Seth Godin says that the “new” best way to make an internal sale is to make a video of people on the street talking about your product.  Now while I could poke plenty of holes in the fact that this is not a “new” tactic by any means, I do agree with the basic premise of what Seth is saying.

As a marketer and Brand Manager, you can easily get sucked into an echo chamber.  And from what I have seen, the problem gets amplified in Silicon Valley.  You just assume everyone knows what 3G means or that they guy on the street really cares about your new longer lasting scent (for us CPG marketers).

At P&G, one of the basic principles of the company is that “The Consumer is Boss.”  And building off that, I believe every marketer should keep in mind that they themselves are not the consumer…not even close.  A consumer does not live and breath your product every day.  And while your salary depends on that brand or product, to the consumer it is just another item in their shopping basket.

Sometimes we Brand Managers need to be reminded of that fact.  And Seth is dead-on that video of people on the street is a good way to do it.  For sure it is more effective than a focus group.

Case in point, I bet the Google Chrome Product Team was shocked when they saw this video from NYC.  Watch it for yourself and you’ll see that most people don’t even know what a browser is, much less care about a new one named after a metal.