Who's Responsible for Innovation?

If a company wants to be innovative, it must create an atmosphere that encourages innovation. A healthy atmosphere of innovation will exhibit three conditions:

1. Innovation - The company must give employees - ALL employees, not just those in the R&D department - the freedom to innovate. Supervisors at all levels should welcome their subordinates to discover creative solutions and to constantly look for ways to do things better. Employees should be allowed to generate new ideas, and should feel that their supervisors will be receptive to their ideas. Employees should be empowered to innovate.


2. Submission - Once an employee develops an innovative idea, she must share it with her supervisor. The supervisor should listen eagerly, ready to assess how this idea could benefit the company and customers. The supervisor should ask questions and coach the employee on how to improve and adapt the idea to best fit the company and the situation. The employee should trust that her supervisor will be an advocate of great ideas; because of that trust, the employee submits to her supervisor's final decision about whether or not - and how - to move the idea forward.


3. Protection - Once the supervisor gives his employee the authority to implement the idea, then the supervisor becomes a protective covering for the employee. As long as the employee follows the supervisor's instructions, she doesn't need to fear the consequences of failure - the supervisor takes those consequences upon his own head. If the employee makes a mistake or makes someone angry, or if the idea doesn't work, then the supervisor bears the responsibility. He protects his employee, because the employee was acting under his authority. This gives the employee the freedom to fail - and the freedom to succeed.

These three measures - innovation, submission, and protection - are essential if a company wishes to be innovative. Employees throughout the company must be inspired to think creatively and to generate ideas, no matter how raw or ridiculous the ideas seem at first. Employees must vet those ideas through their supervisors, trusting that their supervisors will want to bring great ideas to life, and ultimately submitting to the final decision of the supervisor. And supervisors must protect the employees as they start implementing their ideas under the supervisors' authority, empowering the employee to succeed by bearing the responsibility if they fail.

If one of these conditions is missing, innovation within the organization will be stifled. Companies stagnate if employees don't generate ideas. Ideas go awry if employees act without the authority of their supervisors. And employees stop innovating if they can't trust their supervisors to protect their efforts.

If your organization wishes to be innovative, does it have these processes in place?

Whose Team Are You On?

This is the story of two marketers.

Suzy Marketer was the co-founder and marketing consultant of Suzy Marketing Services, L.L.P. A hard worker, go-getter, and experienced marketer, Suzy managed the accounts of several prestigious clients, and earned a respectable income for herself in the process.

Sally Marketer was the co-founder and marketing consultant of Sally Marketing Services, L.L.P. An equally hard worker, go-getter, and experienced marketer, Sally also managed the accounts of several prestigious clients, and earned a respectable income for herself in the process.

But Suzy's and Sally's marketing services were as different as different could be.

Suzy approached her work as an outside consultant. She saw herself as a service provider hired by clients who were utterly unable to market themselves on their own. Her clients hired her to analyze their company, their business model, their products, and their market niche, to tell them how to market themselves, and to execute their marketing for them. The prestige of the clients who hired her was proof that Suzy did her job expertly.

When Suzy landed a new client, she would spend days researching them: poring over their website, their search results on Google, their Facebook presence, and the chatter about them on Twitter; examining their products, testing their services, and analyzing their annual reports. Then she would spend a day interviewing their marketing team and execs to conduct analyses of the brand, their market position, and their goals.

Back at her office, Suzy would develop key messages and a marketing strategy, then hold a brief meeting with the client to present her plan and to convince the client that her plan was best. Once everyone was in agreement with the plan, Suzy would return to her office, and put her team to work at executing the marketing plan. She would call, email, and occasionally visit her client's employees when she needed information, payment, or approval for the next marketing tactic.

Sally, on the other hand, approached her work as a teammate of her client. She knew that her clients were experts on their brand, their industry, and their market, but hired an outside marketing consultant so that they could focus their resources on making great products and serving customers well. She knew that her clients trusted her to learn from them, to adopt their culture, and to partner with them in serving their customers.

When Sally landed a new client, she would spend a day researching the brand online, among customers, and in stores. Then she would spend several days with the client, visiting headquarters, touring the plant, observing their work processes, meeting with each department, building relationships, browsing their corporate history, and absorbing all that the execs, marketing team, and other employees said about their mission, values, goals, culture, brand, products, customers, and previous marketing strategy.

Back at her office, Sally would do more research to see if customers' views of the brand matched the client's view of their brand. Where they didn't, Sally brainstormed ways that her client could serve customers better and communicate with them better. After drafting key messages and marketing strategy based on what she had learned from her client and their customers, she met with the client to adjust her plan. When Sally and the client agreed on a plan that best fit the client and their customers, she and the client planned how to work together to achieve those marketing goals. When she returned to her office, Sally worked in constant communication with her new teammates at the client's headquarters to ensure that her efforts were coordinated with theirs.

Both Suzy and Sally were experts at marketing. Both could analyze, strategize, and actualize marketing communications flawlessly. And both had prestigious clients and generous paychecks to show it.

But somehow Sally's clients always ended up with deeper customer loyalty and a more favorable brand image; Suzy's didn't. Somehow Sally's clients always felt like Sally understood them, like she was part of the gang; Suzy's didn't. Somehow Sally always enjoyed her time with her clients; Suzy, didn't. Somehow Sally managed to maintain long-lasting relationships with a handful of valued clients; Suzy's list of clients was constantly changing.

Sally was part of her clients' team; her view was, "we're all working together."

Suzy was part of her own team; her view was, "I'm working with them."

Whose team are you on? Your customers'? Your clients'? Your company's? Or your own?

Things Worth Doing

As marketers (and as human beings in general), our lives should be about making others' lives better. Meeting needs. Bringing joy to lives. Helping others to succeed. Making the world a brighter place.

We weren't created to be takers, but to be givers.

When I see creations like this one, I think that someone is doing a good job of brightening the world:



Yes, it's a two-and-a-half-minute commercial for Toyota. But it's also a rap song about some suburbanites and their minivan. The folks at Toyota and director Jody Hill spent time and money (a lot of it, I'd imagine) on creating something that would be fun to watch. That would make people laugh. That people would enjoy watching. And these Toyota folks probably had fun in the process.

In the first seven weeks since the video was posted on YouTube, it has received over 3.8 million views. And I can understand why. People need (and want, and enjoy watching) things that make them laugh. That make the day a little brighter.

Marketers, if you're going to do something, then do something worth doing.

• Start initiatives that help people to succeed.


• Create content that makes lives happier.


• Sell products that help people to breathe easier.


• Give service that brings a smile to peoples' faces.

If what you're doing is not making the world a better place, then why are you doing it?

Serving vs. Stalking

An AdAge article yesterday reported on a recent study of the effectiveness of online advertising. The study examined two online ad tactics - targeted* advertising and obtrusive** advertising - to see their impact on consumers' intent to buy.

The results showed that consumers were 0.9% more likely to buy when they saw a targeted ad rather than a non-targeted one, and that they were 0.5% more likely to buy when they saw an obtrusive ad over a non-obtrusive one. However, when an ad was both targeted and obtrusive, consumers were only 0.3% more likely to buy than if the ad were a typical, non-targeted, non-obtrusive ad.

The study suggested that privacy-concerned consumers may find targeted obtrusive ads to be manipulative.

The bottom line is that marketers exist to serve customers, not the other way around. We aren't serving the customer when we use ads that interrupt what the customer is doing. And we aren't serving customers when we interrupt them with an ad that says, "I know you're looking at Product X right now, so you should stop what you're doing and come look at my Product Y to go with your Product X." Even if these interruptions create more "brand awareness," they don't create the brand awareness we want. If it's not serving customers, it's not worth it.

We serve the customer when we make ourselves available for them to choose when they need our services.

As marketers, our attitude should not be one of pushing ourselves, our products, and our messages onto customers, but one of waiting on customers. "Waiting on" customers the way a server "waits" tables. Or the way a servant used to "wait on" his master. Paying the utmost attention, capable and diligent, doing everything in our power to be available, letting them know that you're there for them, waiting for the slightest request, ready to provide what the customer needs.

Marketers, wait on your customers. Don't interrupt their lives.


*Targeted advertising is that in which the advertised product relates to the content of the site, i.e. an ad for camping gear on a site about outdoor recreation.

**Obtrusive advertising was defined by the study to include pop-ups, pop-unders, ads in an audio or video stream, takeover ads, non-user-initiated audio/video, full page banner ads, interactive ads, floating ads, and interstitials (ads displayed before a page loads).

Business on Purpose

Why do you make the business decisions you do?

Because it's what you've always done?
Because it's what everybody has always done?
Because it's easiest? cheapest? fastest?

Or do you make decisions because they are the right thing for you and your customers?

Companies get into trouble (or, just as bad, become stagnant and unremarkable) when they aren't intentional about the things they do. When they make choices based on what seems normal, rather than on what is best for their particular customer base and brand promise. When they choose the easiest marketing channels, product features, package design, or shipping strategies, rather than choosing those that fit best. When they don't stop to think about why they do what they do.

It may turn out that what you've always done, or what is easiest/cheapest/fastest is not the right decision at all. It might be that there is a better solution. A solution that provides a better experience for your customers. A solution that more closely aligns with what customers need. A solution that better enables your organization to do what it was meant to do.

Or it might be that the decision to do the comfortable/easy/cheap/fast thing is exactly the right thing to do. It might be that those strategies provide the convenience, affordability, quick service, quality, standardization, customization, status, or other value that your customers want.

But come to that conclusion because you were intentional about it. Because you took time to consider what the right thing is. Not because you were on autopilot.

Context

Meaning comes not just from the words spoken, but also by what is being spoken around them.

For example:

"Alright, Stacey, the show is starting. You're on in five minutes."
"Thanks, Joe."
"Break a leg, kiddo."

versus

"Well, Tony, did you get it?"
"Nah, Boss. He doesn't have the money. What should I do?"
"Break a leg."

In each of these examples, the phrase "break a leg" is given a distinct meaning based on the context of the conversation. The context is affected by the characters involved, the location, the timing, the events leading up to the conversation, and the other words spoken in or before the conversation.

Marketing messages, too, are impacted by context.

• $2.01/gallon for gasoline is a terrific price - on June 3, 2010. In America. When the gas station across the street is selling gas for $2.47/gallon. It's an abominable price on June 3, 1990 in America, when the guy across the street is selling gas for $1.19/gallon.


• An OxiClean commercial starring Billy Mays was a mundane occurrence on June 27, 2009 (the day before Billy's death). The same commercial had a very different effect on June 29, 2009.


• An email offering a 25% discount on an item could be a welcome surprise to a customer - unless the customer is an overworked businesswoman whose inbox is full of 80 similar unread messages and who has just sworn to forever boycott the next company who sends her an email.

As marketers, we need to know the context of a situation before we start spewing marketing messages. Some contextual information can be gathered fairly easily from examining current news, the rest of the market, and the marketing efforts of partners and competitors. Other information (like the number of marketing emails one customer has received, or a customer's attitude toward a particular brand, or the current state of a customer's life) can only be gathered by having a relationship with the customer. By caring about what the customer thinks, feels, and has to say. By keeping track of how (and how much) you have communicated with the customer in the past. By asking for - and listening to - the customer's comments, expectations, frustrations, and concerns.

As marketers, we have to pay attention to context. Our audience's perceptions are acutely shaped by it; our messages are changed by it. We must listen to it.