4 steps to a standout strategy...

How do you develop and deliver a winning, standout strategy?

To me there's 4 simple steps to doing this well, which happen to spell out R.I.C.E..

Rice has been the mainstay crop for more than half the World for thousands of years. Civilisations have been built on this dependable little staple food. One grain of rice only goes so far, but taken together all the grains have great worth and provide for everyone. So for your business to provide what you need it to, to be durable and sustainable, what better acroynm could possibly underpin your strategy?

Here are the 4 Steps:

1. 'Relationship'

All good work starts with a good vibe. Getting the 'space between us right' really helps when it comes to going on to doing good work together. This isn’t about becoming best mates necessarily but the more distant and transactional the way we relate to one another the more likely it is that there will be misunderstandings. The more we 'rush it' or take a 'that'll do' approach the more likely it is that we'll mess up. But if we communicate well, align, 'resonate', take our time, the more we tune in to one another, in my experience the better the outcome will be. Sometimes it just takes time to get to know each other but it's usually worth it. So in the first step, lets have coffee, a beer, play golf or a take a walk, but no business!

2. 'Immersion'

Next I want to get to know your business. To meet some of the people involved in running it, perhaps some clients and stakeholders too. To get a sense of the essence of it, its character, where you see it going, find out what you’ve tried, what’s worked and what hasn’t and what your hunches are about what to do or what might work next. This helps greatly to put myself in your shoes, to see the World as you see it, to 'put your spectacles on'.

3. ‘Creativity’

The fun bit. Everyone knows that to take a really great photograph you need to take lots of them, ideally from many angles, and even better to have a lot of photographers take lots of photographs. If they’re all great photographers then all the better. So why wouldn’t you approach your new creative strategy just the same way. Who can you gather and what’s it worth to you to get this right? If you can, gather a crowd.

I advocate getting a full rainbow of perspectives on your new approach and a simple way to pick a winning perspective. I specialise in trying to maximise the creative stimulus around new strategies. Consider 100 unique perspectives as a benchmark minimum, alot of takes on how to creatively develop your business. If none of these touch a nerve, we’ll just keep going until some do!

4. ‘Experimentation’

Then start trying out some of the better things that emerge from 'Creativity' and keep doing the ones that work. Successful strategies have an over-riding direction, they crystallise then evolve. Aside from ‘be nice’ and ‘listen’ I think the best piece of business wisdom I’ve ever heard is ‘keep pressing the button that brings the money (profitably)’. But first you have to find the button, so ‘experimental execution’ is the key to finding it, but only do this 'perspiration bit' once you've had your inspiration in the creativity phase.

As a marketer you’re typically tasked to profitably keep meeting customer's needs so knowing what is actually helping you to do this requires measurement as well as some trial and error. Why would any business keep doing things that aren’t working or do things without knowing whether they're working? Thinking you know all the answers without being a bit consultative and doing a bit of ‘test and learn’ is like backing one horse who’s form you don’t know.

These four steps could be completed in a few hours or meetings but better to take anything from a day to a quarter for each so that your new 'creative direction' takes shape within somewhere between a week and a year.

They might be applied anywhere where you want to really standout - a new or revised business or marketing approach, a new or revised product or initiative or a new or revised campaign.

Markativity works in partnership with one or a small number of organisations at any time to help them creatively develop, profitably.

If you're interested in working with me this Autumn (September to December) get in touch with me by 31st August to request a quick consultation call.

Email: [email protected]