Focus. That’s it.

 

I was scrolling through my Facebook feed recently, and my attention was drawn to video clip of Brooks Running’s CEO Jim Weber talking about his favorite marathon – the Twin Cities Marathon. But, after watching the video, it turns out that my biggest takeaway was not the fact that the CEO of a big running shoe company thinks my hometown marathon is pretty awesome.

 

Jim Weber touched on something that I believe must infiltrate everything we do as financial marketers. It’s something that can be drilled into even the minutest detail in our marketing plans. That something is focus. Here’s the backstory:

 

In the early 2000’s, Brooks was trying to be something they ultimately weren’t – they were a full-line footwear and apparel company for all types of athletics – and they were not succeeding at it. It was at this point that a bold decision was made: cut all product lines of footwear and apparel and focus on becoming one of the most exceptional running companies on the face of the planet.

 

Though this decision has served them well over the past 13 years, it was not an easy one to make. As Mr. Weber put it: “Courage comes from great opportunity and fear. And frankly, we had both.”

 

Brooks touts their focus on running and running alone as the first thing to know about them: “We do one thing and we do it better than anyone on the planet. Behind every employee, every idea, every lace or stitch of our gear is a razorsharp focus on runners and the running experience. That’s it.”

 

 

Now, I’m not saying that we should all run out (pun intended) and start cutting our products and services to achieve focus. But being a financial marketer presents a very similar equation. We often have incredibly limited resources, tight timelines, constantly changing regulations and pressures to do even more with even less. It takes razorsharp focus to consistently present our brand and deliver on our promise.

 

Focus on your brand builds momentum, which in turn produces results in your marketing. Brooks is a great example of how this strategy has paid off. Everything they do is based on the promise that they are improving the running experience.

 

Likewise, everything you do should be designed around delivering on your financial’s brand promise. Your brand should be the one thing that we do better than anyone on the planet.

 

Now, please excuse me, I have to go squeeze a run in before my next meeting!