Greetings and Salutations, Marketing Fans…

My name is Jared Degnan and I am a 28 year-old marketing MBA at Vanderbilt University.  Not that really means too much to most of the blog-reading public. That’s who I am, though and it makes sense to start something like this off with an introduction.

For a while now, I’ve been blogging here at marketingdiner.com with the intention of making something interesting out of my thoughts on marketing and commerce. Unfortunately, in my zeal to maintain some sort of professional demeanor to the blog, it has become more a repository for eloquent, yet-unrelated ramblings.

The problem is, like so many other marketers, my decisions were governed more by my ego rather than my desire to create fantastic content that could move the blog forward.

Instead of writing things that inspired me like I did on my last blog 20somethingmarketing.com, I wrote to satisfy my own need to look impressive in front of any recruiters.  After all, the ultimate job of an MBA student is to get hired.

If I produced great content that took too many risks, I would have defeated that purpose.  The fact is though that in my attempt to play it safe, I succumb to the worst possible failure in marketing: failing to live up to my own tagline.

So here I am, at the intersection of one of those really interesting life moments, deciding where I want to go.  After 17 months of business school, I know I can’t go back and since I still don’t yet have a job, I am really not sure what my destination is moving forward.

I do know that something’s happening though. A change is moving through the field of marketing affecting everything from the way we hunt for jobs to the way we move into general leadership positions.  Some might say these changes are just a matter of technology; that the Internet is rendering “traditional marketing,” obsolete.  That’s certainly a part of it but that is in no way the root cause.

The change is more fundamental.  It’s about the evolution of the arena and a higher standard of accountability; not just for our creative applications but also in the role we play within commerce itself.
For instance, consumers no longer view brands as decision-making tools.  They’re increasingly becoming a sense of identity.  The prevalence of online communities is a testament to the fact that this is not a trend that is going to go away, easily.

Some might argue that marketing is replacing culture and that instead of art the populous craves ads to draw inspiration from.  This might well yet be true and, if so, it means that we have a lot more responsibly than we could ever have imagined.

Whatever the causes, whatever the cultural history that has brought us to this point – the point is that marketers have more options, more channels, and more potential ways to touch people than ever before in history.

The challenge is how do you step up to this new reality and move businesses forward in a way that is both sustainable and respectful? The challenge, like any other time power has been up for grabs in history, is how do you learn to avoid pitfalls from those who have failed and build something that lasts.  How do you learn to feed your brand, not your ego?

That’s the question that’s led me to business school and ultimately the question that has led me start this blog.  I wanted to create the intellectual equivalent of a roadside diner where I could talk shop with my marketing friends about the challenges inherent in the profession and how you succeed without giving up your principles.

The point is that none of us, alone have the answers. The more we talk both about the good and the bad though, the better off we are.

When I played it safe on the blog, I forgot about the entire point of commerce and of learning – to learn something, you have to risk something. Over the next chapters, I hope to change that by opening up discussions on everything from ROI in marketing to challenging the “wisdom of our elders.”  The point isn’t to stir up controversy, but to prompt discussion.

I hope you’ll spend some time to comment on the posts when you have an idea that you think ads to the discussion. Either way, this is my view of things and, most likely, it’s yours as well.

Enjoy the ride.