Why doubling your marketing activities during tough times is a smart move, and why offence is the best kind of defence

If you have read our content regularly you might have noticed I love the film Jerry Maguire. In the film Jerry, a sports agent, has an epiphany during a company sales conference and creates a manifesto entitled ‘The Things We Think but Do Not Say’. The theme of Jerry’s manifesto is that the sports business (SMI) has lost its way and forgotten the core purpose it should stand for - Its clients, elite sports professionals and their families. He shares a copy of his manifesto with all of his colleagues, and quickly he is ousted from the business because the dominating culture is of course money, not people. Read more here.

Anyhow, drawing on more inspiration from Jerry, I think that in marketing parlance, in times of trouble, we roll out the same kind of cliches and actions to help us rationalise, defend and validate our position, and actions. These words are listed in my own mini-manifesto (not quite written yet), and entitled, the ‘Things We Say But Do Not Mean’.

These ‘things we say but do not mean’ belong to Marketing Room 101. And I would like to place them there for good!

Reasons to restrict marketing spend & actions include some gems such as:

• I don’t have time

• We know everyone anyway

• That is not the way we do things around here

• My business is well established, so it isn’t required

• My customers only come through word of mouth

• People know who we are, where we are and what we do

• We don’t have any real competition

• Everybody knows us so we don’t need to do anything

• Marketing is non-essential, the product or technology sells itself

• We are consolidating our business next year, so will take a break and see where we are

• It is difficult to relate marketing to actual results

• Our salespeople are our marketing and this is our strength

• We are a small business, marketing is for the big guys with the big bucks

• I just do not have the resources or the time for marketing

• We have invested so much in product development and we do not have the budget for promotion

• Our competitors are good at marketing, but we just cannot do a similar thing

• We do not have the budget

This is all understandable. When times get tough and volatility dominates the narrative, a key strategic figure comes to the fore. This is the gloomy, somewhat uninspiring anti-hero (at least in my opinion): The Grim CFO (see pic). Usually lurking in the shadows, hardly ever leaving the office, during tough times they slowly emerge wielding an almighty spreadsheet, that is scythed to the bone. They will have this knowing look in their eye that they were in actual fact right all along in believing innovation is a crazy, irresponsible and costly exercise that must be avoided at all costs. In fact, cost itself must be avoided at all costs as well.

Worse still, the CFO will gain greater power and share of voice and then the following happens.

• BRUTAL SLASHING OF BUDGETS

• DESTRUCTION OF OPTIMISM

• DISSOLUTION OF VALUABLE PARTNERSHIPS

• RESTRICTION OF LONG TERM GROWTH

• WORST OF ALL: THE (UNREASONABLE) INCREASE IN THE USE OF BORING CHARTS AND SPREADSHEETS :)

A CFO is mainly a defensive position, particularly in economically uncertain times. In footballing terms, a CFO is of course an important position, like the goalkeeper. They save some important goals from going in, and at times will even help to win a game, but you rarely hear of a keeper winning a Ballon d’Or. Apart from one, there is always one exception. Lev Yashin in 1965, otherwise known as the Black Panther won the Ballon d’Or. He saved 165 goals, I think ‘the wall’ would be a more accurate nickname!

Yashin’s season however was incredibly rare. Goalkeepers are important but they are there to stop goals from going in, they also organise the defence, but they do not tend to score goals and win player awards because this is not in their DNA. It is not their purpose.

Seriously though, while defence in times of volatility is, of course, understandable, I, like any fair forward-facing person, would contest that this is short-sighted at best, or just plain silly, when it comes to marketing. Because with offence (or attack) you will score goals and points, and win championships. To abandon this is to reduce the chance of truly going big. Defence is a one-way street and austerity is not a long-term strategy for business growth. You will bottom out. Then what?

Our view is to try the opposite. Be in attack, not defence. This requires a mindset shift about keeping your head while all about you everyone else seems to be losing theirs.

Why Offence is the Best Kind of Defence

Imagine that despite the uncertainty, you actually increased your marketing efforts by trying new things out and it paid off. You discovered new techniques, ideas, and formats, connected with new people, and created new products, new value and new business revenue. By moving forward, and also letting the spreadsheet experts obsess with minute savings, you make the big plays and lead the business into the future.

At first, this will feel counterintuitive, you’ll be out of your comfort zone. But there is so much power and energy gained by taking back control, being out there, being visible, attempting new things, adding value, creating content, storytelling, hosting webinars, podcasts, and events. Not least because it re-energises you. If this re-energised you, what kind of impact might that have on your people, your customers and the market? It will inspire people, and it will inspire you too.

What do you think your competitors will be doing? Probably a lot less. They likely won’t get your strategy, or why you are doing it. In fact, they may even think you are crazy. But possibilities are out there, and with fewer competitors to be concerned about, you will have a larger ocean to play in and a greater chance to really stand out.

In my previous post, I wrote about how B2B is becoming more like B2C.

In difficult times, B2C marketers would fight for new business as opposed to freezing and reducing. And B2B buying behaviour is now very similar to B2C!

I realise that many will assume and expect this kind will get a similar response internally to that which Jerry experienced with his colleagues after sharing his manifesto. There is a risk involved of course.

But Jerry made a big offensive play and went on a tough but rewarding journey, he lost on the way, persisted regardless, and then won in the end.

My advice in times of volatility? Be your very own version of Jerry…

And whatever you decide to do, at least watch the film!! It’s a great story, and if nothing else, I guarantee it will make you feel good :)