
Marketers have historically been unique for the ability to affect change within a company, its industry segment and in society as a whole.
Apple’s 1984 television ad aired once yet set the company on its path of innovation. Fast food chain Wendy’s Where’s the beef? shaped a presidential election. And EDS’ Cat Herders led technologists to acknowledge an uncomfortable reality about enterprise-wide projects.
Have we lost the marketing mojo? Has the push to analytics-driven programs measurable in all areas led to creative-less marketing?
To use a baseball analogy, we seem to be efficient at swatting singles and doubles, but our campaigns rarely hit a homerun.
Here are three ways to rediscover the magic:
- Contribute to the strategy of the business, not just its execution. We call this strategic marketing. It should be the aspiration of every single person in the marketing organization – from corporate to field to product. Innovative concepts like “she-working” have and can be driven by marketers like us.
- Champion a unique and innovative approach. Creative crushing thoughts such as – this is how we did it last year or let’s mimic our competitors – are the domain of followers. Check out campaigns like Modern Military Training and Future Healthcare Today for examples of dynamic approaches to thought leadership.
- Demand excellence from your vendors. Who has brought you an exciting, daring and big idea in the past year? Encourage and cultivate those relationships.