When Marketing Campaigns Fail...

Things go wrong.  Timelines get stretched. Results fail to meet expectations.  These are realities all marketing leaders face.  This is especially true at smaller, entrepreneurial companies where marketing strategy is often summarized as “throwing s#!t on the wall to see what sticks.”  Invariably it won’t all “stick.”  What then is the best course of action when a campaign fails?

Often we encourage clients to stick to the larger plan and to understand that changing market perceptions takes time and that any failed campaign is an opportunity to rethink how and why they are targeting particular audiences.  This creates stability and predictability to marketing programs, and it may be the wrong course of action.

NYC Dinner Party!

We recently started a series of dinner meetings designed to bring together professionals from various organizations and roles.  The goal -- enjoy a good meal and relaxed conversation, some of which centers on what is and is not working as companies try to get their messages out to the market.

Talk To Me!

Tweet

During a recent client get-together conversation drifted to Facebook, Twitter and social media. This seems to be the norm these days and at one point one of the participants mentioned that it was "easier" to write a quick Facebook update than to call each person that would be interested to know how her day went.

After a few back and forth comments including my exaggerated "I don't need to know who baked cupcakes or walked their dog" exasperation, I offered up that as individuals we are forgetting how to TALK. Conversation used to take place face-to-face and you learned how to carry on a conversation, how to get your point across, how to take criticism without capitulating or exploding in a rage, and most of all, you learned how to LISTEN.