Minimal viable marketing
Partnership business models aren't exactly known for moving fast. Building consensus can be a slow and painful process, especially in marketing. As our client Ale always says, “A campaign has the gestation period of a baby elephant!”
But Ale isn't one for unnecessary process. She’s all about finding faster routes to better outcomes. It’s a mindset that helped develop a new brand value proposition in just four weeks (apparently, the gestation period of a rabbit).
It turns out Ale isn’t alone in her sprint mindset.
At the recent LMA Europe conference, Michael Michaelides, Global CMO at A&O Shearman, shared how his team executed a lightning-fast rebrand following a rapid merger. There wasn’t time for the usual long development cycles; they had to “trust expertise over process”. The team launched a ‘minimal viable brand’ in weeks, not months, which they have built on over time.
We’re hearing this more and more. Clients are asking for leaner, faster ways to get smart thinking and standout creative into the market. They want to move quickly, build momentum around brand or growth priorities, and test ideas without the time and investment of a full-scale campaign.
Marketers like Ale and Michael aren’t just chasing speed. They’re embracing agile ways to work with partners, build consensus around bolder ideas, and avoid the dilution that comes with lengthy, over-engineered development cycles.
This is ‘minimum viable marketing’ in action. Moving fast with purpose, launching lean without losing ambition, and laying strong foundations to build on.
One approach that’s helped us, and our clients, move at pace is adapting the Google Ventures' Sprint model. Originally designed as a five-day process for solving big problems and testing ideas with real users, it’s just as powerful in a legal marketing context.
Here's how we’ve adapted Sprint fundamentals for marketing:
Start with one clear challenge: A new campaign idea, a value proposition, a brand message.
Bring partners and marketers together: Get decision-makers involved early to build buy-in fast.
Sketch bold ideas quickly: Don't overthink. Just put strong, simple ideas on the table.
Prototype the best ideas: Mock up a landing page, pitch deck or client email to test.
Test and learn: Use quick feedback from clients or internal stakeholders to sharpen and finalise.
I'd encourage anyone to give it a go. Start small by choosing one challenge and see how far you can progress in a week. You might be surprised what’s possible!
For anyone interested, the book "Sprint" by Jake Knapp (from the Google Ventures team) outlines this practical, five-day process for solving complex problems and testing new ideas (far better than I can).