Here’s Where It Started…

Here’s where it started that a technology development firm decided to analyze an industry.

Six months ago, I gathered a team of professionals together in our conference room. Our purpose was to get to the bottom of a very stubborn problem RAI Stone Group was facing. The room was filled with software developers, strategists, financial analysts, advisors and accountants, and a few customers and salespeople. We were going to leave that room with a solution!

The problem was this: we simply weren’t reaching enough small business owners and leaders to make a difference. It really came down to how we could get beyond the old economy’s reliance on experts who knew the rules and had all the answers. The explosion of new technologies turned everyone into a pioneer and an innovator instead. And it was from this new place we had to find new ways to connect with our target market so they could make an informed choice based on their needs and circumstances. The age of experts was over and the new buzzword became effectiveness.

Now, you’ll appreciate the irony of a bunch of rationalists trying to solve a communication and awareness problem. We were still stuck in the old thinking of “right” and “wrong” answers instead of effective and ineffective efforts.

We didn’t come up with a solution or answer to our problem that day. Funniest of all, we didn’t even notice the absence of a marketer or publicist in the group. And it was the fact that we hadn’t noticed that absence that prompted us to produce the Advertising Industry Brief  (http://www.raistonegroup.com/industry-predictions).  But we did learn that to tackle a communication or awareness issue, we should include those specialists in the meeting. Duh!