Now is the perfect opportunity for me to quote from the brilliant BBC comedy W1A. A statement from the newly appointed Director of Better, Anna Rampton; “…it’s about establishing what we do most of best and finding fewer ways of doing it less, better.”
Translating this nigh on nonsensical sentence, pretty much captures where I now think we are in terms of delivery of marketing activity.
So, said another way – It’s about doing more for less. Better.
Because the times they are a-changin’
Whilst I love a comedic quote, I am also a fan of the hackneyed phrase as well. ‘If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you always got’. But will you? I rather think not in 2020.
Over the last few months; customers have shifted increasingly online; that two weeks in the Algarve with your family suddenly became a week in Cumbria; you’ve had to work on English teaching with your children despite being triggered at your own memories of Wuthering Heights or An Inspector Calls. And the mere thought of having to call HMRC whilst their agents are all working from home is enough to cause you to extend your daily mandatory exercise just to put it off…
Now I realise we don’t all face into these issues – some of us have been at a workplace throughout the year, some of us may be working less than last year or some of us may not be working at all anymore. But what it does tell us loud and clear, things have changed.
Join the dots assets
It’s easier for organisations, working in ways they’ve never had to before, to drift. Drift unconsciously from their objectives and values as they face in to challenges they’ve never had to. But I reckon they have some stuff up their sleeves, maybe without knowing it.
Many have an array of under-utilised assets. That photoshoot from 2017 that cost a packet (but there were nice sandwiches, despite the rain), the campaign that got pulled because of a strategic change just before it went out with those great social templates, the suite of letter variants introducing a new product. Now may well be the time to give them a bit of a tickle-up and some air. (But do check any licensing agreements!). Oh. Fine tune and edit without ego. It’s not new, it’s different.
Consider, it’s essentially budget vs wastage. Recycle and reuse. If you think about it from an ecosystem point of view – we’re meeting the needs of the existing generation without compromising the quality of the environment for future generations.
The right people at the right time.
To move nimbly, for goodness sake, line up who you need to. Communicate who is needed where, when and to do what. Do they have a voice or a vote? So don’t let someone who is ‘Informed’ in your RACI template to have a vote on the standfirst – they’re informed as part of the working or delivery group to make sure that people are ready to answer the phone, or respond to social channels when the campaign is live, there are other people to lavish your attention on who do have a vote on that standfirst.
Whether you’re agency or client side, marketing exec or creative director – sometimes the ‘boss’ needs to be at the start, middle and end of the journey. “It’s my name above them doors!” And they don’t usually like surprises, or indeed being involved in a disjointed email conversation (cc anyone?) on how to spell advisor or license!
And I don’t think we’re going back to how things were before. Why would we? Consider the herculean efforts organisations have directed to remote working, be that technology or collaboration tools. And what of budget? There aren’t many places increasing marketing spend as we career toward the end of the year. Priorities are different.
Act now.
Think about the resources at your disposal. Your people. Your asset library. Your clients. Your agency teams. Your research. Your budget. And revisit.
Brainstorming ideas with different people or teams outside of the day to day can refresh, remind you of the basics and maybe even open your eyes a little to new thinking, or a new approach.
So, we really do need to do more with less. Better. It’s time to deliver.
Guest Contributor: Andrew Baguley.