What do you do if your innovative retail marketing strategies are met with resistance and skepticism?

If people are hesitant or doubtful about your new retail marketing ideas, one of the ways to handle it is by directly addressing their concerns and showing them examples of how your strategies have worked in the past. You could also suggest starting with a small test or trial to prove that your ideas can bring positive results. Building good relationships and keeping open lines of communication with everyone involved can also make a big difference.

I would take forward the agreed bits and pieces or better still, the ideas of the decision maker. The important thing, is to take the money along. Strategy, will follow.

When innovative retail marketing strategies face resistance, first communicate their value clearly. Provide evidence from successful case studies and educate stakeholders on their benefits. Start with small-scale implementations to demonstrate results and address concerns. Seek support from influential stakeholders and be patient, iterating and refining the strategies as needed. Persistence, clear communication, and evidence-based arguments are key to overcoming skepticism.

There may be some underlying cultural challenges at play here. Is the organization ripe for adopting this new innovative strategy? What do the risk analysis results say, and what's the mitigation plan? Often there is an element of risk intolerance at play. What other key cross-funcational leaders must be co-sponsors in order to be successful? Understand what your key stakeholders value most, and what they might need in order to your support and be an advocate for your marketing strategy.

No idea at all. Probably start selling something else. Or ask AI what to do. Or any random influencer or reality star (or whatever they are). Or just go home and take a nap

It's very common among marketing professionals to assume that their innovative strategy is the right approach. But marketing is (still) often developed in a vacuum, only marginally informed by the organization's larger needs and capabilities. I'd suggest that, if resistance is being presented, it's a clear sign that the marketer has not done their work to build trust and understand the stakeholder's vision and goals and present the data to show alignment. Be mindful as well that you have not succumbed to the Shiny Object Syndrome that is unfortunately all to common in marketing. Not all innovation is the right approach.

By addressing fears head-on to reduce anxiety, what came to mind is the electric vehicle adoption and the fear of battery storage to avoid breakdowns, this really affected the adoption initially, but with new innovation in battery technology,we have moved past that now,so with practical models, and positioning and messaging strategy in branding, educating customers, establishing product market fit are great enablers in addressing fears in customers.

I quite agree with this, Flexibility promotes inclusion and a great sense of belonging from all stakeholders,the team customers, investors,suppliers, your willingness to adopt ideas from other sources is fundamental to the growth of any smart company or products.

Staying flexible is such a key factor here, but often it isn't as highly prioritized. If you've genuinely listened to your stakeholders and value what they need in order to be supportive, it's imperative that as leaders we're willing to work with our teams to find the best "Choice C". This reinforces our commitment to work collaboratively as a leadership team. If you are asking for the organization to be open to new innovative approaches, then you must model this behavior when new ideas about your ideas are brought to light. This encourages others to take ownership to develop parts of the idea, thus promoting more accountability and attachment to its success.

Time is abundant when our ideas are pioneering. Most people will believe your great ideas are somewhat delusional. Patience and calculated actions are what's required to gain your teams confidence.