It's Not About the Channels. It's About the BIG IDEA.

I recently had the pleasure of hearing Clark Kokich, the Chairman of Razorfish, speak to a room of marketing professionals about today's age of marketing and how brands really need to DO SOMETHING to make a true impact. Ultimately his presentation surrounded the idea that we all need to rethink the way we look at marketing, customer service and sales. Here's a little snapshot of the topics and beliefs Kokich explored.

As with all brands, we all want our service or product to be considered a specialty. We may start at this end of the spectrum, but over time and with all the competition, we gradually move closer to being a commodity. The function of marketing is to help bring products/services/brands back to a being considered a specialty. We are looking to move to the left.

DO SOMETHING BIG. DO SOMETHING MEANINGFUL.

The old idea of marketing and advertising was to change perceptions. Our job now is to change reality. How do we do this? We have to DO SOMETHING. We have to create experiences that really matter. We can't think "how do we market your latest product or promotion"? We have to think differently. We have to find opportunities to really connect with our target audiences, giving them an experience unlike anything they could have imagined.

ASK DIFFERENT QUESTIONS

The tip to uncovering that next big idea lies in asking different questions. Get uncomfortable. Dig deeper. Ask customers what they like and dislike about your brand, your product, your service. How can you use this information to create a unique experience, change problem areas? What are your CEO's top three agenda items? Leadership has to be involved for BIG IDEAS to become reality. You also need to bring everyone together to find big ideas. Marketing doesn't always come up with the big idea on its own. The best ideas come from collaboration amongst teams (think sales, operations, customer service, marketing, executive leadership, product development).

Often times, marketers think about all the channels they need to employ to get their messages out before they think about coming up with the BIG IDEA. If you think big idea first, you can then think about which channels really make sense to get the big idea out in front of the right audiences.

Kokich shared a couple great examples of BIG IDEAS that really worked. These brands DID SOMETHING that really made a difference.

Take a look at VAIL Epic Mix

Nike Write the Future

Connect with Clark Kokich @clarkkokich. Check out his book, Do Or Die.