Why Is Team GB So Successful At The Olympics?

Regular followers of Bob’s Blog will be only too aware of how we bang on so regularly about looking at marketing as an investment rather than a necessary, or even unnecessary, evil. The concept of investment is pretty intangible; stocks and shares, bricks and mortar, et al. As luck would have it, here’s something that should bring it very sharply into focus.

As I write, Great Britain are second place in the Olympic medal table. Yes, this “little insignificant island in the Atlantic”, as one Eurocrat put it, are above even the mighty China. Okay, they are bound to end up above us, but let’s enjoy the moment, eh? However, the single reason that Great Britain sits where it does is simply down to investment. Of time, of sheer bloody-minded effort and, let us not forget, money. Now, let us print this little and highly successful formula out onto a sheet of clear acetate and overlay it on your marketing strategy. The ‘money’ bit is your budget, without which you can do nothing. However, in Olympic terms, that money is not given without good reason: where is the best, most likely return on that investment to come from? The time and sheer bloody-minded effort bit should be self-evident.

The parallels are closer than one may first think. If you have a good, valid and decent product or service, you need to tell your customers about it. Get your deep-seated faith in what you are doing across to your customers. Work at it, invest in it, keep your focus and don’t stop telling them about it. Be patient and share the marketing message with the sales guys. If everyone is pulling in the same direction, no effort will be wasted. Alas, while there aren’t many ‘certainties’ in marketing, of one thing you can be certain: No tell, no sell.