THE HIGHLIGHTS
Leading through crises: Tips from Marketing Week’s Top 100 marketers
While it seems like the world is ricocheting from one crisis to another, a panel of Marketing Week's Top 100 marketers discussed how to keep a cool head
“One of the things teams need in times of uncertainty is a leader who can bring clarity and a level of calm confidence.”
There might be a few outside the marketing community who also need to hear this assertion by British Heart Foundation chief marketing and fundraising officer Claire Sadler, but in this instance it was directed at an audience of senior marketers at the Festival of Marketing. She joined a panel of fellow honourees of this year's Marketing Week Top 100 list of the UK's most effective marketers.
Confidence is not an easy thing to come by in this economic climate. For established brands with consistency and legacy to lean on, it is perhaps easier to steady the ship. For brands that are in a process of evolution, they are buffeted by two forces - internal and external. It’s something that Gousto CMO Tom Wallis is only too aware of.
“We’re planning next year and things are going to be uncertain. We cannot predict with the same certainty we had in the past about revenue and customer behaviour. More and more I’m focusing on letting people know what’s changing, what budgets are [going to be].”
Key to navigating these choppy waters seems to be looking for the bits of certainty that can be locked in. That’s why understanding budget realities is so important for Wallis. Being able to confirm the fixed budget elements as soon as possible means his team can then think realistically about the flexible components. And, he says, being “prudent” with them doesn’t just give him flexibility to move with the market, it helps build that all-important trust with the rest of the business.
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British Heart Foundation's Claire Sadler on scenario planning
Rachel Eyre, chief customer and marketing officer at Morrisons, underlined the importance of keeping the business on board with marketing plans, noting that she is “a trusted partner of the finance team”.
Andria Vidler, EMEA CEO of global production house Tag, which sponsored the panel session and this year's Top 100 list, was clear about what she has needed from her leadership teams at a number of points in her career: “What you should expect from a good marketer is to be absolutely aligned with the business strategy. This means working incredibly closely with the finance director to look and plan for the worst-case scenario. That’s where CEOs feel most comfortable; you don’t want any surprises – unless they’re good ones.”
But what do you do when the data doesn’t tell a pretty story? Vidler insisted “honesty is the best policy”.
“If there’s a tough answer that needs to be given to a question, then just say it. Everyone needs to understand the business truth, and rumours start from anywhere so you might as well be transparent with your teams. The whole business needs to feel that they understand the strategy and how it may have changed in light of expectations. Transparency comes in sharing how the company is going to manage its way through.”
In tough economic times and volatile markets, it may seem like budgets, strategies and marketing plans are constantly in flux. But all the speakers noted that there are several constants that marketers and leaders can cleave to, even when it’s rough out there.
Wallis noted that Gousto tries to stay on top of trends and look at what the brand can do differently, with regard to adjusting targeting or positioning but “not necessarily the whole brand”. Eyre pointed out that, for a supermarket at least, the festive period always demands intense focus, no matter the economic climate.
“Christmas is Christmas. Holding your nerve… in uncertainty there is also [a source of] certainty,” she said.
Knowing your stuff, holding the line and not sugar-coating or patronising the business were the key watchwords throughout the panel session. Eyre concluded that companies are largely staffed and led by “grown-ups” who are smart and engaged.
“They can handle it.”◆
“We cannot predict with the same certainty we had in the past about revenue and customer behaviour.”
— Tom Wallis, Gousto