Don't cut your brand spend, just do it better!

At times like this, during moments of economic uncertainty we often feel like a canary in the coal mine because as an agency we start to see projects being paused, prolonged or cancelled earlier then many businesses.

?Brand marketing is to many businesses a luxury of good times, a discretionary spend that is first up on the chopping block when things look bleak.

Admit it you have had this thought.

We can turn it back on later when things get better.... customers aren't spending lets cut back....

And there are a million articles that will talk to the notion that when times are bad, to expand your marketing spend to buy share of voice by taking advantage of the space left by your competitors as they ask the same questions and retract.

And to be fair I have written more than a few on this subject myself, but today I am not doing that, instead I thought it was worthwhile focussing in on how to maximise your investment in marketing regardless the circumstances and how to avoid sabotaging your efforts.

There is no doubt that marketing comes at a cost. Unless you have the capacity to do it yourself, everything from strategy, planning, writing, graphics design, video production, media, management and general execution will ultimately cost your hard earned dollars.

?But what I so often see either costing more (in additional head hours) or depleting valuable retainers hours is clients that either:

1.???? Procrastinate endlessly as they wait for Tom, Dick and Harriet (A new spin on an old saying – how inclusive) to give their blessing or

2.???? Looking for perfection.

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Both in essence could be the same thing and in both cases they take forever to actually get their content into market.

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Let’s start with Tom, Dick and Harriet.

Big or small, start up, sophisticated enterprises, local or global businesses all suffer from this trait, and that is Tom, Dick and Harriet all need to have their say. But in doing so they present a huge problem that plagues so many a campaign.

And this happens at a few levels.

So, often in larger organisations, Tom, Dick and Harriet – leave their marketing team to build a plan, and campaigns, they empower them to work with their agency to create genius and want to be hands off …. That is until they decide that they want to get involved, usually at the very last minute and very much like a seagull at a picnic, fly in steal everyone’s chips, shit on everything and then fly off leaving nothing but chaos normally about 5 minutes before the campaign is due to launch.

?Don’t misunderstand me, their input is valuable and welcome, but where it occurs is the problem and in the end it compromises the entire outcome, costs time, and often leads to frustration because so much effort goes into whatever project it is, everyone works hard on timelines, budgets and strategies, only to have them thrown away by important stakeholders waiting until the last minute to provide their input.

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Looking for perfection.

“It’s perfect” is a catch phrase we all want to either say or hear about anything that is valuable to us, the perfect , car, home, spouse or engagement ring. Campaigns are no different, but just like all of these things there is nothing perfect about any of it. Inevitably there are compromises.

Businesses however, can easily get caught in a cycle of perfection, with endless rounds of changes to content or messaging.

Whilst, those within a business no it only too well, and no doubt want to ensure absolute clarity around offerings, messaging or look and feel. Often we overestimate the importance of all of these things to the audience.

Now, I am in no way suggesting being frivolous, but it is just so much more valuable to be constantly getting good content to market then occasionally getting great content to market or worse still never getting anything to market.

All perfection does is cost, time out of the market in most cases. Costing you at both ends, cost of production or lost potential revenue from those you never reached.

?So what is the takeaway here? I think there are a few.

?Build a process of engagement

Bringing in an agency or even using your own in-house team only works if all the key stakeholders get on the same page early and are involved throughout the process.

Have a clear strategic intent

What are we trying to achieve and what will that looks like when delivered – ensuring that the strategy and creative direction are set early and agreed is imperative and there should be limited deviation over the course of the engagement. That way in theory you should not need to circle around on “If it’s right”.

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Trust the team

If you have an in-house team, and agency or suppliers. If they are properly briefed and the plan has buy in across the organisation – then trust the team to bring it to life. If you don’t trust them to simply do the job, either find a new team or involve yourself more in the process to ensure it keeps moving and the ideas or executions are solidified early.

Let it go

For our Frozen fans, - let it go. Let the work play out, If it is not perfect don’t worry, because the feedback will help build customer led insights that will guide you going forwards. Build evolution into your process and refine as you go don’t wait for perfection.

Better processes may just keep you in the game.

In tough times, deciding if you can continue with your marketing spend or even growing it may be a very real decision that your business needs to consider, but before you pause, slow or cancel your brand/marketing initiatives, see if any of this applies to you. If it does, there could be lots to gain by just changing your approach.

Don't forget we're here to help. Our job as an agency is not simply to be a subordinate supplier, trust us to help guide you and give us (or your agency) more authority to get your brand to your customers. Leveraging our (their) experience more might just save you and make you more then you expected.

It may not be perfect. But it will keep your brand front of mind.

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