Is Your Marketing Too Safe?

From the Fresh Fuel Blog:

Let's recount some of the recent events of the past couple of days ... the economy is in trouble, Congress votes to not help troubled Wall Street, Americans lose trillions in the stock market and the economy is now in deep trouble. With all this trouble who even wants to think of risk ... instead let's do whatever is safe.

Is this how we should think, does playing it safe keep us from trouble? Perhaps the answer is yes when it comes to high-risk, shaky mortgages and investments, but what about your marketing? Is the norm of the day to do what you have always done and yet expect a better outcome? I don't know, but this sure sounds like a definition for something ... could it be -- insanity?

Here's the interesting part of the question, is your marketing too safe: nobody really likes it. You read me right, nobody really likes it. Marketing executives from large companies think they play it too safe; advertising executives from some of the largest advertising agencies think that they don't do enough risk taking. Yet, many continue to do what is expected, play it safe, hope it does better. And if you need a little support to the thought nobody really likes safe marketing, The Creative Group, released a survey that suggests companies may need to take more chances when developing new advertising and marketing campaigns. You can read about this survey on the Creative Group website.

From my perspective, it's time to take a risk with marketing. It's time to see if a bold idea will work. Hey, it may even be time to dump the way you've always marketed your business and feel the freedom of taking a risk, when everyone is so risk-averse. Who knows, you may even find that this liberated thinking gives you a competitive advantage.