WHY DO MAJOR STRATEGIC PROJECTS OFTEN FALL FLAT?
Some say that management initiatives are unsuccessful because they don't engage the consumer. Often quoted are failure rates for new product development. But the reality is that the bulk of rejection is suffered before consumers are ever exposed to new ideas. The major hurdle is in motivating and exciting internal stakeholders.
Successful initiatives need committed and vocal advocates, especially amongst senior management – they need to inspire and create possibility. Not surprisingly, management are not unlike consumers – you can share all the spreadsheets and the rational argument for why this is a good idea but what gets them really animated is something creative that captures the spirit of the potential.
Something that stimulates the heart as well as the head.
WASTED MANAGEMENT TIME. MISSPENT MONEY.
At Haines, we specialise in translating strategy and insights into creative material in ways that excite organisations to get behind projects. A major issue for businesses is the waste of management time and money on stalled initiatives, or repeatedly revisiting opportunities that are well recognised but never quite nail the concept. Large companies are awash with such inefficiencies. Here are some typical examples of how they become obstructed and run out of steam:
Research
Segmentation models that are so complicated, an organisation struggles to translate the findings into actionable conclusions across positioning, innovation or comms.
Management alignment
Organisations that use lengthy written descriptions of their vision to encourage personnel to act in new ways, but fail to motivate their people.
Brand positioning
Models with a lot of boxes to fill in that describe what a brand is supposed to be like, but act as a straight-jacket rather than inspire agencies to produce good creative work.
CREATIVITY IS THE UNLOCK TO INSPIRE ACTION AND GALVANISE TEAMS
We live in a world that is saturated in imagery. Brands act as beacons or symbols that help us to navigate this world. Creativity is the means by which we can populate it. The successful players are businesses that understand the role that creative materials play in defining and capturing emotive meaning and inspiring clients and their suppliers to act.
Creativity has not traditionally been embraced by market research companies. Instead, results of major strategic projects like consumer segmentation studies are often presented back to clients in impenetrable, dense research reports and data. Making it extremely difficult for insight, brand and marketing teams to communicate findings throughout the organisation and failing to get their organisation to buy into and utilise the findings.
At Haines, we don’t just uncover insight, we land it, by bringing it to life in highly creative and innovative ways and then communicate it throughout your organisation so it’s understood.
For more insights, or to learn how Haines can help unlock research and strategy with creativity, get in touch at Hayley.Roe@hainesmcgregor.co.uk
