| "Can we at least shake on GDPR?" (credit:The Independent) |
Last week, it struck me how these two phrases, forever etched on Marketing people's brains, have a surprising amount in common with each other...
Consider:
- Neither outcome is fully known until deadlines come and go
- We are preparing for both best we can on limited guidance available
- We are inundated with so called experts, doom-mongers and evangelists
- They are bound to be some losers, but also big opportunities
But the single humongous problem affecting our business lives today is that we lack certainty. The stuff that we crave in order to design and execute change plans is rarer than the prospect of Barnier and Davis swapping presents this Christmas.
Informed guesswork is the name of the game here with those who feel they're sailing close to the wind now (you know who you are) will likely court the wrath of the ICO GDPRstyle in 2018, unless business models are torn up and new strategies adopted.
The best policy (outside of an official one) is to use common sense. Many blogs ago, I suggested such common sense rules called the 'The Granny Test' for those of you unsure how to apply best practice to consumer privacy and consent. The basic premise is before hitting go on that latest direct marketing campaign, think how your granny would feel about receiving it. If the impact worries you, hit pause and think again. I think this interpretation still holds well today in the absence of any explicit rules to follow.
May the marketing force be with you (you'll need it!)
