by Erna George. Often the conversations between accountants or senior business executives and marketeers have gone around in circles: It’s the business voice asking, “What is the return on investment before we proceed with idea X?” vs the marketing plea, “But, if we wait, we will miss the opportunity to hit the mark.”
Good business requires a view of volume estimates, timings, business return, and other structured outputs and inputs to business processes, and sometimes this may feel like a straight-jacket to the creativity of marketing. I have sat on both sides — asking for more proof from my team vs asking someone to trust me, as sometimes not all things can be proven. These should not have to be at odds with each other.
Gut feel is critical
My view is that gut feel, in addition to the structured business requirements for effective management, is critical. Now, getting a more straight-laced accountant or fact-based MD seeking maximum growth to see this view, may be a challenge. As I have shifted from more doing to managing a portfolio of brands and team, I have found that I do need a slight security blanket of knowing that people’s gut feel is being fed with relevant information and inspiration on the world to remain relevant and reliable. Managing creativity within what feels like the confines of business planning, management and reporting is a reality marketeers face and may be balanced.
There are numerous ways to ensure inspiration and creativity. Some are tried and tested and expected, such as staying connected to market trends, competitors and consumers, or seeking stimulation from adjacent categories or markets. What I am interested in is how to engender creative approaches into daily behaviour in easy, bite-size chunks.
Some interesting habits that many great thinkers have suggested:
- Do not say “no” or “but” for an agreed timeframe in a meeting; rather say “and”. “And” allows one to build on an idea vs instantly shutting it down
- Beware of overthinking things, as great ideas will never be realised in the right timing
- Avoid excessive refining of an idea, as a watered-down stellar idea won’t deliver, reinforcing the view that ‘creative’ ideas must be interrogated or reined in always
(In fact, some ideas, even if they fit the brand positioning, require a leap of faith and, if the business has no appetite for the ‘risk’, it is far better to have the guts to delay the idea, or even reject it than to reduce it to a paler version of itself.)
Further options
Beyond these, I take a look at further options which may activate a fresh approach for you.
From time to time, I retreat to the “doing” aspect of marketing — an area of comfort after many years but not often where my skill is needed (as per my previous column on diverse skills). My team comes to me with new campaigns/ ideas/presentations to review, with a general request of “I just need your opinion on X/Y/Z,”) followed by a silence to hear a verdict. My response would often be to scrutinise and provide detailed feedback.
In recent interactions, I picked up a hesitance and withdrawal from the team. This reminded me of my own behaviour as a young brand manager, until one day my marketing manager asked what the problem was. I told her that, when the focus was mostly on the detail on colour, layout and spelling that I felt incompetent, that the idea was less than good and I was less motivated to try something new. Her response was if I clarified what I wanted from her, what role I wanted her to play, she would act accordingly. In absence of role clarity, she would provide feedback on the whole.
I admit I do not always check specifically what kind of feedback my team is needing from me, as the busier the day, the more I am on autopilot and rushed to get to the point most efficiently.
Context is vital
Jumping into execution details such as nitpicking on alignment really can erode trust in one’s gut feel or big idea. While brainstorming may help build ideas, the context in which it is done is vital. So too, in day-to-day more-mechanical interactions, is role clarity key, so as not to prune away at great ideas before they’ve had the opportunity to sprout. It may sound strange but the structure of having clear roles may harness creativity and foster progress.
On the flip side, seeking different viewpoints may ensure you develop a judgement measure that is based in business measures and steeped in creativity for an impactful brand performance. Mentors or wildcards are a great resource for this.
It’s been suggested to me that having a bank of wildcards to tap into ensures a thorough review that provides wings for ideas for growth and stretching into new territories. These wildcards include people from a variety of backgrounds, with highly distinct skill areas, who look at issues from an engineer’s bendy-process brain perspective or a financial ‘have you considered’ perspective or acreative director pushing the boundaries. Using a wildcard as ‘consultant’ and thinking partner, or just having an interaction where you can hear your ideas out aloud, allows you to consider it from a different angle. What really helps is if they have no stake in the project, so they can simply ask obvious questions or push thinking with probes.
Lastly, we all know the adage: if you do what you have always done, you’ll get what you always got — a rehash of the same idea, safe and tried-and-tested territory. You need to reboot your brain to get a truly fresh perspective. If we focus solely on our brands, we see a warped view, where the brand occupies a disproportionately large role in the world. Sometimes you need to forget your brand and unlearn the norms you naturally revert to.
The power of time off
Imagine not being in the thick of the business and brand framework, but just being able to think on something fundamentally different. This is called the “power of time off” and I heard on Cape Talk about two South African creatives who have taken a year off to do “collect experiences, not things” and are travelling the world, doing odd jobs to make ends meet (including shovelling manure). Hearing them speak, they are energised and I can imagine their perspective has been shifted.
While it is not feasible to take a year off each time you need to nurture creativity, the bad habits of working through lunch and talking to colleagues 24/7 about your brands will not help. It is the reason I often used to play FreeCell at times during the work day and now I wonder why I don’t do so anymore? While working in a different environment like your favourite coffee shop mayhelp, resetting your thinking needs a complete shift away from work, even for 20 minutes, to allow your brain and self to focus on and learn something new.
Balancing the rigour of business, which gives roots, and creative, which provides wings, is an opportunity to grow yourself and your brand. To do this:
- Ensure roles of stakeholders are clear in the creative process to ensure ideas are not killed with focus on minor admin details
- Say yes to wildcards and replace “but” with “and”
- Reset thinking with the power of time off
Go on, try one change a week!
Erna George is the new marketing executive of Pioneer Foods’ Cereals & Other division. She has worked on both client and agency sides with diverse brands and categories — from FMCG, alcohol and agriculture to financial services and entertainment — in countries across many geographies, including South Africa, Mozambique, Nigeria, Kenya, India, Philippines and Brazil. She contributes the monthly “Fair Exchange” column, concerning business relationships and partnerships in marketing and brandland, to MarkLives.
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