Plan? We Don’t Need No Stinking Plan!

May 27, 2010 on 8:34 am | In Brand, Branding, DC (digital colleague), Jason Falls, Jay Ehret, Marketing, Rodger Johnson, Tom Pick | 4 Comments

Now that technology has rendered every moment a marketing moment, how do you develop a plan in which you can have any confidence? That’s the question posited by colleague Scott Hepburn recently and I thought it was a good subject for this blog to tackle.

I’ll admit to you that I am a planner. I believe in setting strategy first and then letting the strategy dictate the tactics. I believe that if you have done the thinking upfront, you’ll be ready for serendipity or crisis if they arise.

Or as General Dwight D. Eishenhower once said, “plans are nothing; planning is everything.” What I believe Eisenhower was saying is that you must plan your attack but once the shooting starts you must have the flexibility to handle the unexpected. So, I’m on the same page with him, as is Rodger Johnson, who says, “focus on the important interactions and let research reveal those.”

Jason Falls appends Eisenhower’s thoughts, “hire smart people who can make plan-based decisions on the fly.”

“A marketing plan is built around a sustainable, true brand,” says Jay Ehret. “Trying to build a marketing plan that accounts for every interaction is sure to lead to a convoluted, cumbersome plan with a heavy reliance on tactics. However, if you build a plan around being and living your brand, then you are prepared for every interaction, because you are being the brand you promised to be.”

According to Tom Pick,  social media and marketing are distinctly different. “Marketing plans are for marketing.  Social media guidelines are for providing basic guidance for interactions from other functional groups.”

That’s what we say. What do you think?

Other Posts Of Interest

  • http://mediaemerging.com/about/ Scott Hepburn

    So much of getting business done comes from having people who can make decisions. Jason’s right on.

    Here’s why flexibility is so crucial to marketing: Your customers don’t share your plan! Orchestrate and plan all you want, you’ll never get all of your customers to walk in a straight line. They’re quirky, rebellious, unique, self-oriented individuals.

    Marketing can’t just be about herding people toward a desired behavior or outcome. You need to be more opportunistic than that. See a need, fill it. Who cares if it doesn’t fit the marketing map? Who cares if it doesn’t achieve the prescribed objective? More good comes of solving a problem than of whacking someone upside the head with your marketing plan.

  • http://www.ifactory.com Lori LoTurco

    Great post! It’s not about the plan–it’s about PLANNING. I’m not so certain I agree with social media and marketing being distinctly different, however. I believe firmly in trusting in and living your brand–and that translates across all mediums. Being able to roll with the punches is absolutely necessary–planning versus developing a plan, and subsequently responding to whatever unfolds, can result from both social media and more traditional marketing efforts.

  • http://www.my-creativeteam.com Harry Hoover

    Thanks, Scott and Lori for your comments.

  • Pingback: Who Needs a Stinking Plan? You Do. | Get Social PR

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