This time of year, we marketers love to make bold predictions about the year ahead. We are perennially excited about the shiny new thing.
That excitement can keep us informed but it can also distract us from what may actually be most important for our marketing strategy, our brand, and our business. It can also keep us tethered to the marketing herd, chasing the same tactics as everyone else.
I always learn from the contrarian perspective of Mark Ritson, and his sober advice on how to approach 2019 is particularly apt:
“Rather than glorying in the pornography of change, good marketers should be learning from 2018 to improve their strategy and execution in 2019…
“When you lose your shit talking nonsense about all the massive, gigantic, tectonic changes, you miss the possibility of making good solid strategic decisions for the year ahead. Things are not going to change that much next year so how can I, a good marketer, benefit from that knowledge and the things I have learned this year?”
Mark goes on to propose a futurology drinking game for all the different types of marketing predictions we hear this time of year: “the ‘now it’s really going to happen’ prediction”, “the ‘new will kill the old’ trope, “the ‘re-name an important concept and declare it essential for 2019’ prediction, and “the ‘I predict the business I am in will be huge’ move.”
It’s a good reminder not to lose sight of marketing fundamentals as we prepare for the year ahead.
Here are a few related cartoons I’ve drawn over the years.
“Shiny Object Syndrome” January 2015
“40 Years of Marketing” May 2018
(I drew this one to help Marketing Week celebrate their 40th anniversary. The more things change, the more they stay the same.)
Steven says
January 7, 2019 at 7:27 amGreat one! 😀
Made me both laugh and sad.
donatella says
January 7, 2019 at 9:08 amYes, same 😭
JMD says
January 8, 2019 at 7:09 pmRight on point!
Sarah McIntyre says
January 8, 2019 at 7:10 pmFunny coz it’s true… 🙂 Nothing beats a good strategy, well executed and thoughtfully analysed.
Susan Goewey says
January 10, 2019 at 6:31 amOnce again: Everything old is new.
But what is here to stay is it is increasingly more and more difficult for both marketers and customers to FOCUS (and _everyone_ is a marketer these days as we try to garner followers, connections, friends, customers, eyeballs, likes, loves, laughs, sad faces… or, if you are POTUS, angry faces)
Once we understand that literally EVERYONE –of all ages– is having the same problem , clicking on clickbait but more often than not being pissed at ourselves for wasting our precious time that way.
So focus on this: give them something to be glad they clicked. Like the bonus cartoons you gave us, Tom, when we clicked on your most recent one accurately illustrating the problem of a complete inability of many
(most) of us to be able to FOCUS.
People expect more out of ads we choose to watch…make them entertaining, with both good copy, good photos and bonus video for the truly interested… to avoid the “that’s 30 secs of my life I’ll never get back” shrug.
Adrienne says
January 14, 2019 at 2:10 pmI laughed out loud. This is honestly a recent experience.
MJ says
January 28, 2019 at 9:28 pmGreat work. Love the witty drawings. A true depiction of our current state.
Richard Tank says
February 2, 2019 at 1:53 amI’ve been thinking a way to manage the desire for the new. A strategy similar in principle to IBM’s tick tock strategy could work. Tick is iterations on current strategies with tock being something new. I would also layer the 80:20 principle to maintain focus (or FOCUS) on what is important
Colman Ho says
February 3, 2019 at 4:48 pmThe text gives sound advice how we should grow on what we learned from 2018 and not chase the glittery new tools out there. Rule of thumb of what I think a healthy company should do each year, one marketing strategy that grows from what had been doing past year, two new attempts that is worthwhile to try, that will ensure the pull and thrust is balanced. Of course the resources aligned should be well calculated to achieve short, mid and long term strategy of business. Personally social e-commerce is the one item will continue from last year, content marketing and social CRM are two new attempts for this year.