The New Risk Of 'Best Practice'

"Some people don't like change, but you need to embrace change if the alternative is disaster."-Elon Musk

Did you know that only 50% of marketers say they are proficient at creating an effective strategy? (Aberdeen) This is not surprising in light of the dramatic changes in the business landscape over the past 2 years. Furthermore, Boston Consulting Group recently made a bold statement. It is predicting that 1/3 of currently publicly traded companies in the U.S. will be gone by 2020. The reason: the inability to effectively manage change. Pretty amazing! Here's an even more sobering stat: 50-75% of change programs fail. (Forbes) The race is on to lead your organization through a digital facelift and if you aren't out there with your sneaks tightly laced up, you are already behind. What's the next move?

‘The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it and join the dance.’ -Phil Jackson”

The status quo which used to be your friend is now becoming a dangerous enemy. In fact in a recent article, Linda Boff(one of my favorite CMO's) of GE says that there is a bigger risk today by "sitting on the sidelines."  Why GE’s CMO Does Everything Your Brand is Afraid Of  It's clear that the CMO's agenda is fast becoming the company's agenda. The CMO role as defined even just 2 years ago is changing. So which levers should the modern day CMO pull? How should she or he handle what is rapidly becoming the most important role in determining whether a company crosses the digital divide in one piece? Here are some thoughts:

What does strategy mean in 2016? Strategy today can be intimidating  based on the rapidly changing market conditions. A.G. Lafley, P&G's CEO wrote a terrific book on the subject that you must read. In, Playing to Win  Lafley seeks to de mystify strategy simplifying it down to 'a set of choices about winning.'

“strategy is an integrated set of choices that uniquely positions the firm in its industry so as to create sustainable advantage and superior value relative to the competition.”

Excerpt From: A.G. Lafley & Roger L. Martin. “Playing to Win.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/P16jE.l

According to Lafley, strategy must answer the following questions: 1) what is your winning aspiration? 2) where will you play? 3) how will you win? 4) what capabilities must be in place? 5) what management systems are required? The CMO then is like a baseball manager sitting in the dugout making the moves needed to win the game on a daily basis. It is a series of chess moves taking into consideration the competition and the way the game has changed.

Innovation budgets need to increase- A recent Gartner study of marketing budgets revealed that innovation budgets on average are 10% of marketing spend. This figure needs to increase based on the rapid rate of change. A greater openneess to experimentation is key. Are you skating toward where the puck is going to be or chasing it from behind?  The great goal scorers, Gretzky, Ovechkin among them, are masters at anticipation.

Fast Always Wins- Speed and agility are critical. The CMO must put in place the framework for an active brand which can quickly interface with customers and effectively and rapidly serve them. The move to the chat platforms is one way marketing leaders are increasing speed.

By default, our brains are programmed to reject change and embrace what is comfortable. The 2016 CMO must be a visionary, yes, but also an egg cracker, a gifted speaker, salesperson, talent evaluator, recruiter, change agent and mad scientist. What else is needed? Let me know. How is it going for you? Are you hung up on 'best practices' or optimizing the status quo? If so, you could be in deep trouble. Just ask Sports Authority and Wet Seal. Who is doing it well out there? Are you on the sidelines? Or joining the dance? Send me your comments.

Dan Sixsmith is CMO @ Augmento, a Next Generation Digital Agency

He is VP @Alinean, Inc. a Value Marketing & Selling Agency

The Blog: "The Digital Advantage by Dan Sixsmith."

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