The Myth of Glamorous Marketing
When most people think of ‘great marketing’, they often picture inspiring campaigns, viral ads and clever taglines. Even marketers are not safe from this trap. We have all spent some (in some cases a lot more) part of our careers dreaming to create the next “Open Happiness” or “Just Do It” - chasing creativity over clarity.
But here’s the truth:
Great marketing often doesn’t look that glamorous.
Great marketing often doesn’t even look like marketing at all!
It’s quiet. It’s repetitive. It’s boring.
And it works.
Marketing as a growth system
Successful marketing isn’t just about communication - it’s about how well it is integrated into the brand’s growth strategy.
It sounds fancy - but it’s actually simple. Integration means - before briefs, budgets or ads, you need to know how the brand grows. Let’s simplify using an example - Eucerin
Eucerin is a science-first skincare brand. Its marketing looks nothing like how people imagine skincare marketing to look like. And that’s because of its growth strategy - which can be summarised as:
Step 1→ Build trust through dermatologists - be obsessively focussed on clinical efficacy and medical endorsement. No flashy ads - just credibility
Step 2→ Controlled distribution - sold through pharmacies and clinics, not mass retail. Prioritising equity over scale
Step 3→ Amplify the equity with advertising - only after establishing trust did the brand venture into advertising through mass media and building a wider distribution and presence. Even as the brand scales, its communication is always anchored in “dermatologist recommended”
Their marketing isn’t loud. It’s on-strategy, medically endorsed, and consistent. And that’s what makes it powerful.
This growth strategy isn't unique to Eucerin. There are a number of other brands across different categories which use this strategy as their growth engine. Check out brands like Enfamil (infant formula), Neurobion (vitamins), Hill’s Pet Nutrition (pet nutrition - and very close to my heart), Royal Canin (pet nutrition).
The Takeaway:
Marketing isn’t magic. It’s a system.
It’s not just about being clever - it’s about being clear.
It’s not just about being loud - but being aligned.
And sometimes, the most effective strategy is the one that looks boring…until it works.
Try this tomorrow:
Audit the brand (or one of the brands) that you work on - and ask:
“Is our marketing 100% aligned with our growth strategy?”
It’s not rocket science. But it is nuanced.
How to do it?
(please treat the questions and prompts are reference examples, and tweak / adapt where you need)
Step 1: Define your brand’s growth strategy
Write one sentence: “How is this brand supposed to grow?”
Examples:
Build trust through experts → then scale with awareness
Drive trial → then build loyalty
Create emotional connection → then expand via word of mouth
Prompts to help you think:
Where will the growth come from? (eg: penetration, premiumisation, frequency)
What are the key levers of business growth? (eg: distribution, awareness, loyalty)
Who drives that growth? (eg: experts, influencers, retailers, users)
What’s the sequence of growth? Start with the first unlock (eg: trust, trial, awareness) and build from there
Step 2: List your current marketing activities
Make a simple list of what you are doing right now.
Example:
Paid social ads
Retail promotions
Expert partnerships
TV campaigns
Email newsletters
Prompts to help you think:
Where are you spending money?
What channels are you using?
What messages are you pushing?
Step 3: Check for alignment
Compare the activities to your growth strategy
Ask:
Are we supporting the first step?
Are we amplifying equity? Or skipping the “building the equity” phase and jumping the gun?
Are we investing in the things that feel good - but don’t move the strategy forward?
Example: if your strategy is “build trust through experts”, but 80% of your investment (and effort) is on mass media - that’s a misalignment. Every time you spot a misalignment, take it to step 4.
Step 4: Realign one thing at a time
The biggest fear that often holds us back from making changes is “what if we change too much and something breaks?”
That’s valid. So don’t change everything in one go. Just realign one thing at a time.
Prompts:
What’s one activity you can pause or pivot?
What’s one activity that better supports your growth strategy?
If “Pause the TV ad, and invest in expert partnerships or clinic engagement” seems too much, then start with “reduce TV ad investment by 5%, and re-plough that towards expert partnerships or clinic engagement”
Be honest - you are not criticizing yourself (or your team), but refining for success. If the answer is a no, or even a maybe, then be brave and go back to the drawing board and make it right. You’ll thank yourself in future.
(If this helped you rethink your brand’s strategy, subscribe and share it with a teammate / friend. And if you’ve seen ‘boring’ marketing that worked brilliantly, reply and tell me. I’d love to feature it)
Forget clever. Build consistent.
Next issue: A deeper dig into the first step of building a marketing strategy ground up - identifying brand growth levers.
