Expertise
Asking the right question
Everyone loves a clear answer. But when it comes to branding and marketing, Chief Marketing Officers who get the best answers usually follow a harder step: asking the right question first.
It’s easy to rush into fix-it mode, especially when there’s pressure to move fast, hit goals and show results. But sometimes, the question you start with isn’t the one that really needs answering. And that’s often where the opportunity lives.
Start with curiosity
Instead of jumping into a campaign or strategy with a pre-set solution, we like to pause and ask: What’s really going on here? What’s beneath the surface?
- Maybe the goal isn’t just more awareness, it’s more trust.
- Maybe the issue isn’t a lack of content, it’s a lack of connection.
- Maybe the product isn’t hard to understand, it’s hard to care about.
It’s not always obvious. That’s why the people who ask thoughtful questions—and keep asking—uncover the insights others miss.
Listening beats assuming
The best ideas don’t always come from brainstorms. They come from the in-between moments. A pause that lingers just a beat too long. A facial expression that says more than the words ever could. The discipline to hold back from solving, and the curiosity to fully explore the problem first. The courage to ask, “What if we’re solving the wrong problem?”
That shift—from answering fast to questioning more deeply—can be the turning point.
Take one recent example. A client came to us with a straightforward request: a brochure for a new medical product launch. But after listening closely to the team and their goals, we realized the real challenge was a lack of internal clarity about the product’s positioning.
It would have been easy to dive right into campaign development, but instead, we took a step back. We led a SOLVEsession that helped the team align on positioning, sharpen their messaging and build consensus around the product story. What began as a request for a simple brochure became a chance to clarify messaging across departments, and shape future sales and marketing collateral.
Because we asked better questions, the output wasn’t just a deliverable. It was a turning point.
