Categories: Articles

A Philosophy Of Tenacity

Success in Marketing doesn’t happen by doing something halfway. You have to be dedicated to the cause.

Today, I took part in a webinar for MarketingProfs called, How To Become A Content Juggernaut. The crux of my presentation was this: in a world where anyone can have a thought and then publish it in text, images, audio and video instantly and for free to the world, we (marketers) have to rethink how we publish. There is media fragmentation everywhere and it’s not just because of the Internet and all of this new content. There is fragmentation within the Internet as well.

People have a lot of choices and a lot less time.

If they’re going to be multi-platforming – using multiple media channels at the same time (more on that here: Estimated 33% of Viewers Multitask While Watching TV) or engaging with content via mobile devices (smartphones, iPads, etc…), a brand’s ability to capture their attention and be able to convert that into something that is worth sharing is very complex… it’s not easy to do. If you’re an individual or small organization trying to make an impact, it becomes evermore complex. You probably don’t have the time and/or the resources that your bigger competitors have.

The truth is that if you have the skills, it’s really the tenacity that you have to focus on.

Regardless of the readership of this Blog, I believe in the words that I write. I believe that the words that I write is my art. I believe that the words that I write is the work that I was meant to do. I don’t say this lightly and it took me over a decade to come to this realization and to be comfortable/confident in saying them aloud. It’s not ego (I’m actually a very humble and shy individual)… it’s probably just a part of me getting more comfortable as I get older (but who knows). The truth is that beyond my belief, I am tenacious in my dedication to it.

How many brands (or individuals) do you know that are truly tenacious?

Persistent, stubborn and holding fast. That’s being tenacious. Dedicating yourself to the work you were meant to do. If more brands were tenacious in how they approached their marketing, the results would be much more different. If more brands were tenacious in how they approached Social Media, the results would be much more different.

It’s easy to quit when no one reads your Blog after six months.
It’s easy to complain about Twitter‘s efficacy when you’re having a hard time getting people to follow you.
It’s easy to take a dig at Facebook when you have tons of people who "like" your brand but you don’t notice an increase in sales.
It’s easy to post videos to YouTube and think you’re actively engaging in Social Media.

Ask yourself this: are you really bringing a philosophy of tenacity to your work?

I am tenacious. It’s a combination of dedication and persistence that is underwritten by a notion that what I have to share is important. Not self-important, but important. And, the only way to break through the clutter, the only way to get attention and the only way to get people talking about it and sharing it is to be tenacious in my plan of attack.

If you’re going to be doing something, why not do it with tenacity?

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.