Blow Up Bubble, Burst, Repeat

It often seems that the business world is just like Charlie Brown trying to kick that ball over and over again, and Lucy just picks it up each time. He knows it will happen, but he continues to try again. We are constantly chasing something yet we often can never hit that target. At what point do we stop blaming our own Lucy and start to look at ourselves? Could we be to blame?

There are so many examples we can point to, but lets take a look at a few easy ones that seem to be universal regardless of industry. For years we have been looking for another marketing miracle similar to television advertising from the 1960's through the 1980's. It was so easy to garner attention because Consumers had little choice but to pay attention to your advertising. Of course then came cable and 100's of television choices which diluted the attention span reducing the effectiveness of these advertisements. As the Internet gained popularity marketers turned to digital advertising as the next mad men era. After some initial success every company started to place their eggs in the digital marketing basket. Eventually success whittled away. We do still claim the great success, especially regarding search ads, but we never mention that the vast majority were already searching for the brand.

Starting in 2008 social media became the next playground that was really going to change how we engaged our Customers. Companies poured tons of money into building huge fanbases on these social media sites without regard to whether these new found fans were Customer, prospective Customers, employees, or, well not even a real person. We had fans! Yeah. We touted these successes internally leading to much excitement but as time went on we failed to show that these fans were leading to business impact. Social media led to real time marketing efforts, with many brands focusing on being the center of the community instead of one with it.

Social media evolved into content marketing and every brand striving to plaster their own content everywhere and anywhere. Of course this content was usually not about adding value to any reader but instead focused on touting how great the company or their products are.

I am now seeing a similar bubble forming around the idea of Customer experience, the next iteration being taken by marketing departments looking to reboot their own marketing efforts. We are now investing in all kinds of magical tools that will help us transform our companies to create great experiences. The same can be said for all the similar efforts regarding data and data analytics. The excitement has truly reached the C-Suite, but we have seen it all before.

Let me be clear, I have nothing against social media, digital, Customer experience, or data analytics. At the same time I have to wonder if our own desire to be successful or seek recognition by our superiors is leading us down the same path we have been down so many times before? Could we be Lucy and the C-Suite is our Charlie Brown? 

Each of these efforts have great potential but we have to do these things right. Here are a few recommendations:

• Maintain expectations - Over inflated expectations will always lead to the Lucy moment.
• Keep it Simple - Simplicity is such a great term and a focus I think would benefit most companies. In regard to these efforts, paying a lot of money for tools or consultants could bring greater expectations of return. Start small and work your way up gradually.
• Stop Chasing the Magic - We have all seen the case studies that every company wants to recreate. Instead of chasing that Oreo moment, create your own.
• Understand People - Going beyond what data is telling you, actually understand your employees and Customers, their needs and desires. Psychology is a large part of success internally and externally but we usually fail to focus on others, instead concentrating on ourselves.
• Lead Culture Change - Much of these efforts are really about thinking differently about marketing as well as our own businesses. You can help lead the culture shift. Instead of hiring large new teams creating bureaucracy, rotate others though a program to teach the goals and allow them to create the new culture you are striving for.