable evidence?
A good start is to ditch the old survey tools and start observing how people use your channels and interact with you ... experience what they experience ... and dip a toe into all the behaviourial thinking going on around the world like the Harvard Kennedy School's BIG thinking and research
"Behaviour is the mirror in which everyone shows their true image." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
With the explosion of channels, particularly social media, and channel monitoring services, there are many ways we can gain now insight into human behaviour. This is a priceless gift for marketing communication professionals to inform thinking, analysis and decision making.
But how do we sort through the glut of information and insights out there to get reliable evidence?
A good start is to ditch the old survey tools and start observing how people use your channels and interact with you ... experience what they experience ... and dip a toe into all the behaviourial thinking going on around the world like the Harvard Kennedy School's BIG thinking and research