The Subjective Quadrant (SQ) for Digital Marketing

A Jobs-to-be-Done lens on evaluating the market of Marketing

Many of you are familiar with the Gartner Magic Quadrant (MQ) which uses a BCG matrix to plot brands along four subjectively defined criteria (such as completeness of vision and ability to execute). I’m sure there is some survey data to back it up. It’s hard to tell when you look at the definitions they provide. Much of the criticism I’ve heard over the years is that these analyses are bought and paid for by the brands you see on the MQ.

But mine is completely different! No one’s paying me!

In my last post - How does the Martech Stack, Stack Up? - I suggested that when you compare marketing technology brands against my framing of the market - marketers trying to develop a qualified lead - marketing technology tends to focus solely on the execution of marketing activities. These normally skew to the communication side of the solution spectrum. In the related podcast, we called it the theater of marketing. It’s the sexy/fun stuff that gets people noticed…until they get replaced.

I also hig…