There’s no crying in marketing

There’s no crying in marketing
By Josh Anderson
Copywriter | The “Adholics”

Baseball fan or not, by now you’ve undoubtedly heard about the blown call on Monday, June 2 that cost Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga from throwing his first perfect game – which also would’ve been the first ever for the Tigers franchise and only the 20th in Major League Baseball history.

With two outs in the ninth, Cleveland Indian shortstop Jason Donald hit a grounder that was cleanly fielded by the first baseman and tossed to Galarraga for the out. Only umpire Jim Joyce called Donald safe. Replays show the throw beat the runner and that Joyce blew the call. Galarraga proceeded to get the next batter out to end the game with a one-hitter.

“I just cost that kid a perfect game,” Joyce said to the Huffington Post. “I thought he beat the throw. I was convinced he beat the throw, until I saw the replay.”

The fallout has been nothing short of pandemonium. Demands have even been made to reverse the call so Gallaraga could be awarded his perfect game after the face. Fortunately the commissioner of baseball refused to give in to the madness. And Gallaraga was rewarded with a Corvette.

So what does this have to do with marketing?
Like Joyce, marketers make numerous calls on the messages they create and how they deliver them. Consistently making the right ones can lead to years of success for both us and the companies we serve. But what happens when we blow it?

Just ask Joyce who has been a full-time Major League umpire since 1989. Up until Wednesday, perhaps a few die-hard fans knew his name. Today he’s recognized around the country as the screw-up who cheated one pitcher and millions of fans out of their chance at history.

Like Joyce, marketers make their living in a high-risk, high-reward profession. Just when we’re being praised for our brilliance, we’re slapped upside the head with a rolled-up newspaper.

Every mistake we make gets picked apart, though hopefully we’ll never face this same level of scrutiny. But the experience to make the tough decisions, whether it’s creative, strategic or analytic, is why companies hire us. And the good marketers make the right decisions many more times than not.

Making mistakes is part of the game
Hindsight is always 20/20. And it’s easy to forget that in a split second Joyce had to determine that the first baseman fielded the ball, that the pitcher had his foot on first base, that the ball wasn’t juggled on the catch and that the hitter runner beat the throw. In the end he got it wrong, but what he did next made it right.

Joyce admitted his mistake, got up the next morning and came to work, confident in his ability to make all the right calls. (Sure he shed a couple tears, but it’s probably because he didn’t get a Corvette.)

That’s what we do as marketers (admittedly maybe even the crying part). For every 10 decisions we get right, there inevitably will be one that we regret. But we remain brave, steadfast believers in our services and skills. You will never find a marketer shutting the blinds and curling up in the fetal position, unless it’s a brainstorm session.

Owning up and moving on
Being brave also means taking ownership for our mistakes. As professionals, we’re committed to being perfect. But only God is perfect. And though we try, it’s really not fair trying to live up to those expectations.

So we say, “#$%&!.” Work our tails off to make it right. And we all agree to move on. Because tough decisions are written in pen and not pencil, the best we can offer is a do-over.

Mind you this is not an indictment of marketers. Nor is this an admission of guilt. It’s just my attempt to ensure that we all go into this whole creating-killer-marketing-communications-to-help-you-sell-lots-of-product-and-generate-lots-of-revenue endeavor with our eye on the ball.

Mistakes are bound to happen. But there’s something much worse than making the wrong decision. Passing on the chance to hire The “Adholics” so we can provide the perfect marketing solution for your company would be a real goof up.

Make the call. Contact The “Adholics” to learn more about how we can help you get it right.