OPINION The myth of no marketing: Why the product never sells itself

By Laurel Wolfe, VP Marketing at Mambu

The idea of ‘no marketing’ has become popular in recent years, with start-ups and challenger brands looking to make a bold statement on the success of their product. But, in a competitive marketplace, the adage that ‘the product sells itself’ rarely stacks up to scrutiny.

There’s no denying that claims of a ‘no marketing’ strategy make for a nice media soundbite – one that many startup founders have built their brand and reputation upon. But doesn’t that sound a lot like… well, marketing?

There’s more to marketing than you think

The great irony, of course, is that those who lay claim to ‘no marketing’ success often do so against the backdrop of a well-designed pitch deck or website, during a corporate video or in a high-profile media interview.

Modern marketing takes many different forms. It’s true that some startups steer clear of traditional paid advertising in their early days. But most will invest in community building, earned media and PR, content strategy, internal marketing to their employees – even their mission statement and values. It’s all marketing.

As for those who insist it’s all about the product… Well, they’re not wrong. Product has long been one of the four Ps of marketing, a model popularised by Neil Borden back in the 50s. It’s the origination point for all marketing activity and a brand’s raison d’etre. But there’s a reason it’s only one of four elements.

It’s not enough to have a great product anymore. There’s too much choice. Too much competition. Take the fintech space, in which there’s hundreds of vendors clamouring for a share of people’s wallets and attention.

To cut through the noise, you have to sell your vision of what that product can do and how it can change people’s lives. It’s better to get the product 90% of the way and spend your remaining time and resource building demand for it, than trying to perfect something that doesn’t have an audience.

The ‘no marketing’ myth – why do brands do it?

There are two possible explanations. The first is that the people who claim not to market themselves, or their business, don’t understand what marketing is. Or, more commonly, they think it will make their message resonate more strongly with their audience.

In a world of consumerism, where a dozen different brands are all bidding for our attention at any given moment, it’s easy to see how this line of thinking could apply.

For consumer brands, it’s a way of speaking to those disaffected by capitalism. Of saying that we’re not frivolous with our money. And that we invest every dime into our product. For the benefit of you, the consumer.

But make no mistake that, in doing so, they’re making a conscious decision. They’re putting a narrative out into the world that marketing is bad or that they believe this is the view held by their target audience. And they’re using that very narrative as a stealth marketing tactic.

Reframing marketing

Often the people that lay claim to ‘no marketing’ come from technical backgrounds. They start with solving a real-world problem but fall short on selling it to the market. On showing they have momentum and the ‘wind in their sails’. Good things attract more good things, but if you don’t put anything out into the world, then don’t expect anything in return.

In time, even the most hardcore of the ‘no marketing’ brigade come around to the value marketing brings to their business. If they were ever really duped by their own rhetoric in the first place. But it’s a shame that marketing is so often deemed a waste of money in the vital growth stages.

It’s far riskier to put no spending into marketing than it is to invest in building an audience for your product. Let alone demonstrating to investors that you have a proven strategy in place to acquire customers.

By putting back into the market, illustrating a fit for what you’re trying to sell and, most importantly, telling a consistent, credible story, businesses can make people buy into their brand. Not just their product.

The real danger is in viewing marketing as an extra. As a support function or, worse, an afterthought. While some companies won’t get the value of marketing in their early days, it’s something they’ll quickly have to confront in the realities of the market.

Fintech investment in the UK jumped sevenfold last year. And we can expect more record funding rounds and valuations, across sectors, in the months ahead. Only by reframing marketing as fundamental to the future direction of their business can brands truly differentiate themselves.

A business critical investment

To put it simply, it’s time brands stopped the charade of ‘no marketing’. It doesn’t serve them the way they think it does and, in a crowded marketplace, it’ll take a lot more to cut through the competition. Brands should define how they intend to authentically communicate with their customers and community, and finally recognise marketing for what it is – a business-critical investment.

Image: DisobeyArt