Marketing Shoelaces

No one seems exactly sure when, but shoelaces became popular sometime in the 20th century to better tighten shoes, replacing buckles and buttons (which were slow and cumbersome). 

Shoelaces are odd to me.  The technology exists today that we can manufacture any type of shoe, dress, casual or sport, without the need for shoelaces.  There is no need to tighten shoes, because the shoe itself can loosen or tighten, depending upon the need.  Take a shoe like this I just purchased from Sketchers.  I could wear this shoe for literally any situation. And no shoelaces.

But, millions of us still purchase and wear shoes with shoelaces. This is partly because of what our personal preferences are and partly because of what is available (and at the right price).

But mostly, we purchase shoes based on what we had before.  We like shoes we are used to.  We can handle a little change, but not too much. 

The same goes for our marketing plans.

Do you know what the single biggest indicator of what will be in our marketing plans for 2010 or the next year or the year after?  What you did the previous year.

And, you have a lot working to make sure things stay the same:

• Your agency and marketing partners don't like change very much.  They will convince you to tweak, but not radically change.
• A new plan means new convincing to higher ups.  Very challenging.
• Finding new experts and partners takes time and resources.
• The eternal thinking that buying IBM (insert tactic) never gets you fired (but in today's world, I wouldn't be so sure).

I Was in this Meeting

I've been in four companies in the last month where we were doing a mini-content audit (going through what was working and what isn't working in their content strategies). At every company, we came to a marketing tactic - an enewsletter, a white paper program, a pr schedule, etc., where I asked what it was and why they were doing it.

The answer: because we did it last year, but not sure exactly what it's doing.

Make the Promise

What are your marketing shoelaces?  What are those things that you are doing because you did them last year, or because that's what your company is used to doing?

Make the promise to start fresh this year.  Focus on what's working and what you can measure.  Focus on listening to your customers and stop listening to those people in your company that want to keep things exactly as they are.

Try some new shoes...you'll be surprised at the outcome.

Comments

[Stan Phelps]

Joe - great insight and I like the shoelace analogy.
There is a simple true-ism of life and that is . . ."People in life don't know what they like . . . they like what they know".
Our brains are hardwired to resist change.
One of the greatest things I learned in grad school was the premise that there should be a reason behind every rule. When the reason stops . . therefore should stop the rule.
A great example of this was the newlywed husband who asked his wife why she cut about a 1/5th of the roast off and threw it away before cooking it. She replied that that's what her mother always did. The next time the husband saw his mother in law he asked the same question about the roast. His mother in law replied matter of factly that it was what her mother always had done. That winter the couple had occasion to visit his wife's grandmother in Florida. During the visit he took the grandmother aside and asked her why she had cut 1/5th of the roast and threw it away. She explained that she always cut a portion of the roast because otherwise the roast wouldn't fit into her small roasting pan.

[Joe Pulizzi]

Great story Stan! Love it!

[ethnicomm]

Great post!

Another reason is that people are afraid of the unknown. They did something previously and the sky did not fall so it's safe to do it again. It takes work to convince a client to get out of their comfort zone. But like you say, it's about being consumer-oriented and critically evaluating what was done.

Future initiatives should include an objective and measureable outcome. Otherwise the following year they'll be in the same situation!

[Alexandra Spirer]

This is a great post and really makes me think about how we are marketing and portraying our company to others. We are constantly reevaluating our message, tweaking our site and looking at ways to be better.

Thank you for your great insights!