The world of marketing and communications is complex and ever changing. The particular needs of your industry and audience targets are moving quickly. At the same time, your competition is working to reinvent themselves and potentially your category. How do you see clearly? How do you avoid the traps that reduce what you can see as possibilities?
See the world around you with clarity
The key is to optimize your field of vision – also called your field of view. Field of vision is loosely defined as the way your world is observable at any given moment. There are many things that might impact your field of view. Seemingly, the key is to add clarity to your view in order to make the best decisions possible with the observable information at hand.
Allow me to offer three things to look out for in strategic conversation that will immediately narrow your field of vision and potentially put the brakes on creative solutions. As you review the ideas below, picture yourself in a meeting as you evaluate a new marketing or sales initiative. Consider what happens to innovation when lines of thinking like this surface.
Three statements that limit your field of vision
1. “Been there. Done that.”
We’ve all been in a situation where an idea is being considered and someone in the room says, “We did that last year. It didn’t work.” That may certainly be true. There may be good reasons not to repeat history.
However, the variables and circumstances are too varied for an idea to be discarded. Why did it not work? What is different today from the last time? Might the idea be executed in a different way and improved upon?
No idea is a bad idea when you are considering options. Don’t automatically narrow what you can see because of the past. Be open and ready to respond to what the present need is with any idea.
2. “The sales force said …”
Using the sales force as a primary source of customer research can be risky. Years ago I had a client who changed their literature because of how the sales force wanted to talk about the product – instead of considering what the customer needed to know. It turned out to be more technical than the customers wanted. Then, a new piece had to be created to augment the first.
Take cues from all audiences, internal and external. However, if you close off options because any aspect of your distribution channel asks for it, your level of customer advocacy may go down.
3. “I never use that. Our customers don’t either.”
When you find someone is taking personal preference and projecting it on customer preference, nip that in the bud as soon as you can. This is especially true with technology options for reaching customers. The demographic changes in how people prefer to receive information shift dramatically with every generation. As you are envisioning possibilities of what you might see and consider, try not to allow personal opinions to redirect strategic options.
Make the horizon as clear as you envision
Trust me there are many more than the three impediments listed above. However, these are good starting points.
The process of being creative encounters headwinds at every turn. If you find yourself trying to look ahead, be on the lookout for things that will narrow your field of vision. The cost of narrowing your observable view is that you may miss a really good opportunity to break through and stand out in your market segment.
- Mike
