This is the most information-rich, creatively prolific period in human history. There are more people online with more access points and they have big ideas — ideas that are changing the world.
Marketers have to constantly reinvent the message with an ever-greater focus on authentic brand experiences because without that degree authenticity their brand is just another package on the shelf. That’s why the most exciting marketers are blending creativity and technology in new ways to cultivate experiences that truly resonate with consumers.
Innovative marketing requires vision and an appetite for risk. Today’s ace marketers aren’t just shoving commercials into the cluttered breaks of popular TV events; they’re taking full advantage of the possibilities in experiential marketing, digital media, and interactive experiences.
Organizational fear drives a lack of discipline, and when marketers act fearfully they play it safe. Safe isn’t scrutiny, it isn’t diligence — it’s a lack of imagination. It’s the tendency to lather, rinse, and repeat, and it creates a lack of disciple through laziness.
The Landscape of Fear
CMOs and marketers have more tools to measure data, diminish risk, understand return, and create experiences than ever before. There’s no room for the comfort of playing it safe in a successful marketing strategy. Marketers need to utilize the tools at their disposal, and still have the gall to be original.
When companies refuse to be original, however, they risk diminishing the innovation quotient. There’s nothing quite like the rush of an email that offers a discounted rate on a rental car when the customer does not plan to travel. It tells them that this is a disconnected company in a connected world. There is no insight into the information the consumer shares.
The marketer may know it’s time to dust off the email machine, but without using existing platforms and a wide range of APIs, the moment of consideration is not effective or lucrative, but instead a swift click of “delete.”
Avoiding risk also wastes money. Marketing isn’t cheap, so a company can’t afford for any of its efforts to go unnoticed (as they so often do). These missteps breed frustration and cost money. The battle between marketing efforts and results boils down to tools. However, marketers don’t need more tools — they need better tools to give them insights that drive results.
But how can a company avoid being fearful in order to see results?
Leading by Example
It starts at the top, and when organizations stop taking risks, complacency settles in. It’s an exponential effect that hamstrings innovation and drags productivity down. Organizations slip into this trap by creating bottom-down processes where the employees must “make sense” of the half-thought ideas of leadership struggling to connect.
Rule number one of leadership: Leaders are out of touch. They are in countless meetings, live in airplanes and hotels, connect the dots, and sell the big idea.
The problem with is they’re not close to the customer. They don’t understand the needs as well as they used to or the pace of the market. Reading closes the gap a bit but doesn’t solve the problem.
The trick is creating an organization focused on listening more than talking. Use “show, don’t tell” as the core motivator. It encourages a culture of making, trying, adapting, and exploring.
This more than anything will translate into great, authentic ideas and well-informed executives who can actively contribute to the formation of strategic marketing plans — not pepper (or pepper spray) their teams with immediate needs in a reactive posture.
Producing Change
Playing it safe isn’t “playing” at all. It’s repurposing tired ideas and emboldening a status quo that is fast becoming obsolete with the vast array of tools at everyone’s disposal. Here are three solutions to help marketers stop being afraid and start generating results:
Workshops:
Workshops are meetings with clearly identified purpose and outcomes. They are inclusive and use experiential activities that gauge a wide variety of perceptions, goals, and tactics.
In short, everyone gets to share his or her point of view in an environment designed to listen. They are a break from the everyday and consistently invigorate the participants. Remember, the environment is as important as the content and structure — workshops should be conducive to collaboration and keep activities democratic.
Tools:
Find the right tools to create line of sight. CMOs must understand what their brand is doing in the dark, where it goes, and what it says. The message can become muddled quickly and become disorganized, inconsistent, and noisy faster than anyone thought.
Consider monitoring tools that silence the noise and deliver a clear view of how every channel behaves. Curating a data-driven approach to marketing requires coordination because 10 sophisticated tools out of sync results in one messy message.
Experiments:
Nothing replaces experimentation. It’s the loudly beating heart of possibility and it’s the greatest motivator supervisors can give their teams. Explore technology, experiential marketing, and new channels. Speak directly to the audience through Periscope , open up monthly meetings to customers, blend office space into retail space, and have marketers working in the middle of it all.
Why should operations be out of view? Unless the company is Disney, the magic isn’t what drives consumers through the door. Take risks that are measurable, reasonable, and worthwhile
Shouting from the rooftops doesn’t produce great marketing anymore. Marketers have to expose themselves to risk in order to produce results for their companies. They have the tools, the climate, and the product. The only thing they don’t have is an excuse to not get started.