10 ON MARKETING - 10 ON LEADERSHIP
Below we share twenty axioms that inform our work and client relationships.
Notably, while after decades of change, there are fundamentals of marketing that remain the same. While there have been important new developments, like the application of technology in marketing -- like AI, which can predict consumer behavior in real time while protecting privacy, there have been some really questionable developments, like the application of "agile" in marketing to drive operational efficiencies. We've seen agile best-practices rapidly turn happy, productive marketing creatives into mindless robots who hate their lives.
These twenty thoughts shine a light on a few items in marketing and about people that haven't changed - and never will.
ON DOING GREAT MARKETING:
1. Remind everyone that it’s not about what you “like”. It’s about what you believe will work. Help people see the difference.
2. The brand is not a calendar of activations and a cycle of media flights. It is the entire enterprise, past, present and future. Think holistically.
3. Maybe the biggest reason to truly understand the customer is so you can know how the customer differs from you. The ads are meant for them, not you.
4. While there are no silver bullets in marketing, they are none the less needed. Think big.
5. Message sent does not necessarily equal message received. Research, test, and learn.
6. Organizations resist great change, not great ideas. Innovate fearlessly. Then, show them the way forward.
7. Know why, assume nothing, and separate the facts from everyone’s wishful thinking. Because (not infrequently) an ad campaign isn’t going to solve the problem. Be solution agnostic.
8. If you don’t thoroughly understand the customer, the industry, the business model, the history of the brand, the competition, the macro trends, the P&L, and the company culture, you can count on making big, expensive mistakes. Absorb and internalize it all.
9. While big-data paralysis can happen, it is not to be feared. Measure everything measurable. Then immerse yourself in the data in cycles. Some of it will speak to you. You will know what to do.
10. If the idea makes the palms of your hands a little sweaty, don’t try to fix it. Recognize that it means it probably has great potential, then try to understand why.
ON PROVIDING CARING LEADERSHIP:
1. Always team before self. Living this credo generates meaningful friendships and joy.
2. Recognize that to lead is to serve; to serve is to be calm and present; to be calm and present is to be ready for anything. And to be ready for anything is what those who you lead need you to be.
3. Patience and kindness are more important than the deadline.
4. Be a coach, not a cheerleader. To stay sane, everyone needs reasonable expectations.
5. Honor people’s spirit and intentions even more than their achievements and they will thrive.
6. Surround yourself with bright, ambitious people and trust them to figure it out (and what great feeling it is when they do).
7. Entertain ideas from anyone. Credentials have no bearing on wisdom.
8. Tell people what you are really thinking or stop thinking it. Even if for a moment or two they don't appreciate you, people do appreciate being told the truth.
9. Remember that your self-doubt is a strength, not a weakness.
10. Look to the character of your daily experience to know how things are going, not the milestones.
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