In my post yesterday, Take the Test – Are You Left-Brained or Right-Brained, I asserted that marketers
generally fall into two categories: creative, right-brained marketers or analytical, left-brained marketers. Today, I’m going to elaborate on that theory by saying that marketers can also be broken down in a similar manner as pragmatic marketers vs. idealistic marketers.
Often throughout my corporate career, I would say, “there are do-ers and there are thinkers.” While I think most people carry some pragmatic and some idealistic traits in terms of their marketing styles and careers, I think that marketers generally lean in one direction or the other.
I fall into the do-er, pragmatic category, although as I get older, I have become more of a thinker. I recall one of my boss’s, who was an extreme idealist/visionary/thinker marketer, telling me I was too negative when we would discuss a new initiative. He (as an idealist marketer) erroneously saw my pragmatism as negativity.
My first reaction is always to look at the practical side of a new marketing or business initiative. It’s not meant to be negative. I just instantly connect the dots and think of the various impacts, players and potential obstacles a new initiative brings with it. I don’t think how wonderful a new initiative sounds the first instant I hear of it. Instead, I think of how to get it done and make it successful. It’s the pragmatist in me.
While my boss told me I was negative, I thought that as an idealist/thinker marketer he looked at new initiatives through rose-colored glasses ignoring the execution for the prestige of the final deliverable.
Which is better, a pragmatic, realistic marketer or an idealistic, visionary marketer?
I don’t think either is better. I think they’re both essential to building a strong marketing team just as incorporating right-brained and left-brained thinkers into a marketing team is important. By mixing these different ways of thinking and working, a marketing team will be well-balanced and ultimately capable of creating the best outputs. However, it’s important for the team’s leadership to understand those differences in thinking and work to make the team members blend cohesively. No one way is the right way, but together they can make a powerful team.
Which are you — a pragmatic marketer or an idealistic marketer? Or do you think you’re one of the rare few who can maintain an internal balance between the two ways of thinking and working?
I should mention that while I think I’m a pragmatic marketer, I also think I’m right-brained, which is said to be the more creative side. Does that mean I have a split personality or does it mean I have a good balance of thinking and working styles? I wonder.
Susan Gunelius
Susan Gunelius is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc. and Founder & Editor in Chief of an award-winning blog, WomenOnBusiness.com. She is a 25-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored 10 books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing.
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