In recent days, both Pepsi and Nivea have suffered public embarrassments caused by tone-deaf ad campaigns. In times like this, it is not uncommon to ponder the question, “What were they thinking?” The answer may very well hinge on the word “they” and the concept of “groupthink.”
Groupthink is when a group of individuals on a project become overly insular and fail to rely on outside thinking or fresh perspective. In professional services, branding campaigns and website redesigns oftentimes suffer from this affliction.
Large company marketing projects, and even communications channel launches (blogs and newsletters), are complex and potential hotbeds for groupthink. Here are some if the common issues that arise:
Too Much Democracy – Asking every partner, or even every member, of a company to weigh in on a design proposal is a recipe for delay and, often, derailment. The combinations are endless, and many professionals simply would rather (and probably should) focus their energies elsewhere.
Too Little Input – When considering a theme for a blog or features for a website, feedback on what content or capabilities and navigational tools will help clients is often not fully considered. Tap clients and family members to give candid, layperson feedback. Say, “While I have you on the line, what are your thoughts on this slogan?” Or, “What parts of our website do you find you use the most?”
“The Emperors” – In each organization, leadership is – ideally – viewed with both respect and a healthy amount of deference. A company’s “rainmakers” are often the meal tickets for many employees. But, respect and deference should not hinder constructive feedback and the airing of alternative ideas. Having open-minded leaders who stress free dialogue leads to better outcomes. Having an entirely sycophant workforce often creates serious blind spots and can lead to outcomes later questioned with, “How did we end up with this?”
Not Enough Perspective – Outside marketing and communications consultants are trained to examine every aspect of content and design, with an eye for catching potential issues and liabilities. Not to mention, these folks have probably seen a mistake before or are aware of the six other similar efforts in the pipeline. Close scrutiny of concepts can help avoid issues such as poor webpage navigability (e.g., no mobile presence), branding issues (e.g., domains and social media accounts being unavailable/leading to undesirable content) and tagline issues (e.g., use by a competitor, overly common or too opaque).
A word we always come back to is “process.” Creating properties and crafting content that increases engagement and leads to business development is a constant process. Awareness of issues such as groupthink is critical to ensuring projects meet performance, timetable and budgetary goals.