In today’s crowded marketplace, marketers responsible for launching a new brand or offering must think big and be prepared to back big, bold ideas says Mike Adams

It has been said that the boldest ideas are the safest. In the business world, this is especially true when launching a new brand or offering into a crowded market. Playing it cautious isn’t always playing it safe.

It is crucial marketing leaders are not scared to pitch innovative ideas to their decision-making customers, or in-house boards, in spite of cautious attitudes and tight budgets.

One story illustrates this well. Our agency was recently tasked with creating a marketing campaign for Coachfinder. Coachfinder.co.uk is provided by one of the UK’s most award-winning coach operators, The Kings Ferry, part of the National Express Group. The Kings Ferry has extensive experience in ground transport management and business travel solutions for corporate clients and Coachfinder.co.uk gives businesses access to a network of more than 700 coach operators across the UK.

Initially a smaller budget was provided to enable the agency to develop and market the new website online. But we proposed an alternative that centred on Brendan Sheerin, the presenter of the popular TV show

Coach Trip

, as a brand ambassador. Everyone agreed Brendan was the perfect choice.

Working with a celebrity creates a whole new world of opportunities for brand awareness including social media, events and PR, as well as eye-catching video and imagery for both online and outdoor advertising. Our customer clearly understood the benefits of Brendan’s endorsement. This is what great marketing leaders must do: think big, think creatively and be bold enough to back an idea that requires more investment than what is on the table.

In this instance our customer was inspired and caught the vision. They went back to their board and were successful in gaining the additional investment. It takes courage to not accept the budget and campaign scale as a given. It requires some risk to explore all the possibilities and present the non-predictable route, but in the end, confidence is often the surest way to build trust, and your customers will invest with you if they trust you.

Don’t get comfortable

For inhouse B2B marketers responsible for launching a new product, service or brand, the principle is the same. We must never get comfortable with conventional strategies. It’s not that they aren’t valid, it’s simply that they often won’t cut it on their own – particularly when bringing something new to market that your customers have never heard of before.

Allocating your budget properly is one of the most important decisions to get right, and leveraging your spend on big items to get maximum reach across other channels is vital. In our client’s case the celebrity worked with press, fans and bloggers, and we captured live and studio video footage for email campaigns, TV, radio and social media.

Once you’ve got your big idea and inspired your team to invest in it, ensure your strategy creates content for multiple channels, making your budget go further. In this way, creativity, courage and careful planning are the surest paths to breakthrough.