Fast times – Group 3 Marketing

According to Robert Safian, in the February issue of Fast Company, “Modern business is in pure chaos. But those who adapt will succeed.” We agree with the idea that success will come from adapting to the changing marketplace. However, we are not ready to embrace the idea that business is in chaos.

This week’s Ah-ha! moment suggests that we are doing business in fast times and we cannot slow down because change is constant and we should expect to be whipsawed by economic, social and technological change. In fast times, experts say we lose control. We disagree and believe that we can plot our own business destiny. Growth is possible in fast, turbulent times.

Last week we spoke of agile decision making – and that was before we read Fast Company. Safian was right about the need to adapt. We are taking this idea a step further by reinforcing the need to be agile. Heavyweight fighter Muhammad Ali set the stage for 2012 marketing when he said we have to “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.”

Fast times require all of us to reinvent ourselves as well as our processes. ANYTHING STATIC IS VULNERABLE. The quest for solid business rules is pointless since we will constantly be rethinking them. We were not kidding when we said to write your business plans in pencil.

We want to be cautious in these fast times and not to leap into a rebranding or reinvention strategy as the quick fix to meet the challenges of this new marketplace. This is a common misconception. Many brands have lost their focus on their customers and the result is the beginning of a downward spiral. Netflix offers a classic example of changing its business mission, according to Safian’s article. Its initial focus was delivering a better, simpler consumer experience and it was wildly successful. Then, with the shift to the now ill-fated Qwikster product, the company lost focus on the customer experience and began to see itself as a first-mover technology leader more than a leader of consumer-focused experiences.

At last week’s NRF convention, the buzz was a step backward to discussions about loyalty marketing along with engagement marketing and customer centricity. In fast times, we sense this is a step backward and it is a good feeling. At the same, we worry that too many brands do not understand what this means.

The Marketing Implications

At the NRF convention, CMO Peter Sachse of Macy’s said, “We don’t need new customers. We need to keep the ones we have and get more out of them.” Here’s an epiphany for you, Peter: We have been preaching this for the last 20 years. Somewhere in every one of the last 398 issues, we have made a reference to the need to put your customers at the heart of your business. We focus on retention. We focus on organic growth. We coined the concept of underperforming guests, customers or patrons. And even though Macy’s has its Star Rewards program, which is weak at best, its primary go-to-market strategy is based on the art of the sale. Macy’s has what Mark Johnson at Loyalty 360 calls the “acquisition mentality without expectation mentality,” and Johnson says that is very detrimental to the brand.

In fast times, the focus has to be squarely on the customer. Marketing has to be agile and understand the multiple forces that continually impact the brand. Marketing has to follow these three rules:

Technology is about understanding your customers and not just about how we can communicate with them. We have shifted our focus too tightly on MARCOM and not enough on data mining to gain insight about our customers.
We will never really know our customers, even when we ask them. We don’t know what is best for them. They are not in our orbit; we are in their orbits, and if we do not perform and meet their expectations we will be pushed out of their orbits and replaced by competitors.
Fast times demand fast learning. There is no status quo. Marketing has to involve itself internally and externally with the marketplace and lead the process of change. Marketing is not an island. It’s the centerpiece of the organization and it’s time to lead.

This week, try to get a handle on how fast your market is moving and whether your brand is keeping up. You cannot slow it down but you can speed up and take control of it.

Have a fantastic week.

Bart Foreman and the Group 3 Marketing Team