Audible

When we were all sorting through how to handle the fallout from April’s tariffs announcements, I wrote two of these newsletters in quick succession. 

In the first, Drew and I recommended 10 things every brand should do maintain profit levels. In fact, you could argue we were pretty dogmatic around one, very specific recommendation: “And while there are long-term approaches to combatting them, the only real short-term approach is to raise prices so that you can reclaim your lost margin.”

It took me all of 11 days to revise that position: 

“There is no universal, one-size-fits-all order in which to execute on these tactics… What is universal, though, is that each of these tactics will come into play for everyone at some point. And when they do, the need to stick with them will only grow, since more brands will be changing their status quos as their situations change, too.”

In other words, it’s a one-size-fits-none world, and every “right” move is dependent on how other brands respond and how consumers respond to those responses. (Sort of meta, I know.)

BFCM is sort of the same situation, just condensed: You probably built a plan, and any new information you get from here on out is coming too late (we’ve got less than a month to go) to create a new plan. So, if you change anything, it needs to be something that’s well understood. 

If you read often enough, you know by now that I’m a sucker for a good metaphor, and the best one here, I think, is the audible. 

In football, the decision on which offensive play to run is usually handled by the Offensive Coordinator or the Head Coach. That person has a lot of information about what the defense is most likely to do in a given situation and what the defense has been successful doing so far during the game; they think about that, and also think about what their offense has been successful doing against the defense, and picks a group of players (personnel) and play they believe will be successful against the defense based on what they think they defense will be.

It’s a “I think this is going to happen, and I think this is the best way to deal with that thing I think is going to happen” type situation.

The play caller gives that play to the quarterback, and the quarterback relays it to the rest of the offense in the huddle.

When the offense gets to the line of scrimmage, though, an experienced quarterback can tell if the defense is, in fact, lined up to do what the play caller thought they were going to do. And, sometimes, they’re not!

In those cases, there’s often little time left for a play caller to send in a new play.

So, the quarterback has the ability to call an “audible:” They can switch the play to one from a smaller set of plays that works with the personnel on the field and works with the defense that’s in front of them. It’s often a play the offense executes very well and practices a lot. It mitigates downside risk while looking to create upside by being a better play to run against the defense. In business speak, it’s contextual.

This is a great metaphor for ecommerce, because situations like BFCM are highly contextual and pressure-cooked by time. 

You likely spent a lot of time coming up with a BFCM plan that fits your brand and what you expect to happen, but there are a lot of things that can go against your plan. In those cases, when what you “see on the field” changes, you’ll need to change, too. Except it’s too late to rethink it all.

For example: Customers are deal seekers during BFCM and if you’re product isn’t one that pulls demand on its own (and people have just been waiting for BFCM to capitalize on your sale), then you may risk winning demand if a competitor runs a better offer. What should you do in that situation? Alternatively, what might you do if your offer was so successful you beat your targets early? Do you ride that same offer or do you switch to something that is slightly less generous to the customer to preserve some extra margin now that you’ve surpassed your goals?

Having answers to questions like this will save you a lot of time, and, in turn, deliver a lot more opportunity.

I guess this is a fancy, metaphor-laden way of saying it might be too late to plan, but it’s not too late to think through scenarios. Run through a couple that you think are most likely and have them in your back pocket. You might just need to change them in the middle of the rush.