Any launch is an exercise in planning, timing, creativity, and improvisation. Legacy marketers may shudder at the last element, but the need to improvise is often the key to a successful launch.  Recently, while wrapping up an international product launch, I stopped by a bookstore at the airport in Frankfurt, Germany. By habit, I went over to the business section and began thumbing through a marketing book, one that was published by a well-known business magazine. It positioned marketing as some orderly, recipe-structured process: just follow these steps and you’ll be successful with your products. Trying to be open minded and warding off a visceral, negative reaction, I thumbed through a few more chapters. No change on my end; the author clearly spent his time on the bench and hadn’t experienced action on the field when the best laid plans don’t work and require organizations to think on their feet and improvise.

Good marketing does require good planning, but great marketing adds real-time, event-driven tactical response, which may well decide the championship. Sure, you can have a detailed and exhaustive playbook, but what if your competition (or your customers) don’t fit into a play? You can’t run back to the locker room. Be good with your playbook, but be great with your improvisation on the field.

Rob Ciampa

Photo Credit: The Pennsylvania State University

So if brand is so important, why are we seeing some of the strongest ones tumble? Because brands are incredibly fragile. Just look at Tiger Woods and Toyota as recent examples. The fallout is not just to the brand-owners but to those who derive ancillary benefit. Tiger Woods’ sponsors are leaving because the brand actually has negative value and it impacts them. Personally, I love watching Tiger play and I enjoy hopping into my Toyota SUV and driving through the New England snow. I’m disheartened by both recent events.

The brand equity ascent is slow and arduous; the descent is fast and dangerous. Paraphrasing a former business partner of mine:

If you’re not careful, you can go from a hero to a has-been in heartbeat.

How true. Is it more challenging these days to protect a brand? Absolutely. The velocity of communications and the acceleration effects of social media leave little time to react.  And remember: bad news is like gasoline and good news is like water – all it takes is one strike of a match.

Is there a cure? Not entirely, but integrity sure goes a long way. Not just integrity from the start (Tiger Woods) but also integrity when dealing with and addressing problems as they arise (Toyota). We’ll see how they (and many others) try to regain their brand equity. Much, however, depends on whether those of us who benefit will remain loyal.

Rob Ciampa