My goals in redesigning the indepth-marketing.com blog were:
When I started redesigning the indepth-marketing blog I wanted to start thinking from scratch about what it means to publish an article online. I also tried to remember why I liked reading print articles. This resulted in a less standard site structure for a blog.
1) The article is always central (no matter where you are in the site).
2) The three column layout with the 14pt font size resembles the feel of print layout. Larger fonts are easier to read, but also would mean scrolling more, smaller fonts would be a bit small for screens.
3) Blogs are traditionally published in a vertical grid layout. I wanted an always visible, horizontal draggable article menu (for people reading on tablets).
4) I wanted a consistent and clean look.
The result:
The indepth-marketing blog / website layout
The "Show/hide guides" buttons makes handwritten guides appear
misc. branding materials
The advertisement poster for indepth-marketing
The copywriting:
Many marketers call themselves ‘creatives’.
Albert Einstein once said that “creativity is intelligence having fun”. If that’s true than allow me to ask all marketing creatives; how intelligent is your marketing brain? In this fast paced and information-rich world, do you actually think about ‘the right marketing strategies’ just as long as you have spent looking for them? Have you ever wondered what the intellectual side of marketing looks like?
I think the answer to this question is unquestionably not about ‘better’ or ‘smarter’ marketing. It’s about discussing topics and questions for which there are no easy black and white answers. About topics and questions that require active and reflective thinking. Issues and contentions with large grey areas. Sometimes involving disciplines like philosophy, history, ethics, strategic thinking or even statistics and mathematics, all which are considered to be intellectually demanding activities. That’s what we mean when we explore the intellectual side of marketing.
This is in short the type of free content that
indepth-marketing.com attempts to offer.
The problem is that black and white thinking often reflects an underlying reluctance or refusal to deal with the uncertainty that result from complexity and an absence of definite answers. Leaping marketers to flawed conclusions because they can’t tolerate the ambiguity of not knowing. It’s not about truth or curiosity, but about comfort. The intellectual marketer however can handle uncertainty and prefers to be aware of their areas of ignorance.
The bulk of marketing publications are predominantly focused on opinions stated by marketing trainers, scholars, guru’s and authors and particularly on ‘what to do’ in marketing.
At indepth-marketing.com we look at marketing with reflective skepticism focused on deciding what to believe first.
It’s where we ask ourselves: What is fact and what is opinion in marketing? Where do widely accepted marketing ‘facts’ come from? What cause and effect relationships are proposed? Witch faulty generalizations are there in the field of marketing? Witch issues are oversimplified?
Indepth-marketing.com aims at challenging the way you do marketing by challenging the way you think about marketing. Many marketers are highly addicted to easy answers. Because of this, many marketing opinions tend to go around as marketing facts. This in turn has an influence on the blind acceptance of marketing ideas, beliefs and strategies and especially on blind imitation. On the other hand, if you think you are highly analytical and also stubborn enough to deduce that this does not apply to you, then perhaps you will find a like-minded content provider at indepth-marketing.com where you will feel right at home.
As a marketing creative, your assumptions are your windows on the world. As Isaac Asimov once said “Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in”.
Our articles can be long and challenging. And yes, at indepth-marketing you’d have to read something longer than 140 characters for a change. But you get high standards and clear takeaways in return. You see, we’d rather be considered opinionated and difficult with high standards, than be considered indifferent and easy with low standards. At indepth-marketing we ask ourselves: “what will be a good read for marketers, not only tomorrow, but even 50 years from now?” So there are no quick tips or 7 secrets to success to be found. But you will always find a writer going out on a limb to offer indepth explorations into core beliefs and ideas about this beautiful craft and phenomenon called marketing.
If you’d like to read our articles for free, than please grab yourself something to drink and go to
www.indepth-marketing.com.
