“We have to embrace that uncertainty and plan for recovery with bravery,” said Nina Rahmatallah, Kantar’s Chief Client Officer, speaking at the Marketing Society’s Brave Moments Matter conference, hosted virtually through Zoom in light of the nationwide lockdown now in place. Rahmatallah kicked off with the statement that “they say fear is excitement minus the breath.” So, she advised those who had dialled in online, “think about the next 45 minutes as a big, deep breath.”

Gemma Greaves, CEO of the Marketing Society, acknowledged that for the first time, the organisation was hosting a globally connected event, spanning London, New York, Mumbai and Dubai. Greaves outlined the importance of “flexing our narrative”, with the conference bringing people together to “find a new normal.” For Greaves, long since a champion of the notion of being brave through the Marketing Society’s brave agenda and awards, “bravery has never felt more important.”

Bravery matters now more than ever

The conference was also an opportunity for the Marketing Society to present their latest research, produced in partnership with Kantar, which explored whether bravery in business actually matters. The project spoke to people from over 62 countries. And, as the marketing leadership speaker Thomas Barta revealed, “bravery was important beyond our expectations; 50% of business success was explained by bravery.”

What was perhaps more revealing, said Barta, was that “bravery itself is not the success factor but a factor for failure is when you’re not brave when it’s important.” “It’s about being brave in the moment when it matters,” he added.

Rahmatallah then introduced the afternoon’s panel, made up of Barta, Syl Saller, outgoing CMO of Diageo, David Erixon, CMO of mobile bank Bó and Jane Bloomfield, Chief Growth Officer at Kantar. For Saller, she believes that the Marketing Society’s latest research, “validates my personal attitude [that] we must pick our issues.” She went on to say that the “current crisis demonstrates that risks are all about perspective.”

Erixon also talked about the concept of risk, citing that “it is impossible to talk about bravery without talking about risk profile.” He outlined how there is a common misconception that entrepreneurs are brave. What he says they are actually doing “incredibly well is managing risk.” To succeed, Erixon explains, companies need to become more consumer centric.

Barta offered those tuning in a clear equation for bravery: “if you want to be brave, you can have less fear or more purpose.” Make the decision to think about your failures as learnings. Become, as Saller feels she has, “a learning human,” and you will be brave in the process.