Persuading

As Pogo said, “we have seen the enemy and he is us.” For years, marketing operated outside the C-suite and complained bitterly about the difficulty gaining approvals for its work. With every new campaign, we bemoaned our own company’s tendency to beat down every unique idea until it looked and sounded just like our competitors. Some referred to this process as “being pecked to death by ducks.” Are we overstating our position? Take a look at the advertising in your industry. Truthfully, how many ads are distinct? How many say something that wouldn’t apply to every company in the industry?

Then one day marketers decided if you can’t beat the C-suite join them. And the Chief Marketing Officer was born. We abandoned our rebel status and joined the ranks of spreadsheet wielding management. Maybe getting a good idea approved would be easier from the inside. So we learned to speak the C-language. We adopted the C-mannerisms. And we still had to fight tooth and nail just to keep our good ideas on life support because, while marketing assumed greater rank, we too often failed to sell within our company.

The simple truth is, non-marketing people tend to smooth rough edges. They homogenize. Non-marketers are so afraid of customer complaints they grind down any idea that might provoke a negative response. Which is precisely what kills good marketing. And once marketing joined the C-suite, it became easier to listen to the voices cautioning against risk.

So how do we get good work approved? We have to start selling more. Inside our company. I see 2.98 primary ways to get the work we know will be effective out of the office and into the market.

1. Think:the south has an expression, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Be relational, know when to present and when not to, spend time listening and caring about other’s roles. Treat others as you want to be treated.

2. Lead:you are in business and do need to understand our role is to support the company’s objectives; typically it is sales. But let’s learn from the CPA. They establish a set of rules and guidelines and then you operate within those rules. (In theory.) You are not allowed to offer suggestions about the 10 base numerical system, you cannot offer to use a different tool than a spreadsheet or go outside the lines of FASB. Why then do we allow questions about the tools we select, or the elements of design? We must only allow conversation to be strategic. Start your next meeting with this: "Today I am presenting the new campaign. I am open to your questions and input if they are strategic in nature; I am not interested in hearing that you do not like the photo, I am interested if the photo is off strategy to reach our target demographic. Can we agree to those rules? If so, let’s start."

2.98 Use the tools of business, use the ROI and other business metrics. We really are in business and we MUST be serious about business. If you teach your staff to think about business they might lock up. You can guide them within a creative brief; those are enough boundaries. Your peers have a language that will not change…use it and understand that you are doing nothing more than talking to the target in a way they will understand.

Why 2.98?Just to keep a small window open, one the others can’t see. Keep going to lunch at the cool new place, talk about music and art, look at ads…sometimes only the ads. Live in the C-suite but remember why marketing is the best job in the world!