Delivering Marketing Joy Episode 606 - Embracing Failure in Business

Understandably, everybody, especially from a brand standpoint, has this goal of being like the next Nike or the next Yeti or whatever it is. And hey, like, don't get me wrong, like I would take that every day of the week. But realistically, it's just, it's, you know, that's a pretty big mountain to climb. Hey there, and welcome to a brand new episode of Delivering Marketing Joy.

I am your host, Kirby Hossman, and joining me today is a brand new rock star. I'm super excited to dive in today. He's an agency leader, a former junior hockey play-by-play announcer, a veteran of the brand strategy and creation and execution who believes that great marketing is as much about discipline and accountability as it is about big ideas. Jared Harmon, thanks so much for joining me.

Yeah, I appreciate it. Thanks. That's a great intro. I'm going to use that.

Love it. I love it. Well, so I want to dive in because you grew up in a family that started restaurant chains and you spent 10 years leading a major agency. So what's like the most important business lesson you learned early that still shapes how you operate today?

I honestly, failure is okay. Like it's, you know, I think that's like a general kind of entrepreneurial slogan that like, you know, sometimes you're going to fail. Not every idea is going to land. And, you know, and, you know, unfortunately, sometimes living that through experience can be a little bit tough and painful, but I think the key, and it's a little bit of a cliche, but it's so, so, so true is that, you know, as long as you learn from those failures and kind of learn how to move past them and understand them for how you move forward, I think that can make a huge difference in lining up success in the future.

Yeah, man, I, it's funny because I think so much of culture is trying so hard, you know, whether it's education or whatever, trying to avoid that failure that it's like those of us who are willing to, I've certainly had my share, uh, but lean into going, Hey, it's okay. If we learn from it, we'll be all right. So I, dude, I buy that completely. Um, so you also talk about brands sort of losing their messages, campaigns, travel across channels.

I'm interested in this because why do you think that happens? And what does a brand do to make sure the message stays tight no matter where it shows up? I think this overthinking the messaging and the strategy especially when you looking at different channels and trying to perfect each one And what you really doing when you do that is just overcomplicating the message And, you know, I think understandably everybody, especially from a brand standpoint, has this goal of being like the next Nike or the next Yeti or whatever it is.

And hey, like, don't get me wrong. Like I would take that every day of the week. But realistically, it's just, it's, it's, you know, that's a pretty big mountain to climb. And so I think, you know, trying to get to that point and understanding that, hey, sometimes simple is better and making sure that there's a consistent elements that people can identify with with your brand, no matter what channel it's on.

So that because what you're really trying to obtain and like what the Nikes and those brands do is that like no matter where you see their content or their messages, you know right away who it is. And I think that's that's the goal. Right. And sometimes when you overthink those things and how you're presenting them, you without even realizing, you'll move away from that.

And next thing you know, you're doing things differently on TikTok than you are on Instagram. And people just get confused. And before you know it, you've lost your audience. Yeah.

Dude, I completely have fallen victim to this, right? Because I think that we forget that somebody's got to hear this stuff so many times before it starts to even break through the noise. that I think, you know, I think some of the people that I follow, I'm often fascinated by the fact that they say the same things over and over again. And I keep watching.

Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. And I don't want to do it.

Yeah. It's that subtle messaging too, though. You get to a point where like, you know, if you look at like Nike ads these days, like, and I keep using them because they're, they're one of the best at it, but you don't even know what they're selling anymore. Like half the time, right?

Like, are they selling the shorts or they sell them the shoes? Like, you know, are they selling the golf clubs, whatever it is. And it's because you just know, like you're just so familiar with that brand and that, you know, the style and what they've portrayed that, you know, you know exactly what you're watching when you see it. So I think, you know, like that's a pretty, you know, ambitious goal.

But I think, again, just kind of dumbing it down to simplifying the message and the strategy and the approach so that people will resonate with it across channels will go a long way. Yeah, I love that. Now you spent a decade in junior hockey marketing and have managed major sports facilities. I think that's interesting.

So how has that shaped the way you think about brand activation and creative execution Again I think that you know it all comes down to audience and like understanding you know the different people that are going to be looking at your product or service or whatever it is you selling I think you know for me it a very natural analogy but you know sports and coaching really come into play because everybody on your team is different. When you're the coach of a team and I'm getting away from the facility side of the play by play side a little bit, but when you're the coach of a team, you've got to manage every player differently.

Right. And, and, you know, the one player that responds well to, you you know, kid gloves is going to, you got to handle that person differently than the player that wants to get yelled and screamed at. Right. And, you know, from a marketing standpoint and a messaging standpoint and how you approach your audience, it's the same thing.

Like you've got to find a way, like, unless you're in like the most niche industry in the world where you, you know, you're only selling to, you know, 35 year old, you know, men of a certain affluence or whatever, like you've got to be able to create a messaging that appeals to everybody. And so I think, you know, utilizing, you know, the event approach where, Hey, like, how do we make this fun and exciting for everybody to want to participate? It's, it's, it's kind of the same thing.

The only difference is the participation in this case is, is, you know, purchasing or conversions, right? Yeah. Yeah. And I will say I'm seeing a lean back into experiential and event marketing too.

So that kind of, I know that's not exactly what you were talking about, but I, it makes me think of that because I do think people are longing for that just experience, you know? Yeah. Well, at the end of the day, people, I mean, we always, you know, tell our clients, it's always about relatability and understanding. Right.

So like you have to, and I think that's why to your point about the experiential marketing is coming back is because, I mean, it's the best way to do it. You put it in people's hands, right. Like in, and, and, you know, make them, you know, touch and feel it or, you know, taste it depending on what it is. And that's just going to go so much further than like seeing a commercial play, you know, in your Instagram feed or on your TV, whatever it is.

Right. And I think, um, giving them real experience will make a huge difference. Yeah. I love that.

All right. Final question. So 10 years you've been doing, you've been leading an agency. So what do you know about accountability and operations inside a creative business that most people you think get wrong?

Oh, I, I, for the first nine of 10 years, we had like zero infrastructure, which was like, not a, not a good thing. And I think, I think, um, I think that's a big thing is making sure you put the right systems in place to be successful and to operate properly Um but the one that lean heavy on is customer service and building actual relationships I not sure if that is a direct answer to the question, but I think with technology the way it is and the opportunity for digital communications with everybody, people have lost sight of like, hey, what real face-to-face interaction and conversation can do for building your business.

And we've really almost relied exclusively on referral business and just the relationships. We don't spend a lot of time or energy marketing ourselves because that's not going to tell people who we are and what we do. The reality of it is, no matter what business you're in, there's a lot of very good opportunities and people out there doing the same thing. You've got to find ways to connect and that's through relationships.

Yeah. I am fascinated by that because we are living through this. I always think that when when everybody is zigging, it's important to zag. And so when you're thinking about the idea of like, oh, we got to do TikTok and we got to do this.

And it's like, you know, if you just go shake somebody's hand, it actually still does make a big difference. Man, it's huge. I used to like go back to the hockey stuff when I, like, when I first started, I was selling rink boards. And like, I always joked that like a lot of people who were buying those rink boards didn't want to give them up or say no, because they saw some young kid at their office trying to, you know, earn a living.

And they just, you know, made a connection with me and they're like, oh, you know, like we don't really need the rink board, but like Jared's a nice guy and we don't want to disappoint him. So we'll, we'll do the deal. And then, and then, you know, then they keep that. And like, I honestly, like the minute, you know, I left half the sponsors left.

And I think, I think there's so much value in that relationship. Right. Yeah. Yeah.

That's, I think that's really valuable. This has been great, Jared. I really appreciate it. And I think it's, it's interesting when we marketers start going, Hey, old school still works, right?

Like, so, so it's, it's, It's great to hear that from you. So real quick, where can people find more information about you? Best place is on our website, onegroupagency.ca.

That'll lead you down whatever rabbit hole you want to go and directly to me or the team. And yeah, I really appreciate having me on. And yeah, it's always fun talking about the business. Yeah, absolutely.

This has been fun. We'll have to do it again, okay? Appreciate it. Thanks.

All right. All right. That's going to wrap up this edition of Delivering Marketing Joy. We'll see you next time.