Sales and Marketing Training

From Harmony to Innovation: The Surprising Impact of Consensus in Marketing

Tomorrow, I’m meeting with my leadership team to reach a consensus on our next campaign strategy focused on attendees at a national retail marketing event. I would have groaned early in my career if I was asked to facilitate such a meeting. As a young, spirited, and talented individual, I wanted to be provided the freedom and accountability to make highly impactful decisions for the organization. My ego was part of the issue as well because I also didn’t like sharing the recognition of my work.

Over time, I’ve softened my stance and have utilized consensus whenever possible. In fact, as a senior marketer with hundreds of clients and initiatives behind me, I look forward to consensus. No, that doesn’t mean I look to my board to approve every decision. Instead, it means that I need to be open to their perspectives and consider them, and then it’s my responsibility to defend my solutions and bring the team to a consensus. Ultimately, I’m still accountable… but want the team to be behind what we’re doing.

In tomorrow’s meeting, the input of the board is critical. My BDR has attended the event before and has relationships with many brands in attendance. He understands the motivations behind them being at the event. My founder and CEO is a renowned expert in the industry and understands the vision of where our products and services should be advancing these organizations. And, for the last few months, I’ve been working on our branding, positioning, and competitive research to develop our differentiation. I have some ideas of where I’d like this to go… but there’s no way I could develop a successful, innovative, and remarkable campaign without their input.

What is Consensus?

Consensus in marketing refers to the process of reaching an agreement or decision among a group of individuals within a marketing team or organization. For an agency, consensus is the agreement between both organizations.

While seeking consensus can be beneficial in fostering collaboration and ensuring alignment, it also comes with strengths and weaknesses that marketers must carefully consider.

Strengths of Consensus

Consensus is the ultimate key to unlocking the full potential of a marketing team. When everyone is on board and aligned, there’s no limit to what we can achieve together.

  1. Alignment and Unity: Consensus-building fosters alignment among team members, ensuring everyone works towards a common goal. This unity can enhance the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and initiatives.
  2. Diverse Perspectives: Involving multiple stakeholders in the decision-making process brings diverse perspectives. This can lead to more comprehensive strategies and innovative ideas that resonate with a broader audience.
  3. Increased Buy-In: When team members feel heard and included in the decision-making process, they are more likely to fully support and champion the resulting marketing initiatives. This increased buy-in can boost morale and motivation.
  4. Risk Mitigation: By considering various viewpoints and potential outcomes, consensus-building can help mitigate risks associated with marketing decisions. This thorough evaluation process can lead to more informed choices and minimize the likelihood of costly mistakes.

Weaknesses of Consensus

Consensus may seem like harmony, but often it’s just the lowest common denominator. True innovation requires bold decisions, not compromises.

  1. Decision Dilution: As more people are involved in the decision-making process, the impact of individual contributions may become diluted. This can lead to compromises that water down the effectiveness or creativity of marketing strategies.
  2. Slow Decision-Making: Achieving consensus often requires extensive discussions and negotiations, slowing the decision-making process. This delay can be detrimental in fast-paced marketing environments, especially when timely responses are needed to capitalize on opportunities or address challenges.
  3. Groupthink: In some cases, the pursuit of consensus may result in groupthink, where dissenting opinions are suppressed to maintain harmony within the group. This can lead to conformity and overlook valuable alternative perspectives or innovative ideas.
  4. Lack of Accountability: When decisions are made collectively, it can be challenging to attribute accountability to individual team members. This ambiguity can hinder performance evaluation and accountability for the success or failure of marketing initiatives.

According to a study by Harvard Business Review, teams that consistently make decisions by consensus tend to outperform those that rely solely on hierarchical decision-making structures.

Harvard Business Review

When Is Consensus the Appropriate Strategy?

To determine whether consensus is the appropriate strategy for a particular marketing decision, consider the following decision tree:

  1. Is the Decision Time-Sensitive?
    • Yes: Consider whether consensus can be achieved within the required timeframe without sacrificing quality or effectiveness.
    • No: Proceed to the next question.
  2. Are Diverse Perspectives Critical to Success?
    • Yes: Involving multiple stakeholders may lead to more innovative and comprehensive solutions.
    • No: A more streamlined decision-making process may be preferable.
  3. Is Risk Mitigation a Priority?
    • Yes: Consensus-building can help identify and mitigate potential risks associated with the decision.
    • No: A quicker decision-making approach may be acceptable if the risks are minimal.

By carefully evaluating these considerations, marketers can determine whether consensus is the most appropriate strategy for a given decision, balancing the benefits of collaboration with the potential drawbacks of decision dilution and slow decision-making. Here a couple of examples in marketing where consensus is appropriate and where it’s not:

Consensus is Appropriate:

  • Brand Messaging Development: When developing brand messaging strategies, consensus among key stakeholders, including marketing teams, executives, and creative professionals, is essential. Aligning on the brand’s voice, tone, and messaging ensures consistency and resonance across all marketing channels, effectively communicating the brand’s values and positioning to the target audience.
  • Cross-Functional Campaign Planning: In complex marketing campaigns involving multiple departments and stakeholders, achieving consensus on campaign objectives, messaging, and tactics is crucial for success. Collaborative decision-making fosters alignment and buy-in across teams, resulting in cohesive campaigns that leverage the expertise and resources of all involved parties.

Consensus is Not Appropriate:

  • Urgent Crisis Management: In situations requiring immediate action, such as responding to a public relations crisis or addressing sudden market shifts, consensus-building may not be feasible or practical. Decisive leadership and swift decision-making are paramount to mitigate risks and protect the brand’s reputation, often necessitating quick, unilateral decisions rather than prolonged consensus discussions.
  • Creative Concept Generation: When brainstorming creative concepts or innovative ideas, overly relying on consensus can stifle creativity and inhibit the exploration of bold, unconventional approaches. Instead, allowing individuals or small teams the freedom to generate diverse ideas independently encourages creativity and fosters a culture of innovation, ultimately leading to breakthrough campaigns and initiatives.

Strategic Sparring Sessions

In their article, Building Consensus Around Difficult Strategic Decisions, business experts Scott D. Anthony, Natalie Painchaud, and Andy Parker recommend strategic sparring sessions.

A strategic sparring session is an immersive and interactive discussion designed to help groups navigate complex and uncertain strategic challenges. It allows participants to bat around ideas, challenge assumptions, and explore diverse viewpoints in a collaborative environment. Unlike traditional meetings, sparring sessions prioritize open dialogue, data-informed discussions, and the exploration of critical assumptions rather than individual beliefs. Sparring sessions empower organizations to make informed decisions and navigate change effectively by fostering constructive debate and making misalignment visible.

A dialogue isn’t ping-pong where people are batting the ideas back and forth and the object of the game is to win or to take points for yourself. A dialogue is common participation, in which we are not playing a game against each other, but with each other.

David Bohm, On Dialogue

Strategic sparring sessions help organizations navigate uncertainty and make informed decisions by:

  • Leveraging diverse perspectives and expertise to challenge assumptions and explore alternative viewpoints.
  • Depersonalizing debates and fostering constructive dialogue that promotes creative abrasion and innovation.
  • Making misalignment visible and addressing potential blind spots through data-informed discussions and structured exercises.

Here are three best practices for conducting effective sparring sessions and increasing the likelihood that consensus will drive the right direction:

  1. Hold Data-Informed Dialogues:
    • Encourage a culture of open dialogue where data plays a central role in discussions. Emphasize the importance of bringing the best available data to the table, even though data about the future is incomplete.
    • Foster inclusive dialogues where all stakeholders actively participate in decision-making. Research shows that people prefer fair processes over fair outcomes, leading to higher commitment and buy-in.
    • Create spaces for meaningful discussions that go beyond one-way transmissions of information. Avoid reliance on PowerPoint presentations or debates and facilitate collaborative dialogues that allow for exploring diverse viewpoints.
  2. Hold Battles of Assumptions, Not Beliefs:
    • Reframe discussions to focus on critical assumptions rather than personal beliefs or opinions. Encourage participants to articulate the underlying assumptions behind their arguments.
    • Depersonalize debates by shifting the focus from individual beliefs to objective assessments of critical assumptions. This approach promotes creative abrasion, allowing for the constructive exchange of ideas without personal animosity.
    • Encourage specificity in identifying and testing assumptions. Seek out specific, testable assumptions that can be researched or experimented upon to inform decision-making effectively.
  3. Make Misalignment Visible:
    • Proactively address groupthink, the hierarchy effect, and social loafing to minimize the gap between individuals’ private thoughts and public expressions.
    • Implement techniques such as walk the line exercises to visually represent the spectrum of perspectives within the group. This approach highlights areas of misalignment and encourages open dialogue about critical assumptions and differing viewpoints.
    • Establish meeting rituals or prompts to challenge assumptions, identify risks, and explore opposing views. This practice ensures that potential blind spots are addressed and fosters a culture of constructive criticism and continuous improvement.

Groupthink: A psychological phenomenon in which group members prioritize consensus and harmony over critical thinking and independent analysis. This can lead to flawed decision-making processes and outcomes, as dissenting opinions or alternative viewpoints are suppressed to maintain group cohesion.

Social loafing: When individuals exert less effort when working in a group than when working alone, often due to a diffusion of responsibility. This phenomenon can lead to decreased productivity and performance within the group dynamic.

Tips for Managing Consensus Meetings

By implementing some best practices and tips, organizations can effectively leverage sparring sessions to navigate uncertainty, drive innovation, and make informed decisions in the ever-evolving landscape of marketing. Keep these tips in mind:

  • Establish clear objectives and guidelines for consensus meetings to ensure productive discussions.
  • Foster a culture of openness and inclusivity where all voices are heard and respected.
  • Encourage data-driven decision-making and prioritize transparency in the decision-making process.
  • Proactively address conflicts and differences of opinion by focusing on underlying assumptions and seeking common ground.
  • Follow up on consensus meetings with actionable next steps and accountability measures to ensure decisions are effectively implemented.

While consensus can be a valuable tool for fostering alignment, collaboration, and risk mitigation in marketing decision-making, it is essential for marketers to recognize its strengths and weaknesses and apply it judiciously based on the specific needs and circumstances of each situation.

Douglas Karr

Douglas Karr is CMO of OpenINSIGHTS and the founder of the Martech Zone. Douglas has helped dozens of successful MarTech startups, has assisted in the due diligence of over $5 bil in Martech acquisitions and investments, and continues to assist companies in implementing and automating their sales and marketing strategies. Douglas is an internationally recognized digital transformation and MarTech expert and speaker. Douglas is also a published author of a Dummie's guide and a business leadership book.

Related Articles

Back to top button
Close

Adblock Detected

Martech Zone is able to provide you this content at no cost because we monetize our site through ad revenue, affiliate links, and sponsorships. We would appreciate if you would remove your ad blocker as you view our site.