Planning with the Far Future in Mind

Marketing plans usually cover the next 6-12 months, with the exception of some new product intros, which may cover 12-24 months. But every plan must take into account developments that might arise months and years into the future--because those environmental shifts (technological, political, cultural, etc) can potentially derail even the best plan.

If Cisco had, for instance, taken a close, critical look at the eventual future of consumer pocket videocams, would it have bought the Flip business? As it turns out, video has become extremely important to Cisco's future marketing plans--in terms of videoconferencing for B2B customers, not in the consumer world.

So how do marketers stimulate creative thinking about future directions for their industries, technologies, customer needs, cultural preferences, and so on?

First, cast a wide net and think big. I like to listen to the FourCast podcast for ideas about how technology might change 3 or 5 or 100 years in the future. Sure, some of the predictions are outlandish, but they're also entertaining and imaginative. A lot of new ideas are packed into every podcast. The MIT Technology Review just published an interesting issue about the future, based on ideas rooted in science fiction.

Second, take advantage of all kinds of data for your markets, like the UCLA Anderson Forecast series for Southern California. Technical, to be sure, but broad trends are addressed and may help you think creatively about future opportunities and challenges.

Third, look beyond the numbers to uncover the reasons for what's happening. Are car-top luggage carrier sales going through the roof just as the economy is tanking? Thule had that situation, which turned out to be an indicator of how consumers would react to difficult economic times. Interpreting such changes isn't always easy but it will provide additional clues to broader trends you should incorporate into your marketing planning.

And, because the marketing environment can be disrupted by "once in a lifetime" events such as the nuclear problems in Japan, touched off by extreme weather conditions, consultants Booz & Company advise management to think about black swans, "high-magnitude, low-frequency upheavals" that can turn a business on its end.