Silos, egos, and why server-side is about control | Simo Ahava

Marketing Unf*cked

Taking the path of least resistance can be incredibly tempting. After all, if a solution promises to fix all your business’s problems, isn’t it worth a try? In reality, clever tools and tactics never deliver the fix-all solutions they claim to offer. Only an understanding of how our work impacts that of others, fluid communication, and a willingness to learn can improve business operations in the long term. But in a world where ego reigns supreme, how do we make communication a priority and become less reliant on tools? Simply, how do we unf*ck this process?

Join me, Siobhan Solberg, and my co-host Russell McAthy as we chat with Simmer founder and digital marketing consultant Simo Ahava about all things communication and control. We get into why better communication is the solution to siloed working, the importance of prioritizing collaboration over ego, and how the server-side model can help any company within the digital space get better control of their data flows.

In this episode:

• Are businesses too reliant on tools that promise to cure the symptoms of their problems rather than identifying the prime mover that causes them?
• All problems come back to two people failing to communicate their plans effectively.
• Stereotypes, like slow IT teams delaying marketing innovation, hold us back: how do we move on from them?
• How do we communicate complicated ideas and concepts around improving collaboration to all the different audiences these issues affect?
• To improve inter-team collaboration, egos must be dropped, barriers to cooperation removed, and company-wide goals implemented to connect siloed teams.
• Improving communication within micro teams is relatively simple, but how can we implement great communication structures across a large and complex organization?
• Could adopting agile practices be the solution to siloed working?
• Do consultants and agencies worried about becoming redundant prioritize protecting their tools and tactics over taking their clients on journeys?
• What is the function of a digital marketing consultant: to launch great campaigns or to answer questions their clients didn’t even know they were going to ask?
• What is server-side, and how can it help businesses control their data flows better?
• Browsers were previously intended to represent and protect the needs of the user. Why has this been turned upside down in recent years?
• What happens when businesses use server-side to try and circumvent data regulations?
• What GTM does well and why it should never be recommended as a blanket solution.
• Why it’s a red flag when vendors market their tools as 100% privacy compliant.
• Do companies use the server-side model to distract from the real conversations they should be having about improving their operations?