Market Forces: Will Friday be Scottish Independence Day?

With voting for the Scottish Referendum taking place in just 5 days time, and the day of reckoning almost upon us, the promotion of ideas and ideologies is at its most extreme and my marketing instincts are being overloaded.

Propaganda, PR and Passion are at their height.

But never before, on the streets of Britain, have I seen such a display of passionate politics. On both sides of a debate.

Yesterday, as my husband and I sat in the sunshine at a pavement café, drinking tea and eating cake, we heard the rousing tones of Dougie MacLean's Caledonia drifting over the city in which we've lived most of our lives. While it's not my husband's favourite song, it was a moment that - for me - captured the essence of what is happening right around us: a groundswell of national pride.

Little did we know at the time, it was THE Dougie MacLean, busking on the high street, just around the corner from where we were enjoying that terribly British tradition of afternoon tea.

Superstar or street smart, conservative or labour, Scottish nationalist or not, the Yes campaign has united individuals from all facets of the political and social spectrum and that's what has made it so unique.

A glance at the two campaigns, side by side, standing out on our main street yesterday showed one thriving and thronging with people, brandishing balloons, and eagerly interacting with inquisitive voters. The other, a small table with a union jack as a table cloth, surrounded by a small clutch of activists scouring the crowds looking for people to speak to.

Scanning down social media timelines showed similar imagery around the country. Thronging crowds in Glasgow and Edinburgh waving flags and singing anthems and small gatherings of No activists, posing gingerly for their requisite selfies.

I've never seen anything like it. Ever.

If I were to use one word to describe what I have seen happening on the streets, it would be this: Jubilation.

A feeling of great happiness or triumph.

A campaign that, win or lose on Friday morning, has already won.

A campaign that has awoken an electorate.

A campaign that, yes or no, has got people interested in the political agenda of their own country.

A campaign that has galvanised the highest ever voter registration levels the United Kingdom has ever seen.

So, with 97% of the country registered to have their say the outcome, whatever it may be, cannot be in question.

It will be the will of the people.

I have a friend who now lives in Australia who is quietly confident that there is a "silent majority" who will turn out to vote No on Thursday.

I'm intrigued by this perception of what is happening in my country. I am right here, right now, to quote Fat Boy Slim, and either this silent majority are very, very quiet, or they are a figment of the imagination.

There's a point in every marketing campaign that we push past the Innovators and Early Adopters and reach the Early Majority. When we get there, we can comfortably say we have captured 50% of the market for our product.

But beyond that is the Late Majority and the Laggards. The Late Majority will take a market position to somewhere in the region of between 50% and 74%.

I'd argue that, beyond the launch of a new iPhone, I've never seen a marketplace so eagerly embracing something as I have for that of the Yes vote in the last 4 weeks. This movement would put the Yes campaign comfortably into the Late Majority and recent polls are firmly hinting at the Yes campaign being in that position.

In 5 days we'll know if market forces are really at work here, or if there really is a silent majority.

Only Scotland knows.

Why Most Marketing (and Business) Plans Fail

It's a challenge in our industry not to come across a business owner without a poor experience of working with a marketing consultant. All too often I've heard the woeful story that suggests someone "came in", worked up a plan, and then left the building.

And, with that blazing gauntlet laid down on the table, my job is to overcome the sins of my predecessors with some amazing business turnaround idea that will redeem the marketing profession as a whole.

However regrettable (and common) this situation is, it genuinely doesn't surprise me. And, in defence of my fellow marketing professionals, it's not really their fault. (No, it really isn't).

Only a year or so into my working life as a marketing consultant, it struck me that some of the businesses, many of whom had acquired some sort of government grant funding for the pleasure of obtaining a marketing plan, were paying for something that was rarely going to see the light of day.

Why? They simply didn't have the funds to invest in their ongoing marketing.

So here's the truth: the main reason that most marketing (and business) plans fail is that they are never actually implemented.

Sounds obvious? Possibly.

Let's see if this rings a bell: Business decides it wants to grow, asks (usually a government agency) for help, is told they need a plan and said plan can attract funding. Business employs marketing consultant to create a plan, reviews plan, says it's great, sticks it on a shelf. Marketing consultant trots off into the sunset feeling pleased with self. Months go by, business becomes frustrated that the "plan" did not work. What a waste of time, energy and money. Business does not grow.

Sound familiar? I bet it does.

When Volpa started "giving away" its intellectual property of the marketing plan right at the very start of the relationship with the client, it was perceived as unusual. But it was very much because of a genuine desire to make a difference for the businesses that we work for. In essence we give away what other marketing consultants charge thousands for. But we do it because, as a business, we'd rather be working on what actually works for a business, not what might.  

Our obsession with planning up front sometimes takes new clients by surprise. And when we steer them back to the plan (entrepreneurs love to go off piste, it's a fact), they wonder why the plan shouldn't just "change". Flex, yes. Change, no. Not if you are going to stay on track to achieving your business objectives. Changing the plan usually means "making it up" and we're not great fans of that as a business strategy.

The old adage "fail to plan, plan to fail" only goes so far. I'd add "Fail to do, doomed to fail".

I've seen grand plans and simple ones. But the ones that really succeed, that really make the difference, are simply the plans that actually get implemented.

In fact successful marketing of a business is not actually rocket science. You can be swung by the immense creativity of some agencies (and let's face it, who doesn't want to be creative), or the grand idea that takes forever to create, but unless you actually do something, it's simply not going to happen.

Although, even if you do have a great plan, and you are actively "doing" marketing, be careful not to get caught up in the detail. It can be tempting (and relentless) to constantly feel you need to come up with new all the time, but sometimes repeating yourself works too. Sometimes people don't always get the message the first time. Or the second. So tell, tell and tell again.

In summary, if you want your marketing efforts to work, keep it simple, keep it do-able, and keep it up.

When No Means Yes

I try to steer away from politics, but every so often something political will catch my eye and, from a communications perspective, I feel it might be worth wading into the foray. 

As many of my regular readers will know, I'm based in Scotland and this year my country faces a significant decision on whether it should, or should not, be an independent nation. 

The political debates have been raging for months, and are expected to heat up as we career towards Decision-Day in September 2014. 

The communications campaign is critical for both sides of the debate. But here's where, for me at least, it recently got very interesting. 

Putting aside my own political thoughts on the matter, the two sides have very clearly defined communication objectives:

The Yes Campaign is painting a portrait of hope, opportunity, possibility and passion. Underpinning these concepts, ideas and strategies is a lot of uncertainty and a lack of guarantee. 

The No Campaign is painting a portrait of maintaining the status quo, the fear of the great unknown independence would bring, the loss of certainty, and the security of unity. Underpinning these concepts, ideas, and strategies is knowing that the status quo will (and can continue to) prevail. 

However, from what I can see as a professional communicator, the No Campaign has already lost the battle. 

Faced with a growing lean towards "Yes", they've taken to amplifying their message and not urgently reviewing it. From afar speeches have been made. Phone a friend, says David Cameron. The pound is ours, says George Osbourne. All the big brand businesses are leaving, say all the big brand businesses. 

But even a recent trade union vote on whether or not to back any specific political goal, clearly identified that the "market" has shifted. Turns out no-one supported backing the No campaign, they were either for Yes or somewhere in the middle. 

The Yes Campaign, for all its uncertainty, has always been able to maintain strong concepts of hope, opportunity, possibility and passion. It's message is constant, unwavering and, recently, laudable in the face of adversity. 

So has the time come for No to re-evaluate their communications? Arguably, that time has come and gone. They've positioned themselves into a corner of selling us "same old, same old" and changing tack now may come off as a cynical ploy. And, let's face it, it really wouldn't be more than just that. 

For such an important political decision, and with some of the most clever communications strategists behind the campaign, it's actually distinctly surprising that they didn't see this coming from the outset. In fact, the No Campaign has done more for the Yes Campaign, than the Yes Campaign have done for the Yes Campaign. It's probably one of the biggest unintentional communication backfires in modern political history, but time will ultimately tell on that one. 

The Yes Campaign, by contrast, are to be congratulated on what has been an exceptionally well thought out strategy. 

They knew from the outset this was going to be as much an emotional vote as a logical one. But instead of treating the Scots like a bunch of imbeciles, unable to make logical decisions, they've made the respectful assumption that we'll suss out what many already know: when you set your mind on something, you can achieve anything. 

And so they've set out their stall in an ambitious manner. Scotland can be independent, they say. Look at what we have done. Look at what we can do. Look at what we could be. And, perhaps most importantly, look at what's holding us back. 

They know we've got the brains. Heck, Scots have invented some of the most widely used modern gadgets -  it ain't for the lack of brains that we're not ruling the world of technology. They know we've got the mettle. They know we just need the opportunity to make it happen. 

And slowly, but surely, their campaign has chipped away at the premise of the No Campaign. Because No can't fight back without first admitting that they have, actually, held us back. That they have treated us differently. That they intend to continue treating us differently. 

So what does No have to do if they are going to pull this back? Well, for a start, they'd better hurry. A good many people have watched the childish squabbling, quietly taken notes and have now firmly made up their mind to vote Yes. And that's what they are, arrogantly, not quite grasping. The market has changed. So the strategy needs to move with it. 

They are no longer communicating on the basis of why people should not leave, they have to start communicating on the basis of why people should stay. Strong, visionary reasons. Sell us a future we want, not a status quo we don't. And as for all this negativity? Bin it. At worst it's demeaning, at best it's boring.

And I say this as someone who stood firmly at the ouset of the campaign as a No vote. Over time, as I considered the possibilities, I moved to maybe. Maybe Yes, Maybe No. Now? Well, I'm comfortable with my decision to vote Yes. 

As a small business owner in Scotland, and an employer, I've had to take my fair share of risks over the years. But one thing is absolutely certain: without hope, you have nothing. And without opportunity, you will get nowhere. And without possibility, there is no progress. And without passion, there's no impact. Everything else? Well, I reckon we can tackle that as we go along, don't you?