Courage to Fail

Today I had the honor to attend a DMIX lunch as the guest of a current member.  If you ever have the opportunity to go to one of their events don't miss it.  This is not your typical organization.  The DMIX is an exclusive member only group consisting of marketing thought leaders.  I look forward to one day having the possibility of being asked to join the group. 

Today's speaker was Carla Hendra, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Ogilvy North America and she was excellent.  One of her points which resonated with me was that marketing today is about Accountability and Optimization.  This has always been true in direct marketing but now more then ever it is a fact of marketing.  Marketers need to account for every dollar spent and constantly optimize their efforts.  Her point was that these activities are one and the same.  I see how these activities are related but in my mind they are not the same.  Your marketing efforts can be profitable and generate ROI and still have room for optimization.  If you get a lazy marketer (I know there are none...) it is possible to let the same profitable effort run without ever testing or changing anything.  This led to two additional points. 

1. You need the courage to fail - not everything is going to work and be successful.
2. Set aside 15% of your marketing budget for testing and identify what you are going to test then do it.  It is the old adage.  People don't plan to fail, they fail to plan.

Do you think about accountability, optimization, testing and do you have the courage to fail?  If you don't, watch out the marketing world is going to pass you by.

What do you think are the important elements in today's fast changing marketing world?

Josef Katz