The first three articles discussed
how Id-Positioning can turnaround consumer behavior. This article and the next discus how
the same human resistance to change manifests itself inside the
corporate structure - and what your marketing strategy can do about it.
TURF WARS.
The struggle for turf is as
old as life itself.
Forests, families, and corporate food chains thrive on a never-ending battle for
power, prestige, and rewards. Top management may warmly embrace new
marketing strategy ideas, but
the bureaucracy and line employees resist change.
Good ideas often die
young,
especially if they require some sort of change in the way you do business.
The corporate Ego says, "Yes!", but the institutional Id says,
"No way!"
Mediocre ads that protect the status
quo often survive all attempts to kill them off. Predictably,
they continue to produce
mediocre results.
Customers,
of course, couldn't care less how hard Sales or Operations has to work to
deliver on a new marketing strategy. Customers are only
interested in their own turf!
Protecting
turf is entirely natural. Pine
trees drop needles to smother competitors. Lions stake out miles of
hunting ground. What does your dog do every ten yards when you take
him for a walk? Is there any reason to think Humans won't behave
instinctively just like any other animal? Cooperation between
departments or other corporate factions requires the players to
give up turf. Or does it?
PULL UP TURF!
Sometimes the
marketing strategy
itself must solve persistent internal conflicts. A campaign can be
structured to persuade Sales and Marketing, for example, to work together. A
Big Idea can often induce corporate in-fighters to set aside their squabbles, or abandon time-honored customs.
Sometimes invertising can even ameliorate protracted battles between
management and labor.
Five
Examples.
Dice.com
Aetna/Partners National Health Plans
Mello Yello
Eastern Airlines
You
Write Marketing Strategy Seminar
