Via LinkedIn today, I was chuffed to receive a connection invitation from a celebrity of the marketing world. If marketing professionals had a Hollywood Boulevard style walk of fame, Mark Ritson would have a star-emblazoned-slab of his own alongside other notable gurus such as Drayton Bird, Philip Kotler and Sir Martin Sorrell.
Ritson is an award-winning columnist in Marketing Week, a marketing professor at Melbourne Business School and he has worked on/with/for some of the world’s best known, most desirable brands. He is my age, has a thing for marketing and enjoys writing but that’s about all that would label us as homogeneous in any segmentation type exercise. To use a simile, Ritson is like a premier league football star…compared to my Sunday League status (as a substitute).
Though I am keen not to sound too sycophantic (and I might fail here), I habitually read Ritson’s column in Marketing Week, have occasionally left my comments on his articles, follow him on Twitter and have put links to his materials on my website to encourage others to take an interest in his written work.
So, I have to admit that getting an invitation to connect was really rather cool.
I don’t suppose for a moment that Mark actually singled me out for contact, the most likely scenario is that he has worked with LinkedIn to identify whole swathes of marketing folk that might value exposure to the Ritson Church of Marketing – for he is an evangelist. And what value has a preacher without his flock?
But if he follows me on Twitter, I'll re-evaluate.
Now an approach from Ritson isn’t as exciting as contact from Ian Kilmister, Bruce Dickinson, Jeremy Clarkson or Nigella Lawson would be, but the LI request was enough to make my day.
Does that mean that I am sycophantic and sad?
I am not sure, so I’ll quit while I am behind.
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Ritson is an award-winning columnist in Marketing Week, a marketing professor at Melbourne Business School and he has worked on/with/for some of the world’s best known, most desirable brands. He is my age, has a thing for marketing and enjoys writing but that’s about all that would label us as homogeneous in any segmentation type exercise. To use a simile, Ritson is like a premier league football star…compared to my Sunday League status (as a substitute).
Though I am keen not to sound too sycophantic (and I might fail here), I habitually read Ritson’s column in Marketing Week, have occasionally left my comments on his articles, follow him on Twitter and have put links to his materials on my website to encourage others to take an interest in his written work.
So, I have to admit that getting an invitation to connect was really rather cool.
I don’t suppose for a moment that Mark actually singled me out for contact, the most likely scenario is that he has worked with LinkedIn to identify whole swathes of marketing folk that might value exposure to the Ritson Church of Marketing – for he is an evangelist. And what value has a preacher without his flock?
But if he follows me on Twitter, I'll re-evaluate.
Now an approach from Ritson isn’t as exciting as contact from Ian Kilmister, Bruce Dickinson, Jeremy Clarkson or Nigella Lawson would be, but the LI request was enough to make my day.
Does that mean that I am sycophantic and sad?
I am not sure, so I’ll quit while I am behind.
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