Sure, taking chances can be daunting. But doing nothing is an even bigger gamble

By: Joseph Jaffe

In today’s uncertain times, there is no clear leadership being demonstrated in the marketplace, no overt efforts to rise above the sea of mediocrity currently washing over direct marketing. Some might say this lack of leadership results from marketers’ inability to take a risk; others might see this sterile conservatism as a survival tactic, as an absolute necessity.

As one late, great advertising trailblazer once said, “Safe advertising is the riskiest advertising of all.” If he were alive today, he’d say something similar about the current state of marketing.

And he’d be moved to say so because, these days, marketers who should feel responsible for managing the risk inherent to our craft have instead become far too accustomed to mitigating that risk. Instead of taking bold chances, we have become seduced by the promise of glory and reward that comes from sticking with the status quo. We have failed to manage risk. And in doing so, we have also failed to manage another unavoidable reality of our industry: change.

Don’t take my word for it. Look inward. Ask yourselves: To what extent are you truly changing perceptions, buyer behavior, attitudes, loyalty and the like? How is your organization for innovation and experimentation? What changes have made their way into your boardroom?

If your answers aren’t as positive as you wish, I have good and bad news: You are not alone.

Sure, I get that risk isn’t something we always want to have to deal with. Consider, for a moment, how we define it. According to one dictionary, risk is a concept that denotes a potential negative impact to some characteristic of value that may arise from a future event … exposure to the consequences of uncertainty constitutes a risk. In everyday usage, risk is often used synonymously with the probability of a known loss.

But for all of the negative connotations that come with risk, I still think marketers should be embracing, rather than avoiding, the opportunity to take big chances.

After all, risk is relative. What is risky to one person is not to another. So it helps to maintain a certain perspective about risk. Risk can be calculated, measured. And managing risk can be both a science and an art.

But risk shouldn’t be “over-thought.” Sometimes “just doing it” trumps analysis paralysis and fear of the unknown.

Risk is unavoidable. As one senior marketing executive once said, “The greatest risk we can take today is to spend $400 million on a campaign that nobody notices!”

And don’t forget that anyone can redefine a word. Who, then, will recast risk? Hopefully, it’ll be you.

Joseph Jaffe is president and chief interruptor of crayon, an advisory group.