Jerome Cohen, CEO of Off Limit Communications, says 2020 has presented an unexpected curveball for Adland. Fundamentally, the core of experiential marketing agencies is human contact. Take that away and a business is not only brought to its knees but is on its death bed. Cohen shares insights that will encourage businesses to stay strong and finish strong, even in tough times.
Failure
In times of crisis like these, it is a necessity to learn fast from our failure, since it is a key ingredient to success. The question is how to keep improving and innovating. But what does innovating really mean? Innovating means to find ways to add more value.
Breath
The thing that destroys everything is a feeling of helplessness. You start to believe that the problem is permanent and that it is impossible to solve. That mechanism happens when you feed your fear with limited belief until it is fully developed into the wrong habit. However, in reality, no problems are permanent. The best solution is gratitude: you cannot be grateful and helpless at the same time.
The takeout is that resilience is key: ‘become one of the few who do versus the many who complain.’ Focus on how to turn a negative situation into a positive one. You have to crush any limitations and change your belief system into one that gets you the right skills. The goal is to stretch yourself and learn to be optimistic.
If your business could talk, what would it say?
Any crisis comes with massive opportunities. You have to start by asking the right questions, for example, ‘If your business could talk, what would it say?’ Get clear on what you really want and where you really are. You have got to be clear and detailed to stay focused on the end goal. From there it is all about staying committed. Ask the following questions: Where are we at? Where do we want to be? What needs to be done to get there? So, getting clarity and focusing on the future will create the right momentum which, in our current situation, is absolutely key. Remember, motivation will only come with action.
Where to next?
1. First you have to know who your ideal client is – someone who will love your product and your innovation. But most importantly, you need to fall in love with your client’s offering, that is how you keep changing and adapting to their needs.
2. The second most critical aspect is to ‘add more value’ and having an ‘irresistible offer’. Increase your client base by creating ‘raving fans’ and sell the problem you solve, not the product. A satisfied customer is the best strategy of all. Then, implement an aggressive new client acquisition plan to level up additional clients against the bigger ones. Do not stay dependent on anyone.
3. Lastly, it is key to seed a strong identity, a culture that fits your vision i.e: the ways of working to uplift team spirit and awareness of one another. The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership – if everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.
If you want a new year and a better business, you do not need to start on the 1st of January, start today – get disciplined to shift everything else. The secret of success is what we do daily and how we push ourselves.
