Jim Speros of Fidelity Investments on Generating and Riding Momentum

According to Speros there are three important drivers of momentum redefining and transforming consumer experiences eliminating significant friction points that consumers experienceamp160and inventing the futurequotMarketers who work with their internal business partners to focus on these three areas can reap significant competitive advantage and drive new revenue streamsquot Speros contends quotIt39s useful to think about the momentum drivers across these three areas enhancements to core businesses and products new markets you39re not in today think CVS39 expansion into Minute Clinics and creatively destroying your business model through transformational ideas If you39re only focused on your core business you may wake up one morning and find yourself left behindquotIn this interview Speros who will speak at the ANA Masters of Marketing Conferenceamp160October 1922 in Orlando FL shares his thoughts on creativity how Fidelity is driving momentum the importance of standing up for what you believe inamp160and the key lessons he has learned over the past four decadesKen Beaulieu How would you describe the current state of creativity in the marketing industryJim Speros Creativity in our industry has reached new heights and is flourishing Creative people and their client partners are willing to take more risks than ever before and deliver much more disruptive and compelling work At the same time the explosion of new media forms and innovative applications of technology are ushering in entirely new ways of engaging and entertaining consumers in ways I never could have imagined when I first started out in the business Every time a new medium or technology application emergesamp160it acts as a catalyst for creative ideation and experimentation The pace at which these changes are occurring requires that we all keep ourselves in a constant state of learning experimentationamp160and risk taking with rapid feedback loops on our work The one criticism I have about the state of creativity in our industry is that we39re not sustaining great ideas long enough Perhaps we39re becoming a bit too tactical given the emphasis on driving shortterm resultsKen How can marketers improve their creative thinking in an age when time is of the essenceJim As marketers we have zero time to let any dust settle under us We live in an age of realtime marketing that requires rapid response to consumer conversation both good and bad events and trends occurring around us and voluminous amounts of data that must be quickly synthesized to uncover insights and drive strategies At the same time we have an obligation to enhance our creativity in order drive value for our companies and strengthen our own abilities Many people believe they are not creative yet studies reported in the Harvard Business Review and by INSEAD indicate that creativity is 85 percent a learned skillThere are techniques and approaches to driving greater levels of creative thinking First I believe creativity requires eclectic thinking and drawing from our reservoir of experiences and putting it all together in unexpected and surprising ways However if you are not filling and stimulating your brain you will have little to draw upon So great creative people are generally those who are inquisitive and draw from an interest in a broad range of topics including art music technology events design trends fashion etc If you39re not feeding your brain you39ll have nothing from which to come up with ideas Second improving our creative thinking requires that we question oftenamp160and much more deeply The initial questions one asks generally expose the most obvious ideas and solutions It39s not until you peel back the onion even more that you are able to get to deeper insights Third we have to learn to accept failure and be willing to quotcolor outside the linesquot There is a Russian saying quotHeamp160who takes no risks drinks no champagnequot This is the only way we39ll get to breakthrough thinking It39s incumbent upon leadership to encourage experimentation and allow for failure if we want to get the best out of peopleKen Talk about some of the creative ways Fidelity has built momentum in the financial services industryJim This yearamp160Fidelity celebrated its 70th anniversary We began in 1946 as a mutual fund company which was started by Edward C Johnson II with 3 million in assets Today we39re still owned by the Johnson family and have become a fully diversified financial services company administering over 5 trillion in assets We39ve accomplished this growth by constantly innovating with new products and services and focusing on delivering the best customer service in the financial services industry Our focus on the customer experience translates to things like new and cuttingedge ways to interact with Fidelity via the Amazon Echo where you can get stock quotes or on the Apple Watch and Apple TV where you can get current market data and transact with us We39re using advanced technology to reduce the number of handoffs customers experience when they call in to our call centers so they get to the right person as fast as possible We39re eliminating friction points at every interaction point we canIn addition we39ve moved aggressively into creating a great mobile and online experience for our customers who increasingly have a mobilefirst approach to doing business with financial services companies We39ve also entered adjacentnew markets with the establishment of the Fidelity Health Marketplace It39s a private health exchange for small to midsized companies with 10 to 2500 employees providing onestop access to health wellnessamp160and retirement benefits Finally I would be remiss if I didn39t mention our Green Lineamp160campaign It39s the longest running marketing campaign in the company39s history and has energized our customers and our associates The green line has become the metaphor for guidance and navigation and many customers will literally ask us to give them a quotgreen linequot of their own It is now synonymous with Fidelity and has driven strong results for our businessKen You once said quotHave a backbone and the courage to stand up for what you believe inquot What holds some marketers back from living those wordsJim Marketers are often the first to become the scapegoats for lackluster performance and the first to get quotshotquot While the relatively short tenures of CMOs have improved based on studies I39ve seen they understandably can be somewhat overly cautious It takes courage to advance new ideas particularly those that are transformational Transformational ideas don39t come with a playbook They involve risk and many CMOs are not comfortable taking significant risks Many would rather wrap themselves in the comfort of consensusdriven decisions which result in going to the lowest common denominator As I39ve said to my team many times quotA camel is a horse designed by committeequot Don39t get me wrong here the CMO role is a tough one CMOs are tasked with being momentum generators orchestrators of multiple functions they often don39t control advisorsamp160and the stewards of extensive financial resources for which they are expected to drive a return and measure it Still I believe CMOs must be much bolder in their approach and be willing to stand up for new and fresh ways of thinking about their business Ultimately it takes courage leadership passion convictionamp160and an inspiring vision for where you want to goKen You are retiring at the end of the year What valuable lessons will you pass down to your teamJim I39ve witnessed and learned a lot over the course of my career There are a few lessons I would pass along to the next generation of marketers First leadership is ultimately the art of achieving results through people So you39ve got to surround yourself with great people who not only complement your skills but fill in the deficiencies you have Your role as a leader will ultimately be to inspire people to do their best work and to listen to alternative points of view that may lead you to new places Second my dad always told me that whenever I sign our family name to the work I do it should be the best it can possibly be and bring pride and honor to the Speros name It39s not about perfection but about taking pride in the work you do If you approach work this way and demand it of your people you will see amazing results Finally stay hungry and inquisitive Embrace a constant state of learning The world is moving very fast and we all need to keep up with it if we39re going to remain relevant and add value to our businesses You39ll be a much more interesting person tooThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggers

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Jim Speros of Fidelity Investments on Generating and Riding Momentum

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