Bridge Builders.
Logistics is where true innovation lies.
“Amateurs talk strategy. Professionals talk logistics.”
— Omar N. Bradley
The wrong tools and the wrong problem.
It doesn’t take long in the marketing agency business to realize that there is no greater distance than that which separates a strategy presentation deck from reality. After being under the impression for years that a career in marketing was about developing the flair for finding fancy and inspiring statements, I realized that it’s about something else completely.
The closer I got to different industries, the more I realized they were complex in ways I couldn’t even begin to imagine. A sum of moving parts bordering on chaos. That’s a lesson the local “Mom and Pop” shop can’t really teach you. My first mandates, very simple on the whole, misled me in the long run. They made me forget that I was acting in a mostly controlled and predictable environment with insignificant budgets. A decision that merely impacts 100 customers in your neighbourhood is simple enough to make. But things are changing rapidly when you try to execute on a larger scale. Suddenly, an increment almost invisible to the naked eye can create a butterfly effect across millions of customers on every continent. So the more I got interested in large organizations and actual core issues, the more I realized how little I knew.
As a creative, I entered the industry with concepts, answers, aesthetic preferences, presentations, opinions, and a sense that my personality was a valuable element in the equation. Today, I’m learning about patterns, questions, data, studies, humility, and the knowledge that my personal vision isn’t worth much.
It may seem diminutive to the marketing profession and to creativity especially. So I want to make one thing clear: creativity has its place. Marketing has its place. I just didn’t realize what kind of creativity and marketing really made a difference. Punchlines and great presentations by visionaries never actually changed the world. They never brought forth a product, service or innovation that would change everything.
For that, we need to talk logistics.
The true leaders.
To roughly assess the importance of logistics, I thought I’d take a look at the Times list of the 100 most influential companies in the world in 2021…
Stripe, Apple, Spotify, FedEx, PayPal, UPS, Alibaba, TSMC, Amazon, DoorDash, Shopify, Flutterwave, World Wide Technology, Maersk, Mercado Libre, NVIDIA, Tesla and Nextdoor are among the names that made me smile. Why? Because, somehow, these companies belong on the list mostly because of logistical feats. Especially because of the way they generated access. Access to networks, to markets, to products or to services. They built bridges.
You could argue that Apple belongs on the list because of its great marketing and advertising creativity, or even just because of its products directly. But I don’t think it paints the complete picture. It’s Apple’s logistical savvy that makes it one of the most important companies in the world today. Its ability to move highly complex resources and products around the globe under any circumstances.
That’s why the choice of Tim Cook to succeed Steve Jobs was the right one. He was the logistical mastermind behind the company after all. The assembly line specialist. And unsurprisingly, specialists like Cook are now getting finally recognized for their true value.
“Traditionally, this position [Chief Operation Officer] was widely used to train a future CEO, but a COO is now much more specialized. Today, a COO may not necessarily aspire to become a CEO because their position is already prestigious and rewarding.” — Indeed.com
The most important of the 4Ps.
I went into marketing thinking that promotion was the key to success. I thought it was the best way to make a product stand out. The best way to build an everlasting company. The most impactful thing I could do.
…Then I repeatedly came across Tesla, Google and other great innovating companies that boasted that they only invest 5 or 6% of their respective budgets in promotion. As if not having to promote yourself is something to be proud of. I heard them say over and over that solid logistics and a good product were the best promotion ever.
“You’re doing sales because you failed at marketing. You’re doing marketing because you failed at product.”
— Naval Ravikant
Then I saw some companies trying to follow that strategy, creating awesome products along the way. But then they never were able to truly emerge, due to lack of cash flow, supply or distribution. “Little things” I would never have thought of in my beautiful Keynotes, that would never have been part of my analysis from an external point of view. Meanwhile, we all witnessed Amazon showing that logistical mastery can make us quickly forget about a lot of shortcomings. Inspiring corporate values, or delivery within 24 hours? Let’s be honest: as much as we love to talk about brand purpose, it’s never going to replace shipping.
Finally, taking an other step back out of marketing, I guess we all realized that the biggest global issues of our times have a huge commonality. Distribution of wealth, access to education, energy management, misinformation… At the center of these crises is the need to create better networks. Better systems. Better access.
Behind all of this, access is the real issue. It also is where true value lies for marketers.
Circling back to promotion.
As marketers, our strategic thinking and creativity should first be aimed at creating or restoring access. We should systematically ask ourselves if there is a way to create a bridge between resource X and consumers who need it. This doesn’t mean that we have to change careers overnight to focus on shipping logistics instead. There are opportunities to effectively tackle this issue, in our own terms. Here is, in my humble opinion, an excellent example of just that.
The ability to physically access a polling station is a fundamental right in a democracy. Yet somehow, access was restricted for a lot of people. Millions of dollars could have been spent on 30-second videos and influencer campaigns to decry the situation. Or to try to create access directly. This, to me, is the best our profession has to offer.
I’m going back to 2013 for another exemple of similar nature. In Lima, a billboard that also serves as a filter to collect, filter and distribute drinking water in a city often prone to water shortages. Access in its purest form.
Now, even if it seems more obvious to consider restoring access in literal cases of societal campaigns or charitable causes, it is very possible to do so in more entertaining or merely promotional purpose.
I think the Spotify Wrapped example is a good one. When the platform presents your listening profile at the end of the year, it simply gives you access to your data in a beautiful way. At the heart of the initiative is the simple idea of opening a gateway to a resource that you didn’t have access to before. Few digital platforms of this magnitude offer us this “luxury”: access to our profile, quite simply. The idea is so simple, but so strong, that it clearly became one of the biggest annual campaigns for the Swedish company.
Bridge builders.
People already have fundamental needs. But that doesn’t mean those needs are being met. They may have identified solutions. But that doesn’t mean they can access them. It can sound serious, because it is. But it doesn’t always have to be solemn.
Instead of creating accessory needs to distract from the difficulty of meeting primary needs, we could be helping. We could focus our efforts on getting people closer to what they actually need. Not divert them from the path by flashing our harsh lights in their eyes. We could try to build bridges.
Maybe we need to move someone. Move something. Reshape something or grow someone. Cut 10 kilometers off a road or $10 off a bill. Simplify something or explain it to a child. Take from the right and give to the left. Pick up at the top and distribute at the bottom.
Instead of seizing attention, let’s see how we can save it. Instead of pressure selling, let’s see how we can bring someone closer to something they need, something that currently seems just a little too far away.
You can be recognized for your product.
You can be recognized for your latest stunt.
You can be recognized for your low prices.
You should be recognized for moving people.
