A Flexible Approach Can Help Ensure Success
Developing immersive brand experiences begins with a solid process and a structured approach is the difference between success and failure. However, there must be a balance as each client’s engagement is different in terms of goals, requirements and functions. A process by nature is structured, but it must also be flexible and scalable to support all projects regardless of size, complexity and budget.
If a process is too rigid, it can hinder creativity and interfere with achieving the best results. The most effective process will have focused guidelines, yet provide enough flexibility so that ideas can be explored when they arise. It’s often the case during initial planning and discovery that certain “ah-ha” moments pop up, and they should not be ignored. It’s important to use those opportunities as innovative inspiration, that when explored, can lead to better results. A healthy process should gently fan the flames of innovation, not acting too quickly to suffocate it.
Fostering innovation is imperative to produce the best possible solution, but parameters must be in place to stay within the bounds of reasonable exploration. To ensure that this happens, a strategic plan should be developed and agreed upon with the client. A well conceived strategy acts as a project road map and as a means to benchmark ideas. A flexible strategic plan allows for ideation and acts as an avenue to embrace valid opportunities. It also serves as a control device to avoid getting pulled off track. This type of check system is essential to keeping a project on schedule, but also allows for creative exploration when it makes sense to do so.
When an idea is validated against strategic criteria and determined worthwhile to fully explore, a project scope change may result. In these instances, the client team should be involved early on to consider the idea and the associated change in scope. New ideas are often embraced by clients when they lead to a better overall solution. To support these instances, contract terms should clearly delineate the potential for creativity and innovation as being a normal part of the project process. There should be clear language outlining how these opportunities, when they do arise, will be considered and communicated to the client. The terms of the contract should also dictate the authorization process for agreed upon changes in scope.
Overall, the process is critical to a project’s success. However, it is important to have some breathing room to ideate when it makes sense to do so, and to have a means to measure and qualify the validity of ideas. When a good “ah-ha” moment comes along, a good process will embrace it and provide a means to alter the project scope such that the best possible solution is achieved.
Noritz America is the largest manufacturer of tankless hot water heaters and has been a client of Rhythm Interactive for over 3 years. During this time, the primary service we have performed for Noritz has been Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The process that we followed when we began SEO services for Noritz included a discovery phase that provided foundational understanding of the Noritz business model. Additionally during monthly SEO progress meetings, conversations often touched on other marketing efforts Noritz was engaged with beyond SEO.