Introducing the #ChangeMarketing Lab

by Alain Thys on 2 November, 2010 - 17:09

If you read this blog on a regular basis, you are probably receptive to the idea that marketing needs to “reboot” itself. Whether driven by the initiative of a visionary and focused CMO, or the – not so gentle - intervention of the executive board, the profession needs to challenge some of its most deeply rooted orthodoxies. The alternative is simply too costly.But talk is cheap and PowerPoints evangelizing change are too easily written.  

So we have decided to go out on a limb and “start playing for real” by setting up the #ChangeMarketing Lab. Loosely modeled on the approach of the MIT MediaLab, this is a global initiative in which B2B and B2C marketers can join forces with media operators and some of the sharpest free agents on the planet. Their joint agenda: to push the boundaries of media and marketing as we know it. Not through lofty words, yet by conducting real life experiments in the market place. By actually “doing” the things all the PowerPoints talk about.

A no-can-lose approach

For a full explanation of how the Lab works, please click here or check out the #ChangeMarketing dropdown menu at the top of this page. But making a long story short, the approach is simple:

• STEP 1: Your organization becomes a member of the Lab. This means you get presented with a continuous stream of marketing innovations tailored to your business situation. You also get access to all the Futurelab resources for turning them into reality.  
• STEP 2: You decide which opportunities you wish to resource and pursue. Around them we build a team composed of champions in your organization, as well as world-class lab agents from around the world.  
• STEP 3: We walk the marketing talk and learn together. If an experiment works for your business, you get the competitive edge. If it doesn’t meet expectations, you keep the learnings and make your marketing function more robust.

While there is a membership fee and experiments will need to be resourced/funded, the lab can thus be a no-can-lose proposition for those teams that are ready to #ChangeMarketing in their business.

So here’s the call to action :-)

Marketing doesn’t need more words to change itself. Most of the tools we need to transform the profession have already been invented. We now need action. CMO’s, marketing teams and media professionals that are prepared to roll up their sleeves and get to it.

So if the above resonates with you, get in touch with either myself or Stefan Kolle. Explain your interest and ambitions and if they are compatible with the lab's objectives, we look at making marketing innovation a reality for your business. While for practical purposes, we’re limiting initial membership to ten companies, the reality is simple. No one company can #ChangeMarketing on its own. But if we all work together … we can.

PS.  For agencies and consultants

Membership is limited to “clients” and “media” only. Nonetheless, agencies and consultancies can get involved by recommending their clients to become members in the lab. There are no commissions or other forms of compensations available for this recommendation. But it is of course likely that the members you refer decide to involve you in lab experiments they wish to pursue.