Marketing Courage

 I wanted to have a conversation with you about COURAGE.

A long time ago, I was in a lecture taught by the famous sportswriter Don Yeager. Don wrote for Sports Illustrated for 12 years, interviewing the biggest names in sport.

When he first got the job, his father suggested to him that he should try to figure out what the great athletes have in common.

So armed with a notebook and one extra question, Don asked these greats what it was that made them great? He then published a book called Greatness: The 16 Characteristics of True Champions, to share his learnings with the world.

When Pete and I started Abacus 4 years ago, I was influenced by Don to a similar revelation: what is it that makes marketers great?

Knowing that I'd have the opportunity to meet dozens (if not hundreds) of brand and performance marketers, and armed with a notebook of my own, I've thought a lot about what separates the best from the rest.

Today I want to talk about COURAGE as it relates to marketing.

Let's first be honest - we live in a C.Y.A world.

C.Y.A = risk of losing > benefits of winning

As long as that formula holds, the incentives are not aligned, and marketers are incentivized to do more of the same.

Occasionally, we will come across marketers who have true courage. They want to push the boundaries, take some chances, experiment, poke the box and measure. They believe that even when something doesn't work, they will gain valuable insights and get closer to success.

I believe this is a characteristic of marketing greatness - having the courage to try new things, potentially fail, and surrender the ego that typically attaches us to our own ideas and strategies.

With the marketing world changing this quickly, we're going to lose the option to keep doing more of the same. We can't spray and pray. lack of proper measurement only hurts the brand in the long term.

In December, we launched a Tik Tok takeover with two incredible brand advertisers. Talk about two brands with COURAGE!

Send me a message if you want to discuss further. In the meantime, go forth, be brave and have courage.