Marketing moves beyond the superficial when selling ideas over iPhones.

Amanda Barthel
Feb 2, 2023
5 min read

While this may not be news to some, the business of marketing is everywhere, including the public sector. This unique sector of marketing tackles the tough sells. They don’t sell products or services, instead they sell ideas.

This blog post was written for a marketing seminar class at George Brown College and originally published on my website www.rightinthatmiddle.com

Marketing is everywhere.

Including the government.

Recently, I had the privilege of meeting Caroline Berryman, Manager Communications, Community Engagement & Marketing, York Region, during my digital marketing seminar class. During her guest lecture, she highlighted many different areas of the industry and how it differs from typical private sector work.

We sell more than just products

It’s hard to sell ideas. People don’t always want to buy ideas. Many, I am sure, would rather prefer tangible food or housing security over ideas. At the same time, many ideas, like supporting food and housing security, start in the public sector.

Now, what piqued my interest, was the idea of selling ideas.

By and large, I made my way into the marketing industry through an intense need to figure out how to sell ideas. Ideas and stories. I had no idea how to market the unmarketable. That idea puzzled me greatly.

At the time, I hadn’t considered who was in the business of selling ideas. Perhaps this was the arrogant millennial in me, but I was convinced that the ideas that I wanted to sell hadn’t been sold yet so, ‘no one would understand my creative ideas.’ Little did I know I was already witness to countless campaigns around ideas.

Do you remember Mother’s Against Drunk Driving?

There are many different campaigns that run constantly throughout the years that focus on idea driven objectives. Reflecting on that Idea, I realize that there have been many memorable campaigns throughout my life that featured ideas and not products. MADD was everywhere, but so too were anti-smoking campaigns. And there is nothing more memorable than the advertisements from the non-profit Concerned Children’s Advertisers. When I really thought about it, there were many ideas-based campaigns.

Where can marketing have a great impact

Learning about the nuances of idea-based campaigns, I was curious to understand the impacts of public sector work in comparison to private sector work. I understood the impact of selling ideas over products, but I wanted to get a better read on the impacts of moving from one area to the next. Caroline’s response was honest and descriptive. While the differences were substantial, it didn’t undercut the value of working in both sectors. The private sector runs on a different wavelength, and a different budget. With private money comes swift decision-making and larger room for market driven independence and creativity. In contrast, public money means a longer process for approval and more restricted budgets. After hearing her response, I am sure there were some who took that into consideration, Caroline was quick to point out that despite the differences, there is not one that is inherently better than the other.

Both reflections were truthful and gave much to consider, as someone with a passion for understanding and working for people, I am deeply curious about the possibility of working in a public sector role for the impact it could have on the public at large.

Working in this industry is not easy

Listening to our guest lecturer, it is clear that marketing is a fast adapting industry full of challenges and opportunities. With things changing rapidly it can be difficult for anyone to keep pace with the market developments in their full capacity.

At the same time, it is hard to avoid the pressure and encouragement from people throughout the industry to stay up to date and relevant with the times.

Also don’t forget to breath.

With everything that happens and changes it can be difficult to keep up with the Kard- I mean Jones. Staying relevant is important while it is also important to create memorable experiences for audiences and embrace data to drive decisions. Opportunities to gain experience skills are ready and available thanks to accessible training options provided by platforms like Google and LinkedIn.

Finding opportunities to create new moments as a marketer can be challenging, but easily accomplished by learning how to multitask and stay informed.

Getting down to business

Collaborating with other classmates on the case study brought great insight into possibilities around driving interest and support for York Region’s Garden Naming Contest. After discussing many ideas throughout the virtual call, we were able to pivot and provide a fresh approach to the whole campaign.

Earlier in the presentation, Caroline made it clear that storytelling was a vital skill in marketing. With that consideration in mind, we decided to separate out the campaign based on major story telling events. We had a clear purpose.

In our beginning we focused on the origins of a garden. How does it begin? What tools do you need to make it successful? We thought what better way to drive excitement and curiosity than by focusing on telling the story of the garden’s origins. It is here we would share videos of the garden and how we take care of the garden. Create anticipation and interest through a slow build of life in the garden.

From that beginning we were able to give our middle focus. With a contest on the way, it is time to focus on sneak peaks and specific teases to the garden and what to expect upon arrival. Take that curiosity and turn it into excitement.

After that middle it is straight to the finale, time for the community to shine. Creating direct posts about the garden and what to expect alongside QR codes can integrate the digital into the physical. And the simplicity of a QR code can be shared widely, including directly in the community at places like community centres and libraries. By providing accessibility it will be easier to create more interest in being a part of the event.

Making that next step

After learning from Caroline and discussing ideas with my classmates, it is clear to me that the public sector is an interesting avenue of marketing that I will be curious to learn more about. As an enthusiastic communicator of history and politics with a love for storytelling, I connected deeply with the experiences and ideas that were shared in this lecture. Taking those ideas into consideration and moving forward has given me the opportunity to consider this area of marketing in a great way.

Connecting with more people from the public sector, in addition to going to networking events and showcasing your interest in public sector ideas are just some of the many ways I will consider as I venture farther down my career in this industry. I look forward to learning more from people in this industry who are willing to share and collaborate with fresh marketers such as myself!

Have you ever given much consideration to the marketing of ideas? What do you think about that practice?