Our new marketing director is a ponderous individual. Heavyset and rumpled in appearance, he doesn’t project hip, lean, or flexible. His head sways slightly from side to side when he walks. He actively polishes his ivories, and he dresses in tailored, three-piece suits. The whole look lends him an air of gravitas and age. People see a lawyerly grandfather rather than a millennial brand manager.
When the company hired Ezra, quite a few people grumbled that it would prove a mistake. Serious deliberation and methodical patience underlie Ezra’s strategy and campaigns. But marketing today increasingly requires a fast pace and scattered focus. Successful brand managers need to flutter among different media, using a light touch to simultaneously support a million tiny relationships. Could such a deliberate, ponderous person handle jumping fluidly between electronic communications, traditional marketing, and a dozen flavors of social media? After all, they say elephants never flit.
Fortunately, Ezra never planned to do the job by himself. Like the best leaders, Ezra has hired a herd of smart, young employees. Fast and flexible, they tirelessly pollinate the company’s varied markets like worker bees. Ezra, meanwhile, guides the overall strategy with a strong, steady forelimb. It may be a jungle out there, but at least we found the right pachyderm for the job.