Does change need marketing?
Before becoming a Lean Change practitioner, I spent a decade running a digital marketing agency.
Marketing is about understanding the people you want to buy your products and services – and building deeper, more meaningful, and lasting relationships with them.
It’s no longer about a one-off transaction. It’s about engagement, trust, and taking a longer-term view.
And so it is with organisational change.
Most change initiatives fail not because the strategy is wrong. But because Change leaders assume that if they make a strong business case – including “the why” and the business benefits – all they have to do is communicate this and their people will get on board. And stay on board.
They won’t.
People don’t change because of logic alone. Change begins when they feel heard and understood. When they sense meaning, feel emotionally connected, and believe in a shared future.
That’s why successful change requires marketing skills:
Understanding your audience: What motivates them? What do they fear? What excites them?
Creating demand: Not just mandating change but making people want to be part of it. And stay a part of it.
Building community: Fostering conversations, engagement, and ownership.
