Industrial Marketing: Doing the Right Things Is Not Enough,
Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2025 4:52 am
You Need to Communicate Them
Marketing 4.0: New Communication Needs for Industries
Fifty years ago, the 1968 Mexico City Olympics were marked by the protest of black athletes against the racial discrimination they suffered in their country. That event remained in history thanks to
an image in which the winner - Tommie Smith, the first man to dip under 20 "in the how overseas chinese contribute to business in the usa 200 meters - and the bronze medalist John Carlos wore black gloves in a firm and proud attitude.
In that image, the white athlete – Australian Peter Norman – appeared distant, awkward even though it was he who had suggested the two black athletes to wear a glove each, after one of them had
forgotten his at the hotel. He also seemed out of place even though the rosette he wore in solidarity with the protest later earned him ostracism from his national federation for all subsequent
editions of the Olympics.
Only years later, at his death, Tommie Smith and John Carlos rehabilitated his memory by carrying his coffin on their shoulders: his position in that distant '68 was clear, but it was not expressed when
it mattered. We owe him admiration and respect, but – on the communication level – we must not follow his example.
What advice can companies take from this story?
That doing the right things is not enough, you also have to let your audience know. And today, thanks to new technologies, it is even easier and more immediate. The important thing is to always have a reference strategy for marketing and communication.
Marketing 4.0: New Communication Needs for Industries
Fifty years ago, the 1968 Mexico City Olympics were marked by the protest of black athletes against the racial discrimination they suffered in their country. That event remained in history thanks to
an image in which the winner - Tommie Smith, the first man to dip under 20 "in the how overseas chinese contribute to business in the usa 200 meters - and the bronze medalist John Carlos wore black gloves in a firm and proud attitude.
In that image, the white athlete – Australian Peter Norman – appeared distant, awkward even though it was he who had suggested the two black athletes to wear a glove each, after one of them had
forgotten his at the hotel. He also seemed out of place even though the rosette he wore in solidarity with the protest later earned him ostracism from his national federation for all subsequent
editions of the Olympics.
Only years later, at his death, Tommie Smith and John Carlos rehabilitated his memory by carrying his coffin on their shoulders: his position in that distant '68 was clear, but it was not expressed when
it mattered. We owe him admiration and respect, but – on the communication level – we must not follow his example.
What advice can companies take from this story?
That doing the right things is not enough, you also have to let your audience know. And today, thanks to new technologies, it is even easier and more immediate. The important thing is to always have a reference strategy for marketing and communication.