The shift in corporate direction has become a highly talked-about asset for companies at all stages. Many businesses pivoted during the pandemic, applying out-of-the-box thinking and creativity to new problems. As their reward, they were able to make proverbial lemonade out of lemons and thrive despite the economic uncertainty around them.
However, seeing problems as opportunities isn’t always easy, especially in PR and communications. When a minor or significant crisis rears its head, everyone tends to go into panic mode. Nevertheless, if you can think more clearly — and innovatively — about your challenge, you have a better chance of pivoting in a direction that will ultimately benefit your organization.
The Old Spice's “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” marketing ploy is an excellent example of turning a problem around. By the second decade of the 21st century, Old Spice was seen as a Boomer’s deodorant. It was losing ground quickly. Rather than pushing against this trend, the brand went on a PR tilt to reframe the company’s signature product into something fresh and funny. As noted by reporting from The Brand Hopper, the result was 1+ million hits on YouTube and a 107% lift in sales of its body wash. In other words, problem solved.
The point is that what is holding back your company might be its greatest asset—or, in the case of Old Spice, the impetus to try something bold and untested. Try the following strategies to improve your team’s ability to transform negatives into positives.
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Search for problems
Most people recoil from problems or even hide from them. Your responsibility is to seek them out and confront them. You can start by brainstorming some of your company’s most significant barriers to success. For instance, you may be losing momentum to a startup competitor. Or you may be suffering from negative reviews online. These are challenging problems, but the sooner you identify them, the better.
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Consider untapped (and perhaps unorthodox) ways to overcome your problems
With your list of problems, spend time with your diverse communications team thinking outside the box. You may even want to use an advanced product like ChatGPT to spur your imagination. For example, you might want to prompt the AI system to find examples of companies that had problems similar to yours. The output could lead you to ideas that worked (or didn’t work) for those brands. Ensure you don’t dismiss any contributions because they may contain the nuggets you need to succeed.
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Narrow your list of opportunities
Some ideas you came up with during your brainstorming should be tested. Please take a moment to flesh them out and construct roadmaps to make them happen. As you develop plans, consider the metrics you’ll use to determine if an initiative works. If you are curious to know how to measure success, here are some metrics that can help you determine your progress:
- Sales Revenue
- Sales Growth Year-to-Date
- Customer Loyalty and Retention
- Net Promoter Score
- Qualified Leads Per Month
- Lead to Client Conversion Rate
- Monthly Website Traffic
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Motivate your team to keep being creative
It may take several meetings for your team to determine how to turn your company’s most significant problems into benefits. Consider implementing an employee recognition award by rewarding people with small tokens of appreciation to encourage motivation and stimulation. Handing out a “zaniest problem-solver of the month” award and a gift card can lighten the mood and excite people to keep searching for answers to their most challenging problems.
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Keep tabs on other companies doing the same thing
You can be sure that your team won’t be the only one engaging in some creative thinking. Look into what other companies are doing to surpass expectations and overcome challenges. How are they unearthing opportunities for their brands? What seems to be working best? What’s not working at all but has merit, nonetheless? Be sure to look outside your industry for inspiration, too.
It can often feel like problems are going to take your company down. However, they certainly don’t have to. Plenty of organizations have been able to employ innovative brainstorming and succeed against the odds. With the help of some out-of-the-box thinking, your company can do the same.
