The third and final type of marketing disorder is what I call Marketing de Jour. It's the habit of following the tactic of the day and confusing it with a strategy.
Whatever is trending at the moment becomes the current plan. Maybe it’s something a competitor recently rolled out. Or it was featured on a podcast or highlighted in a webinar. Wherever it was stumbled upon, it is quickly adopted as the ‘new’ marketing strategy.
Except…it isn’t a strategy at all. It’s sampling. It’s nibbling. It’s impulse-ordering from the menu because it looked good for three seconds.
This usually comes from a deep misconception: the belief that marketing should work instantly. Turn on the faucet, water flows. Simple.
But marketing isn’t plumbing.
First, you prime the pump.
Then the results come.
Here’s the trap: Marketing de Jour feels productive. Teams are hustling. Leadership sees activity. Things are happening. There’s movement.
But motion alone is not momentum, and movement without a clear direction is just drifting. Without an overarching strategy or plan, each individual effort exists in isolation.
Momentary.
Unconnected.
Forgettable.
But there’s an even deeper cost to de Jour behavior that these organizations fail to recognize. Every time marketing tactics pivot abruptly, there are equal and opposite outcomes:
Internal teams are confused.
Audiences have to relearn who you are.
Your brand narrative is fragmented.
Improvement simply doesn’t come from constantly changing direction. It comes from a clearly defined structure. Or, if you like, a P-L-A-N.
Companies that win understand this. They aren’t chasing trends. They aren’t chasing anything. They certainly test and adapt as they move forward but always stay within a clear strategic framework. They play the long game, knowing that being consistent creates an incredible synergy that spontaneity simply cannot achieve.
The companies that win next year won’t be the ones chasing the ‘daily special.’ No, they will be the ones that have a unique recipe, refined over time, and who execute it so well that everyone else wants to order the same dish.