Experiment and have fun
Being a trendsetter means navigating through uncharted waters. With millions of dollars of media and brand equity at stake, we put huge amounts of trust in our vendors and partners to deliver our brand message.
Staying ahead of the trend curve can often mean working with smaller vendors with big ideas. Sometimes this means relying on people who you wouldn't normally turn to for brand strategy. Your 23-year-old assistant media planners may be a little green in the strategy department, but they sure know what's hot and what's not. Keeping your brand hot rather than not is your job, but they might have a little more insight into the trends than you do from your nice office.
When you are sitting in a room discussing your brand strategy and the new technologies at your disposal, don't be afraid to experiment. Metaverse Second Life is a virtual Wild West for pioneering marketers bold enough to explore this new frontier. John Edwards' SecondLife HQ may have been vandalized, but we'll learn to manage those hazards, just as we do in the real world. Other columnists, including Adam Broitman and Tom Hespos have provided some helpful guides on jumping in.
It's hard to teach "having fun." Unfortunately, the closest adage has to do with pornography: you can't define it, but you know it when you see it.
Sometimes you'll come up empty. But don't let that stop you. You can't win if you don't try. There are too many success stories to deny that having fun with your brand isn't a sound strategy. If done right, maybe you'll even land yourself a sitcom, like the Geico Caveman.
