The Difference Between Zebras and Horses

Do you know what is Product Marketing and what is Marketing? I’m confused. I personally can’t but I know that most people I have met who claim there is a difference will not be able to explain what that difference is unless they see the two and so thought of things here we go.

In some way I have worked in the same area of study that I undertook immediately after High School where I did a Bachelor of Business with Major in Marketing and Finance Minor. Initially, I wished to pursue the Applied Science in Geography but then there was a wise person who suggested that it would be better doing a course that is more likely to be taken by anyone in case the Hutchinson grew to dislike it in the end.

This was in Australia where degrees in Philosophy, Politics, Literature are things to study when you retire or if you don’t need a job. At this my Dad exclaimed, ‘look in the paper son, how many jobs are there for philosophers?’ So back to Horses and Zebras.

Here are 3 ways of telling a Zebra from a Horse:

• It is difficult to overlook the fact that all the Zebra’s have stripes at first glance. It’s not even necessary to scrutinize a Brand to realize there’s definitely one sound, reputable product or service at its core. I could not have provided you with any example since by now you should be asking yourself the question and hence the relation between Product and Brand should be clear to you. When I was heading the Marketing department at Barnardos Australia it was all about helping kids. When I was at American Express it was all about making the world’s best payment cards and at Santander it was all about making the most of the great gains they had gained through their 1–2–3 Current/ Checking Account. And at Equifax where I work now it’s the place to go for data and insights if you are a lending business or when there is doubt is someone’s identity. So always look out for the Product otherwise like Kodak, Blockbuster, Blackberry, My Space, Yahoo…the list goes on. Hopefully you can make the correlation?

• Zebra’s can’t be tamed. People understand horses, like them as pets and therefore it is not a mere coincidence that humans and horses have been closely working side by side for thousands of years in field and on the battlefields. Zebra on the other hand do not like our company at all The diagonal mean resonance frequency of a cylindrical shell[12] Note: The data presented in the table was obtained from the literature survey Vibrations and Shock, Vol 17, NO. Also, Products are more raw like Zebars and thus one can pick them out from the rest of the other products. We are equally ignorant about them but they are necessary in the gene pool like any other diversity. We are unsure how they will respond and if we will ever get them to work in a fashion that is satisfactory, they are un newbie, un experimented on but oh! We love them so!!! I will discuss Unicorns in another blog of mine. Back to Zebras. The reason being we do not like to study Zebras because they are always violent, and unpredictable. Where for Brands like Horses they are much easier to observe and understand more about. But in practice, Products have to be studied more as it is through this process that the Brand gets built up. Don’t get me wrong. Well, Brand like any good business Culture require commitment but my argument here is that it should not be done to the detriment of Product.

• Zebra’s don’t like horses. I only recently noticed that there is a very heated rivalry between Software Engineers and Data Scientists when it comes to the design of algorithms that I may discuss in another blog. Likewise, there are some people that find themselves involved in arguing the Pantone colour in a second tier colour palette in a Brand source book for weeks and they feel that is something very important than segmenting to Google Ad Words or Facebook in anticipation of a new segment test. As to the occupational niches There are places for all kinds of people but still there are differences. But who is i taking taking care of the Zebras?

Conclusion

Well, in an attempt to understand what that means and where the various aspects that make up a ‘person’ differ, where am I now? As much as I agree with the opening statement, I believe there’s more resemblance than difference of how people differentiate between Product Marketing and Marketing. We’re all animals right? I would label myself as a Product Marketer before a Brand or even a general Marketer; the exercise and logic involved in marketing and human behavior is something that has not ceased to interest me before and even now.