Strategy in the Age of Earthquakes

Kofi AmooGottfried Vice President of Marketing at DoorDash and The Martin Agency39s Chief Strategy Officer Elizabeth Paul sat down for a virtual fireside chat at the recent 4A39s Stratfest to discern our future as they delved into our pastSometimes like in New Zealand in 1931 an earthquake of high magnitude can change the topography of the land to such a degree that new maps have to be drawn postquake quotIt is a story that we find ourselves in todayquot Paul beganamp160quotWe are in the midst of a cultural earthquake amp8230 In many ways it is an age of earthquakes and I believe that strategists as students and shapers of culture have a unique role to play in what comes nextquot To that end Paul and AmooGottfried discussed the three fault lines for agencies and marketers going forwardFault Line No 1 amp160Fixed Versus FluidTaking the earthquake analogy one step further Paul outlined three fault lines in our industry quotThe first tension or fault line is Fixed versus Fluidquot she explained requiring a decision of what to hold onto and what to changeFor AmooGottfried it is a careful consideration path quotWhen you look at businesses over time in the midst of chaotic change it39s really hard to figure out the things that you want to hold ontoquot he said quotThe things that don39t change your North Star your purpose as a business why you exist and what problem you are trying to solve for people amp160that part of it won39t change but the 39how39 of it will changequot It is vital to be clear about your purpose quotThe playbooks over the past 18 months have changedquot he noted quotWe had to pivot amp8230 aamp160map is not as useful in an earthquake but a compass helpsquot And clarity of mission is vitalFault Line No 2 Selling versus ServingquotThe second fault line is Selling versus Servingquot Paul statedamp160quotA lot of marketers now because of the pressures that everyone is feeling to make sales in a shifting economy are shifting their sales down funnel to optimize conversionquotAmooGottfried responded that his company DoorDash looks at tensions not as impediments but as ways to work through a process to a company39s advantage quotMy philosophy is that brands matter only insofar that they solve problems for peoplequot he said quotUltimately our job is to figure out what people need and how do we show up to meet that need and how do we serve that need And if we do that consistently the bottom line always inevitably takes care of itselfquotamp160These needs have changed over the past 18 months and continue to evolve The challenge is to keep up with these changing needs and respond effectivelyFault Line No 3 Speed Versus CraftPaul39s third fault line Speed versus Craftamp160concerns the need for speed in a vastly accelerating environmental pace But does a fast pivot serve the company and the consumer quotThere have been times when pressures have done amazing things for us as an industryquot she explained quotThey forced us not to overthink things They forced us to do things that are right in the moment to be responsive to our audiences and to be responsive to culture But obviously from a crafts standpoint there are times when the threadbare nature of having to move quickly can really showquotHow can one balance speed and craft quotThis is really hardquot AmooGottfried admitted quotAt some level this is a genuine tension I can39t claim to have figured it out I don39t think we have I will say that some of the best work that DoorDash did last year was done very fastquot Indeed the campaign Open for Delivery was done in six daysamp160quotIt wasn39t six days for the sake of itquot he statedamp160quotIt was six days because we all felt that it was of imperative importance to get that work out in the world as soon as possible so that businesses could continue to operate It is important to figure out what is driving that speedquotFuture of WorkArguably the one thing that the industry is not discussing according to AmooGottfried is burnout In the past 18 months the pace of work has accelerated and the degree of change in how we approach work and personal commitments has never been greater quotWe are carrying a psychic cost of living in the pandemic of living through a racial reckoning living through MeTooquot he noted quotWhatever it is that is going on there is a mental cost to our teams having to negotiate that tension The challenge is to figure out how to get around that worklife balancequotAccording to Paul the future of work must not focus on structure remote versus live inoffice for example People are going through a trauma quotPeople don39t process trauma in the traumaquot she explained quotThey process later when they get to a safe place As much as it is the natural question to ask because we all want certainty the real question is how you care for people in the midst of shaking and what do you needquotThey need a compass instead of a map they need community they need a connecting story and people need compassionquot she concludedClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNetamp160

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Strategy in the Age of Earthquakes

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Charlene Weisler

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