Stop striving for perfection and start creating ‘slightly shit’ products, marketers told
Marketers should learn from scientists and start being content with creating products that are “slightly shit”, a debate audience at Mumbrella360 has heard.
James Sykes, global head of innovation and design at drinks firm Beam Suntory, said marketers spend too long attempting to make “elegant and perfect” products.
Instead, they should try to produce the “least worst” and learn from that experience.
Appearing on a panel at Mumbrella360 debating the risks and rewards of fast thinking, Sykes said scientists adopt a process of elimination and demonstrate “there is no absolutely amazingly wonderful products or solutions”.
“Marketers are the opposite. We want everything to be absolutely elegant and perfect,” he said. “We want to take 12 months and position the back story, the romance and developing all the assets to make it absolutely divine. But it’s almost impossible to do that.
“We should be like scientists and try and get the least worst.”
Sykes said his point was that brands must have permission to fail “in a constructive way”.
“It’s easy to say that but it’s very hard to instill it,” he told delegates. “It’s all about leaving your ego at the door. Learn to be happy and have fun in making slightly shit things – because slightly shit things teach you what is better that slightly shit. That is what scientists are doing.”
Asked if fear or inspiration works as a motivator in a competitive and fast-paced environment, Optus head of digital customer engagement Peter Macgregor said working with fear is a barrier that only leads to mediocrity.
“If you have people who fear doing something they will only do what they know which isn’t necessarily a good thing,” he said. “It means you are not pushing yourself that bit further, Fear can be detrimental to you and your team in the longer term.”
But Macgregor stressed while there must be – and there is – permission to fail at Optus and other large corporations, it must be done in a “calculated” way.
He said digital channels are a quick ways to learn, citing an example in which Optus trialled six ways of communicating a message to customers before landing on the right one.
“You have permission to fail but fail with a right amount of risk. You can then use those learnrings to scale. That is really important for a marketer.”
Later, Kinda Grange, general manager grocery of Goodman Fielder, said the firm had evolved to become more agile, and has challenged its agencies to follow suit.
“Some want to come along for the ride, others don’t,” she said.
I think making slighly sh1t products has never been an issue for marketers in Australia, its probably the one KPI we have all over delivered on.
User ID not verified.
Surely that’s the mantra from the Australian govt for the last 8 years
User ID not verified.
It may be worth looking at the quality of a number of products in Australia. To say companies need to start delivering slightly shit products gives a form of justification for the sub par outcomes we currently see.
One day we might see companies productise something before a sales team railroads it and the business in market.
User ID not verified.
Oh indeed, indeed.
User ID not verified.
What a boofhead.
So scientists are content with things that are ‘slightly shit’.
Personally I don’t think Apollo 11 was shit, and there were a couple of blokes up there that would probably think you were wrong as well.
I’d throw in Voyager 1 as well. Launched 40 years ago and still operating and sending back data from 20 billion kms away. Name me one marketer that has made a product that still works after 40 years.
Cassini and Hubble seem pretty neat as well. What about the Hadron Collider.
Utter tosh.
User ID not verified.