The Dance Between Efficiency And Effectiveness

Blend in when you need to. Stand out when you have the chance. That seems like good balanced advice for almost any situation, but when it comes to marketing, none of us wants to blend in. Many of us remember back to the mid 1990s when email was the new rage. We would fire up the dial-in 4800 baud modem and wait with great anticipation for……four messages from our good friends. Immediately, most of us would compose long, thought-out responses.

Now, of course, first thing in the morning and many times during the day the anticipation has been replaced by dread of receiving hundreds of messages, both on our computer and our phone…..unwanted spam, forwarded stories and jokes, people asking us to do things we don’t have time or don’t want to do. The more email we get, the less attention we pay to each message. As marketers, how do we stand out when the environment begs us to blend in? Efficiency does not always equate to effectiveness.


According to Malcolm Gladwell, author of “The Tipping Point – How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference,” when people are overwhelmed with information and develop immunity to traditional forms of communication, they turn instead to the people in their lives whom they respect, admire, and trust for advice and information. He labels these effective types of people Mavens, Connectors and Salesmen. Mavens are “information specialists.” They accumulate knowledge about the marketplace and are “almost pathologically helpful” in wanting to solve other people’s problems. Connectors have an extraordinary knack for networking….”a function of something intrinsic to their personality, some combination of curiosity, self-confidence, sociability and energy.” Salesmen are “persuaders; charismatic people with an indefinable trait that makes others want to agree with them.” Gladwell’s research claims that success is heavily dependent on the involvement of individuals with these rare sets of skills.


Helping our clients stand out in a world accustomed to being bombarded with choices for their attention is a challenge the BrightBlue Marketing team enjoys. A group of trusted Mavens, Connectors and Salesmen, BrightBlue can help you achieve both efficiency and effectiveness, placing your message “center stage” and having your clients await with great anticipation of an encore.