Faith is powerful. Faith can motivate people to accomplish incredible things. Faith can pull people through difficult situations. Faith can provide hope in times of trouble and solace in times of pain. Faith keeps me from worrying whether the sun will come up tomorrow or whether the winter will eventually turn to spring. Having someone say “I have faith in you,” means something. Having their actions reflect that faith means even more. Faith is generally viewed as a very positive thing, at least I view it to be so.
However, there are times when faith can cause problems, especially when it comes to marketing. Blind faith in your marketing assumes that what worked yesterday will continue to work today and that what works today will continue to work tomorrow. Many brands fall into this trap, clinging to the old ways of doing things, in spite of a clearly changing world. This blind faith approach to marketing can be deadly – See Kodak, Hostess, & Saab for real examples.
My advice: When it comes to your marketing don’t rely on faith, but rather on analysis, reason, logic, information and imagination to guide you. It has never been easier to communicate with people. There has never been so much information so readily available to you. There have never been more potential ways to surprise, delight, dazzle, and excite the people you serve or hope to serve.
Faith is very good. Faith plus data, analysis, strategy, and creativity is much better. The brilliant W. Edwards Deming said it best. “In God we trust, all others bring data.” The point is that modern marketing demands an iterative approach, one that requires you to constantly pay attention and be prepared to quickly take action. Gone are the days of blind faith. Here is the age of test, measure, prove, and improve.
Can you figure out how to manage the new complexity of marketing? Can you navigate the changing landscape and learn a new way to be successful? Can you use the tools and technology at your disposal to become more innovative and successful? Of course you can. I have faith in you.
