The Nuts & Bolts of Upstream & Downstream Marketers
Marketing is a like a river. The river is swift, moving, and ever changing. Like our markets. The marketers are the keen fishermen that purposefully craft strategic and operational activities to research, identify, create, launch, promote, and sustain longevity. Like fishing, marketing activities can be broken down to upstream and downstream. The remainder of this post will discuss each and serve to aid you in crafting your upstream and downstream marketing actions within your firm.
Upstream. Is the market as it is before you enter it. It is beautiful to observe, explore, and analyze. As with fishing, you research and learn more about the river, i.e. the market. Doing so, helps you to evaluate your market, segment your market, position to your market, and get your gear
Downstream. Is all of the activities that you need to do to enter the market or within the context of fishing, all the steps and actions that you need to do to get your cast where you want it on the river with the objective of catching the fish that you’ve set your gear to catch. Whereas. upstream is more along the scope of planning, downstream entails the doing of that planning. So, when it comes to marketing, downstream is all of the activities and/or teams required to produce, distribute, promote, and establish meaningful relationships or brand value. Here, you’re in the river, your cast may even be floating along the casts of other comp
As with fishing, one should avoid getting caught up too much in one of these areas to the point that it interferes or limits the overall productivity. Which calls to address the importance of balance and proactive involvement of up and downstream activities. As rivers change, so do markets. Likewise the strategies to enter, compete, and grow change. Perhaps, some bait for thought, is to think about the balance between your upstream and downstream activities. Would you say that you’re activities are balanced, reviewed, and updated accordingly? Is one side focused more than the other? How do you think that may be impacting your overall market strategy?
Happy Fishing!!!
I leave you with a wonderful quote to ponder…
“To him, all good things – trout as well as eternal salvation- come by grace, and grace comes by art, and art does not come easy.”
~ Norman Maclean from the book “A River Runs Through It”
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by Katie Doseck, Ph.D.
Chief Visionary and Strategic Ace Up Your Sleeve | Viral Solutions LLC