Bold marketing. It’s the thing that everyone wants. But the reality is that most people aren’t willing to take the necessary risks, and it’s scary to do something that hasn’t been done before. But no one ever hit a home run without taking big swings.
Being a pioneer always involves some risk. But if there’s one thing that most strong marketers share, it’s a willingness to take big swings. They search for new and unexpected ways to make an impact in the industry.
These kinds of big ideas often get pushback because they make us uncomfortable. They often straddle the line between the known and the unknown, causing us to question assumptions about ourselves or our culture. They might cause us to ask, “how on earth can we get that done?”
When you take a bold direction, expect pushback. It’s often a sign that your idea is good. If you can stay brave in the face of fear, and back up your recommendation with sound strategy and customer insights, you’ll be able to bring more, better and wilder marketing ideas to life.
Challenging ideas often make us uncomfortable, and not every member of your organization will be ready to push outside their comfort zone. Stay brave. Whether you’re launching a new product or rethinking your corporate strategy, stand strongly behind your best ideas, and don’t let a great direction get watered down by fear.
Success is never a guarantee. I encourage you to lean into the challenging and the unexpected. Push yourself, your stakeholders and your brand to venture where others are too nervous to go. You might be surprised what you’ll find, and how willing your audiences are to follow along.
Check out some examples of brands (and one whole nation) and ideas that pushed beyond the expected. Remember the fearless leaders who brought them to life when advocating for bold ideas in your organization.
Ditching the word donuts may have seemed absurd to some leaders of the popular pastry and coffee chain when it was first proposed. But when they decided to change their focus to beverages, and they won big with a shift that reflected changing consumer trends. While they didn’t completely abandon their roots, the new strategy has made them a leading beverage brand.
How could a picture of a moldy burger ever help fill lobbies with craving customers? The award-winning campaign was created to promote the lack of preservatives in their food. It was a bold choice—one that at first didn't look like the right one. In fact, traffic did drop. But that changed quickly. If leaders at Burger King hadn’t stayed brave in the face of criticism, they would not have seen the resulting 14% spike in sales.
A tagline without a product benefit? The last-minute addition of a line at the end of the Wieden + Kennedy-produced spot led to what is now one of the most iconic brand elements in modern advertising. Today, Nike and their Just Do It tagline are practically synonymous with sports. Nike had the courage to lean into a message that talks to its audience rather than about their products, and the result is branding history.
Another inspiring example comes from outside of marketing. By the 1970s, the Netherlands saw skyrocketing rates of personal car ownership. But today, the country’s name is practically synonymous with cycling. How did it happen? Bravery. Spurred on by grassroots movements and a major fuel shortage, forward-thinking elected officials made the decision to transform their streets and never wavered—even in the face of doubt.
Bravery is vital, but it’s important to listen when the feedback gets too loud to ignore. When making big leaps, be sure your direction is aligned with your audiences. Here two noteworthy examples.
When Cracker Barrel decided to modernize and simplify its nearly 50-year old logo, the changes tossed out what customers resonated with most: a sense of nostalgia and belonging. It might well be time for Cracker Barrel to make some updates. But for much of its core audience, the dramatic changes signaled a departure from comforting familiarity.
We love a well-executed cultural ad as much as the next person. But when Pepsi’s 2017 commercial suggested that sharing a Pepsi could cure social injustice, it landed about as well as a bug on a windshield. While it’s important to push the boundaries, and being a beacon of unity in trying times could have paid off powerfully for the brand, it came across as shallow and tone deaf. Be careful of hot topics. They may offer more risk than reward.
Once you’ve aligned on a strategy, stand behind it with a strong rationale and don’t let doubt cloud the way. Follow these tips to navigate the waters when big marketing moves.
If you’re not getting pushback, you’re not pushing boundaries. Some of the best marketing steps in history have leaned into surprising and challenging ideas to spread their message. And if you’re not hearing any pushback, whether internal or external, it might be a sign that you’re not strongly differentiating your brand.
Lead conversations with a strong perspective. When you get feedback, understand who is giving it and why. Is the idea pushing them out of their comfort zone? Or is the idea disconnected from an audience insight or a core value of your brand? Take it when it’s helpful but don’t let decision by committee dilute what makes your idea powerful.
Asset creation and brand updates present numerous opportunities for a strong concept to go off track. idea to lose its thread. If you’ve communicated your strategy clearly, your teams should be on board. Always have a strong plan for transmitting to the broader organization to prevent dilution.
Execution can also open the door for doubtful voices to put their mark on the process. Try to head this off by creating clear strategic guardrails before delegating and provide teams with comprehensive briefs to help everyone stay on target.
You won’t always be there to tell the story, so set up the groundwork well before your plan goes live. If you’re undertaking a major branding or strategy change, arm your sales teams with materials and talking points to bring direct customers on board. Pair it with a detailed PR plan well before launch. You have strong strategic reasons for your decisions, but key audiences may not see the same data you do.
At the beginning, there’s often a swell of excitement. But as time goes on, teams may reflexively lean back into what’s most comfortable for them—not what’s right for the brand.
One issue we often see is with innovative strategic moves. Where these falter over time is with growing teams or turnover. When new hires come in, especially experienced ones with strong opinions, they need to be brought up to speed on the “why” behind the decisions you’ve made. Skipping this step leads to confusion and misalignments in your brand executions.
Bold ideas can spark big results. Don’t shy away from challenging the status quo. Great things can be worth fighting for, and creating something new requires courage.
Arm your teams with clear rationale, have a plan for communicating to key stakeholders and move forward fearlessly.
To break through in today’s incredibly crowded marketplace, your audience needs to feel something—and sense marketing is one stellar way to rise above the noise. Learn how companies are employing colors, signature sounds, live events and other multi-sensory experiences to forge a bond with their audiences and make their brand impossible to forget.
AI may offer speed. But what does it sacrifice in terms of brand trust? With more consumers struggling to discern what’s real, Executive Creative Director Anita Holman explores why keeping human connectivity in the mix enhances brand trust by boosting the perception of authenticity.
Brands are eager to partner with social media creators—in fact, 59% of marketers plan to boost their investment in influencers. But too many are chasing follower counts and eyes on the product instead of doing the leg work to find the right fit. Learn the five questions you should be asking in order to find the perfect influencer-brand match so you can reap the marketing rewards.