The business world is tough out there

It’s only natural, especially given today’s pressure cooker environment, to want instantly actionable ideas and immediate results. This is especially true the closer you are to the marketing machine within your business.

At the same time, more and more businesses are realizing that they need to transform themselves in order to remain competitive, if not stay viable, in the 21st century. They are recognizing that their traditional strategies and tactics simply no longer work as expected. Also, the commoditization and price/value pressures they face are leaving them exposed, vulnerable, and unable to effectively differentiate themselves.

These challenges are not about to go away.

Any leader looking to thrive, if not just survive going forward, needs to find bold new strategies and tactics. For many brands the answer to the future lies in purpose and meaning. And many have patiently started the hard work of transforming their ways of being, both within and outside their organizations. They are making their investments of time, money, and personal energy in this vital transformation process because they believe in a better future for their business.

They’ve taken the time to sort out the meaningful position they want to hold in the future. They have accepted that it will take considerable time, money, and personal energy to shift the current attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that drive their complex organizations.

Yet, despite these “barriers” to instant actions and immediate results, they’ve chosen to invest in their futures through maturity, patience and fortitude.

“But I want it now!”

There’s the old line, “You can have it fast, cheap, or good, but you can only have two”. A modern take on that idea would be, “You can have it fast or meaningful, but you can only have one.”

But with the advent of shortening attention spans for everyone, including executives, and the relentless systemic and self-imposed demands for fast results, it would seem that few brands now have the patience and fortitude to build a purposeful and meaningful presence.

How will your brand become fit for the 21st century?

Will you have the patience to contemplate, develop, and introduce a new brand promise to your organization?

Will you have the fortitude to keep that promise at the forefront of everyone’s thinking in the months and years ahead?

More important, what if you don’t?

Emotive Brand is a brand strategy firm.

Img credit: Ivorin Vrkas