Industry Info

Who Moved My Cheese?

Reinventing yourself must may be the single most important skill you can develop to survive 2009 and beyond.

Last year, a friend of mine loaned me a little book that most of you have probably heard of, or read.  Its called “Who Moved My Cheese” and is an entertaining commentary on what happens to people who cannot reinvent themselves in the face of crisis (in this case, the cheese a mouse had been storing/eating had been moved and now we was going hungry).

Like the mouse in the story, many of us have likely had something important taken away from us (income, customers, restful sleep, etc.) due to the recent economic meltdown.  We can obviously continue doing what we’ve always done and expect different results — or we can reinvent ourselves, our business, our value proposition, or our worldview.   Instead of selecting new year’s resolutions from the usual list — why not pick one area of your life where you’re scared to do something different, step out of the boat (a little reference to the Apostle Peter), or approach your business from a different perspective?  So you got up one morning and realized your cheese (comfortable lifestyle) just got turned upside down — now what?  What one thing are you going to reinvent in 2009?

We have the unique opportunity to work with many traditional advertising agencies who are trying to reinvent themselves so we are continually asking “what if” questions.  We look at organization structures, job titles, service models, new vertical industries, sales models, and the like.  It struck our team the other day that this introspective discourse requires us to question everything — leaving no stone unturned.  But what about the guy sitting in his corporate marketing job just trying to dodge the next layoff?   Maybe he thinks that he can work a few more hours, save the company a few bucks, do that little something extra and he’ll be OK.

Hey, nobody wakes up and says “hey — I think I’ll have a heart attack today.”  We don’t control what life throws at us; we can only control how we react to it.  So 2009 is going to stink economically (and probably 2010 also)…..get over it.   Its time to throw out convention and innovate your marketing.  When people are scared, they turn to trusted sources for comfort and that means friends.  Has your brand been one of those “interruption marketers?”  Are you a stranger to your prospects, or are you engaging them?  Maybe its time to get out there and meet your customers on their terms and be transparent.   Whether its online or in the community — build sincere relationships, rededicate yourself to delivering on your brand promise, start paying attention to those loyal customers for whom you’ve done nothing over the years.

Who knows — you may just find more cheese.

Tags: innovation, marketing strategy