Laura Spieth: Maximizing Agility, Creativity, And Customer Empathy In The New Normal 

Marketing will not remain the same. Several unknowns still hang over the growth plans for 2021 like scary storm clouds. 

To stay relevant and drive value, growth leaders worldwide are evolving with the times, and realizing just how agile and nimble they can be. 

Gone are the days when marketing departments spent long hours poring over slides in closed rooms to create a year-long roadmap. The pandemic-induced necessity has taught growth leaders to adapt to situations, consumer needs, and adjust strategy on the go. 

There is no crystal ball to see the future, but agile marketing is one booming trend that grew in 2020 and has continued in 2021.

In today’s post on Rediscover Marketing, we spoke with Laura Spieth, an experienced marketer who shared some of the best marketing strategies she has implemented in this new normal. 

Meet Laura Spieth

Laura is an experienced marketing assistant with a long history of working in the higher education industry. She currently works in the Iowa State University Athletics Department as the Assistant Director of Marketing in a five-person team. Her department is responsible for collaborating with everyone on sports and external marketing activities to ensure the success of athletic events. 

Laura has worked in the department for about three years. The university ensures the staff maintains a fun balance by assigning each member a different school sport during the fall and spring. We find this impressive as Laura, for instance, oversees women volleyball in the fall and men’s wrestling in the winter and spring months. 

Here are some of the marketing nuggets we were able to glean from Laura on how her team ensures success during the pandemic. 

Become Agile and Act Fast on Signals

In good and more straightforward times, agility is a great-to-have. However, in precarious times such as this, it becomes a necessity. In 2021, marketers have to be ready for all eventualities. 

Laura highlighted adaptability as the key to her team’s success during the pandemic and moving forward. 

In a typical sports season at the university, her team engaged fans in giveaways and prizes. However, the pandemic reduced their numbers and consequently their budget. Needless to say, they were in a challenging situation. 

Her team got creative and came up with the idea to organize a cyber sale with leftover T-Shirts, koozies and other sports items. They repurposed these items and were able to sell them off, thus creating revenue for the department, impressing their boss, and making the best of a bad situation.

The pandemic has demonstrated how businesses can implement fast new processes, technologies and systems. Companies who desire to up their revenue during this crisis should accept change and move fast with creativity to stay on top. 

Customer Understanding

Communicate empathy and understanding in all dealings with your customers. Laura mentioned that she believes that raising the prices of football tickets right now would be taking advantage of the loyalty that customers have shown over the years. 

She emphasizes that business owners should realize that we all just came out of a horrible year, and everyone is in a tight spot. As growth leaders ponder the sales book and how the business has been negatively impacted, they should pay attention to how the pandemic has affected their customers. 

Last Remarks

Laura advises growth leaders to approach marketing this year with a mix of creativity and caution. 

Creativity is the very oxygen that marketing survives on as it is vital in every aspect of building a brand from collaborations to landing sales. However, as marketing departments draw on creativity to push boundaries and generate new ideas, they should also have backup plans in the event one falls through. 

How do you see your marketing and growth strategies evolving with the times in this new year? Share your thoughts with us.