What I Learned About Marketing from Jim Thorpe: Grit

James Francis Thorpe was an Olympic gold medalist who was known as the greatest, most versatile athlete in the world. His life, and one episode in particular, holds great meaning for us at this moment in time.

He was born in 1887 to the Sac and Fox tribe. Before baptism, his name was Wa-Tho-Huk, translated as Bright Path. He went on to win 2 Olympic gold medals (pentathlon and decathlon), and play college and professional football, baseball and basketball.

The great lesson comes from his participation in the 1912 Olympics decathlon.

Overcoming unanticipated, potentially devastating adversity ?

Thorpe was not favored to win the decathlon, and just before the competition he found that someone had stolen his shoes. He wore a mismatched pair of replacements, one shoe from the trash (see the photo at the top). He won the gold medal decisively, setting records that lasted for decades.

?You, too, are facing unanticipated, potentially devastating challenges

The pandemic represents our stolen shoes. It changed everything, and nothing is going to change. You can still win - what you need is a plan.

Now after a few years of COVID life and the realistic expectation of another year to come, it appears we need to acknowledge the current environment as the “now normal”… This provokes us to ask, do you really know (vs. assume you know):

• How are your customers and prospects planning for next year??
• How do they prioritize the problem you solve vs. other (new) problems they need to solve with reduced budgets?
• Which are your highest (new) potential prospects? What is your value prop for them??

You need a plan, and you need it now. You need to push through first-level thinking and take the inside track. You need to get up on your toes and sprint. You need some good, old-fashioned grit.

Here’s where you need to go - fast

In one week you need to accomplish four goals:

1. Updating your knowledge of what your customers are thinking right now that will inform our efforts to retain them, gain more business from them, and to attract others like them.
2. Bringing your internal team together around this shared view of what your customers want and how you’re going to give it to them.
3. Anchoring your marketing plans in buyer insights, not just product info
4. ?Accelerating your planning process into a one-week intensive.

So there it is. The push to a near-term go-to-marketing plan that cuts through the fog of confusion and lack of inertia that we are all facing. A plan that is urgent, compelling, and competitively differentiating, without having to look in the trash for a sneaker.?

See you on the podium.

Please:

- Check out B2P's Scott Hornstein's new ebook:?It Takes A Village.

- Leave a comment and start a conversation

- Share this newsletter with people you respect.

Thank you!

B2P Partners