Have you ever been given one of those cube-shaped paper pads, with corporate advertising on the side? They are very convenient, and a clever way to get your name in front of your market. Not too long ago, I was at a trade show where Weight Watchers had a booth. (They were selling their services to the corporate market, which was why I was there too.) I normally don’t engage in conversation with booths that have little relevance to me, but I was blown away by their marketing genius: Along the entire side wall of the booth were those cube-shaped paper pads, stacked from bottom to top. The only difference was they weren’t cube-shaped, they were half height! Can you imagine – paper pads on a diet?

I went up to the person who was in charge, struck a conversation, and mentioned the half-height paper cubes. Their surprising response? “Yeah, we work for such a cheap company – they can’t even afford proper advertising”

Pfffft.

Were the half height paper pads done because of cheapness, or as a clever marketing ruse? It doesn’t matter. To me, the lesson speaks to the need for organization alignment: in this case, between marketing and sales to HR. Strategically, if the people aren’t “onboarded” properly, and if the mission, vision, and values aren’t “living”, then they are dead. And when the marketing folks don’t connect the message of the day to those in the front line? There shouldn’t be a surprise when some other message gets delivered.

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