Marketing is not for the timid. One of the most valuable traits a marketer can possess is courage to try new tactics and strategies, without fear of failing.
If you risk nothing, you get nothing. Sure, you might fail but, on the upside, you may succeed beyond your wildest dreams.
The purpose of this blog is to discuss marketing and advertising strategies that are out-of-the-box and involve risk. The idea is to share what we learned from taking those risks. With that said, here is my first lesson to be shared:
Lesson #1: Don’t be afraid to think and act big. A big idea won’t seem expensive if it actually does what it is supposed to do. If you have a really big idea that you believe in, sell it as hard as you can.
The story behind the wisdom: It was 1985, my first year in the advertising business. The agency where I worked, Dancer Fitzgerald Sample, proposed a television commercial for the number three brand in the Quick Service Restaurant Industry (i.e. a fast-food hamburger chain, Wendy’s.) The proposed production budget of $125,000 budget was an obscene amount at the time.
The client, Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy’s, ranted in the agency’s hallways after he signed the estimate. But after the commercial became a big hit and everybody in America was asking “Where’s the beef?", the cost of the big idea seemed insignificant.
Having a big idea can be scary because it's a departure from the status quo and there’s usually a lot at risk. But if the idea really gets your adrenaline pumping, it might just be worth it. Don’t be afraid to make the pitch.
|