An old Dilbert cartoon shows the head of PR telling Dogbert, the head of marketing, that marketing’s claim that the business’s product can turn water into gasoline in addition to re-animating the dead cannot be justified. Dogbert’s response is, “Are you asking me to do a lousy job of marketing just so your job is easier?”

As retailers struggle to attract new customers and drive more traffic, there is a strong temptation to make the store seem bigger than life. Marketing does need to push the envelope without, of course, stepping over the line into improbability.

This article is about how the marketing program can establish goals and direction for the store. It certainly can’t empower a business to raise the dead, but if the marketing image is impressive while remaining plausible, the challenge for the company is to reach that higher level.

If the marketing is not pushing you to be better than you are, get a new marketing approach! If the organization is not striving to be all that marketing promises, drastic management changes are needed!

How often have you gathered the staff to read your own advertisements and review your own marketing? How often have the members of your staff discussed how they can actually be the store in that impressive marketing piece? Get your people engaged so they believe, enhance and make the marketing message a reality. Everyone needs to “own” the image that your business portrays in your marketing. If everyone is part of its creation, each person believes the quality of the company and the importance of his/her job to better the shopping experience.

How can you tell if your marketing program is a success? The personnel improve the quality that defines the company while the ultimate indication is the increased repeat business!