What the Olympics Can Teach Us About Business Marketing

Watching the Olympics recently I was struck by how much similarity there is between the Olympics and business marketing.

Athletes like Michael Phelps, Gabrielle Douglas and Ryan Lochte performances are so smooth and powerful, for a moment it becomes simpler, more achievable. The years of hard work, discipline, injuries and endless hours of practice and conditioning slip away and we can almost imagine ourselves accomplishing such feats.

I think the same thing happens with marketing.

Marketing when done well, when it reaches the right audience at the right time, with the right messaging can look a lot like the magic we all witnessed with the recent Olympics.

It looks easy. Simple to do. In fact, it looks like something we can all do.

It’s not that simple. Good things never are.

I know we would all love to have a magic bullet approach that ensures in one act to guarantee overnight a rise from obscurity to outrageous success, but until that pill hits the market…like our Olympian idols we all need to:

  1. Plan.
  2. Work hard every day and put in consistent effort.
  3. Pull in guidance and support when we need it.
  4. Leverage the best tools available to support your performance.
  5. Be aware of your strengths, get help to improve areas of weakness.
  6. Set goals and when you meet them, challenge yourself to do better.

And if you really want to blow them away, employ some of that Olympic spirit and be gracious and appreciative of your team’s, suppliers and competitor’s efforts.  Each and every one of them makes you better!

You have to love the Olympics!

Post written by HRmarketer / SocialEars HR staff member Debbie Imboden

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