It’s Friday afternoon, so I hope you’re all putting the finishing touches on a productive week and cruising into a relaxing weekend with family and friends. And I don’t know—hobbies?
But I expect you’re wrapping up an already 60-hour week by frantically trying to finish enough of the high-priority, super-urgent, ASAP tasks on your plate to justify delaying the remainder to whichever parts of your weekend you habitually allocate to work.
Now for investment bankers and medical residents, perhaps this lifestyle is defensible. But for marketers, this level of habitual overwork crushes our ability to think creatively and strategically.
Recently, a brand manager overseeing a new product launch for a top-5 beer company told me that he had spent $10,000 to build his website. And he hadn’t requested additional budget for next year.
My first instinct was to patiently explain—in small words—the new marketing realities. Circa 1999.
Accelerating change!
Disruption!
Big Data!
Singularity!
<Insert buzz word here>!
After all, I’m a digital technologist. I have spent years working with visionary Chief Marketing Officers to build digital marketing ecosystems that drive huge measurable returns for their organizations.
But during a very short conversation—in which the brand manager was the one using the small words—he convinced me that the web really didn’t matter to his business.
