Time to try something new

Seth blogs on why firms refuse to change, when it would actually be the best thing for them. Business as usual seems the safe thing to do.

My pet topic, The Insanity of Marketing, refers to the unwillingness of marketers to change while trying to achieve different results. But what if the game changes? Doesn’t this mean that marketers have to change anyway?

One of my clients told me that their PR budgets have been cut by one third. Ouch! Irrespective of the initial size of the budget (big, since you ask), one third is a big chunk. And yet, my client is expected to deliver the same service as before.

It’s madness. Insane. If your budget gets cut by one third, don’t even try to do what you did before. It’s time to try something new.

Good news for our clients!

I’m a big fan of Seth Godin and his ravings on marketing and why firms must be remarkable in order to succeed. (Read Purple Cow for the full story.)

Paradoxically, Seth says that remarkable firms and products appeal not to mass markets but to early adopters. There’s more value in early adopters, as they seek to establish competitive advantage. Once something becomes adopted by the mass market it becomes boring and undifferentiating. (This was what Nicholas Carr was saying in “IT doesn’t matter.)

Over at the Analyst Equity blog, Duncan Chapple publishes results from a survey of AR professionals. He draws attention to the things that AR people are not interested in, one of which is “Understanding the wider influencer community”.

Phew! I’m delighted that understanding the wider influencer community is so low down the agenda of most AR folks. It means that those that are adopting Influencer Marketing are creating real competitive advantage. Which is what I’ve being telling them. It’s great when data supports the pitch.