B2B marketing is usually considered boring.
It is always educative with ‘how to’ articles, research materials and case studies.
It is research-heavy but deprived of stories.
Rajesh Srinivasan, a marketing strategist and author tracked down this hole through a cartoon initiative called ‘Mindful Marketing’.
Let’s hear what he has to say about this initiative.
“While I was deeply passionate about the core principles and ideas of marketing, I found the content in the B2B space is commoditized and needs excitement and energy.'
We cannot deny the fact that B2B content has to be highly researched and thoughtful but it has to slice through the clamor and pass the message in a fresh tone on to the audience.
Then again, I was always ardent about cartoons of RK Lakshman, Tom Fishburne and Scott Adams.
So I thought about emulating them and expressing a different story to my audience.
That’s when I met with Arun Ramkumar, a Chennai-based cartoonist. I had already worked with him on my book launch initiatives. While interacting with him casually, I understood that he is brilliant at converting ideas into cartoons.
I tossed my idea of remaking marketing principles into cartoons to Arun and he instantly agreed to it.
That’s how Mindful marketing cartoon initiative was born.
What is mindful marketing all about?
It is a series of pocket cartoons that apply the lens of humour and sarcasm to amplify the prevalent (mis)practices that hamper organizations in their marketing, sales, branding and other business initiatives.
We used analogies and metaphors in the cartoons and the audience loved them.
Here are the five cartoons (accompanied by the description) that became a sensation on social media and collectively garnered more than 4 million views.
Cartoon – 1
This cartoon examines the three stages of Marketing and how a marketer evolves.
Description
Stage - 1: Teenage Marketing At this stage, the primary focus is on the sexy side of marketing like clicks, likes, views, leads, buzz and hype. Stage - 2: Matured Marketing Revenue becomes the cornerstone at this stage. We begin to think from the long-term perspective, question the vanity metrics and understand the significance of branding. Stage - 3: Enlightened Marketing We are awake and driven by the mission, story, product, experience and community. We realize that all things we have been chasing in stages 1 and 2 can be achieved as a by-product. Buddha said enlightenment means the end of suffering. It's true with business and marketing as well.
Cartoon – 2
This cartoon had a universal appeal since it touched on the essence of marketing and customer-centricity.
Description
Detective agents don't investigate their cases by sitting in their offices. They go to the crime scene to sense the situation and get clues to form their hypothesis. Highly effective marketers get out of the building and operate on the edges. Toyota's Production System calls this principle Genchi Genbutsu. It means going to the real place of action and learning things from the actual source.
Cartoon – 3
In this cartoon, Rajesh used the Ostrich mentality as a metaphor to drive home a point about complacency.
Description
‘We are not in competition with anyone' - this statement may sound confident. However, this might put us in trouble when it comes to business. Why understanding the competition is critical? 1. Customers look for alternatives when they buy something. 2. Deep understanding of the competitive environment help us innovate and devise a better brand differentiation strategy. 3. Competition is not always direct. New technology or evolving customer behaviour could also be a potential threat. We cannot develop a blue ocean unless we know what the red ocean looks like. Also, being pragmatic is more important than being positive.
Cartoon – 4
This cartoon depicts silo-ed thinking in organizations using the blind men and the elephant fable.
Description
As a company grows, the Rashomon effect kicks in. Marketing is defined in significantly different ways by different people (often inconsistent) who were involved. The chief marketer eventually assumes the role of an orchestrator. Unify everyone around the brand's singular vision and growth strategy.
Cartoon – 5
This cartoon is about AI’s intrusion into the marketing function and also turned into a viral phenomenon.
Description
It nearly looks like a large portion of our mundane jobs will be fully taken over by AI. Marketing will be no exception. Already chatbots are replacing humans in pre-sales, customer service and content writing. What are the possibilities and perils of full-fledged AI-driven marketing? How AI will maintain brand identity and consistency when it churns content and creatives at scale?
How sensible robots will be in understanding human emotions and context when it studies data and makes recommendations? What will be the role of humans inside marketing teams when some of our jobs are taken over by AI? If AI helps in scaling things, will humans start doing unscalable and meaningful things like meeting customers and empathetic design?
Behind the scenes
When we asked Rajesh Srinivasan how he rolled out these cartoons every week on Friday during the last year without any break? He says this initiative exemplifies the spirit of collaboration and the process he and Arun set in place.
He gives full credit to Arun Ramkumar, the cartoonist, for giving life to his ideas in the form of cartoons.
He further says, “a lot of our readers while appreciating the cartoons have also been equally curious about this creative collaboration and process. Here is a quick peek into it.
Step 1 : Inception
I come up with an idea/topic, centred around a specific business theme/practice every week and will share it with Arun as a voice note through Whatsapp.
*BONUS TIP*
Case a wide net while trawling for ideas. Pay heed not just to current trends but also to timeless principles that are overlooked in the industry.
Step 2 : Ideation
Arun ideates to define the visual, the characters, the scene and the tone.
*BONUS TIP*
Use fictional storytelling techniques like exaggeration, analogy, and wordplay to amplify the essence of the idea.
Step 3 : Inspection
Rajesh evaluates how the idea has taken shape and gives the go-ahead or offers suggestions to refine
Step 4 : Implementation
Arun puts pen to paper for the agreed-upon idea and the cartoon comes to life to be published each week on Friday.
This cartoon initiative was launched in January 2022 and so far 52 cartoons have been launched in the series. According to Rajesh, some leading book publishers have even approached him to release these cartoons in a photo book format.
Rajesh Srinivasan is a Modern Marketing strategist, author and keynote speaker.
He guides entrepreneurs on crafting successful growth and brand strategies. As a strategy consultant, his deep observation skills and lateral thinking help uncover hidden patterns to unlock innovative solutions for his clients.
As a spouse, he scores brownie points with his wife by accompanying her for shopping, whilst secretly taking notes on market happenings and new trends. Rajesh believes that true marketing breakthroughs happen only when we bridge theoretical concepts with practical life experiences.
To connect with him,
Amazon link to Rajesh’s book Growth Nuggets
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