ABOUT ROLAND

I’m a Marketing 2.0 consultant experienced in both product and service verticals. I offer expertise working with management teams to develop strategy and manage cross-functional tactical implementation teams. I’ve worked on a wide range of projects from market research to online communications, community management, case study development, events/promotions, public relations, and branding. I also offer a deep understanding of the product/service development process, innovation practices and methods, and community management. You can learn more about me, and read some references on my LinkedIn Profile.

DISCLOSURE: I work with some of the companies I mention in my blog. My comments and opinions are solely my own and do not represent these companies.

ABOUT THE BLOG

Marketing:

I try and be the good kind of marketer, which probably only means something to you if you’re also the good kind of marketer, or if you understand the mess that marketers have gotten themselves into. It goes without saying that many people have had bad experiences with marketing, and people are prone to project that experience onto marketing as a practice. I do that myself sometimes. Some marketers have messed it up for the rest of us, which is pretty ironic considering what marketers should be doing. Which brings me to what good marketers should be doing:

• TELL STORIES WELL: Articulate the value of products and services in an engaging and compelling way. Sounds simple, but not easy. Of course, it helps if you’ve got something with potential to talk about. If the product or service sucks, it’s your job to communicate how and why it fails to the company. Not the most fun part of marketing.
• TALK TO PEOPLE WHO ARE ACTUALLY INTERESTED: Listen to markets, communities, and stakeholders and give them relevant information. Do not force your messages on people. Do not interrupt. Play nice. If you tell stories well to people who care, they will do the rest for you.
• LISTEN & EMPATHIZE: Advocate for the end user, customer, client, or person on the receiving end of the business. Brands are something that your customers, clients, and users own. Companies are  brand stewards. The marketers are the channel between the stewards and the owners.
• STRATEGIZE & IMPLEMENT: Develop a plan for how to build trust through positive interactions over time and within resource constraints, that strategy. Build the tools and systems that enable all of the above to take place, that the tactical implimentation.

Culture:

So, I used to be an artist and a curator. Before that I earned a degree in Art History, and then a degree in Fine Arts. The Art History degree was really about the history of Art History, and how museums and galleries came to be. The Fine Arts degree was really about design. Therefore, I tend to look at things through the lens of the arts … and it seems like many of the most interesting design ideas just bubble on up from there.  You can find some pages on this site about the artwork I’ve made, and about the shows I’ve curated.

Smart Design

I have a particular way of doing things. Maybe we all do, but since my last name is Smart, I call my way of doing things The Smart Method. Actually, someone else called it that and it stuck. Let me also point out that when I screw something up, friends have made a habit of asking me if I was correctly applying The Smart Method. They think they’re being funny when they do this. Smart Designs, are merely designs that are compatible with The Smart Method.