If your marketing system doesn’t sound like a science lab, it might be why it’s frustrating you so much.
Too many marketing leaders treat marketing like arts and crafts—light on the planning, heavy on the doing, deep in the feelings.
Ain’t nobody got time for that.
That’s why, in my experience, the best-performing, fastest-growing brands take the scientific method to heart when leading their marketing. But it needs some structure, or else it reverts back to arts and crafts.
Here’s how I do it:
Start with the aspiration state, IOW the insane vision you have for the company. I don’t care how big it is, double it.
Then, extract all WEEO (Whim, Ego, Emotion, Option) from the strategy and planning room. There is no room in strategic planning for WEEO; instead, make it objective and clear what matters most to the brand (it can’t be just money), and align that with what matters most to your customers.
Congrats, you’ve made it objective and clear. Now, weigh every decision against the simple question: Is this what’s best for the brand and our future customers? A no is a no, and yes is a yes. No WEEO.
Now you have intrinsic and extrinsic clarity, along with your big ass aspirational state. The last step, and where you really get to lean in on experimentation, is what I call: The Optimization of Aspirations™.
You Optimize for Aspirations™ by optimizing every damn thing you do every day —in all aspects of the business, in all interactions with the customer and your community —all of it —to look, sound, act, and be that aspirational state—all day, every day, you must improve and make progress towards the goal.
It doesn’t need to be perfect; in fact, you must avoid perfection, it’s a lying bastard. Instead, get things to good enough (you set the bar, control the things you can control), then send. Here, we learn, adapt, pivot, and improve. Science and innovation!
Sure, you won’t get to that 9-figure brand vibe overnight or even this year, but it gives you a roadmap to get there. Because, after all, your brand is your reputation; if you don’t look and act like a $100mm brand, you’ll never become one.
