We are only just the tip of the Iceberg...

Our industry may be very important to businesses as we communicate their message to the people they want to say it to and how. However, understanding the whole business and their objectives is vital in order to get our job right. This can be seen as the 'Iceberg Analogy', where you must know about the whole Iceberg even if we only work at the tip of it. 

The bottom of the Iceberg is 'Business Objectives', where we understand how the business functions, what is important to them and what they want the business to achieve - this could be by way of profit, growth, ROI, shareholder value etc. 


The middle of the Iceberg represents the marketing objectives - this can be to influence sales, market share, price, product and distribution. Understanding the marketing objectives will help you gear your campaign to obtain these goals whilst keeping campaigns in-line with the business objectives.


The tip of the Iceberg represents the communication objectives (this is where we come in), which will involve influencing people's feelings, attitudes, opinions and behaviours. This will communicate the messages that fundamentally derive from the business objectives and which were refined and contextualised within the marketing objectives.


All three sections of the iceberg need to flow harmoniously whereby each section is in line with the one before - more and more agencies are focusing too much on the tip of the Iceberg whereby they lose sight of the fact that the communications strategies are used to deliver the key objectives of the business as a whole. Immersing yourself in the whole business will allow agencies to understand what they are trying to achieve, and in turn will create a better campaign in order to meet their objectives and deliver a healthy ROI. Maintaining a close and well-managed relationship with the client and fully understanding their business is essential in order to create strong future campaigns.