A lot of marketing theory has been proven time and time again, and yet many practitioners in professional niche areas (including science and engineering) don’t think it applies to them – that’s all for consumer, mass-market stuff, they say. In reality, the attitude may be more of an excuse not to study such ideas. I’m not suggesting marketing people in professional niche areas are lazy, just that marketing in these areas is rarely given the importance it deserves, and there isn’t enough time for applying such thought.
Take storytelling for brand awareness, for example. Well-marketed brands always have a solid backstory telling us why the product exists and why it’s the hero of the story. For a good brief introduction, read Brand Storytelling And The Hero Of Your Brand on Branding Strategy Insider. And really, there’s no reason why any of us shouldn’t position our company or individual product lines by defining the character we want them to have. Just because your product is only called the XPF/4502J-E45 and does something mundane like attaching one component to another, doesn’t mean it’s trivial. There is a reason your company and its products exist, and positioning them in your own mind, if not your customers’ too, will do you no harm at all.