How to convince your boss to try that Fun Little Marketing Idea of yours

Legacy brands love to stick to what they know.

Print ads. Traditional media buys. Maybe an email newsletter (if they’re feeling adventurous).

But social media? Meme marketing? Engaging with trends in real-time? Many brands still see these as gimmicks rather than actual strategic tools.

And that’s the reason so many legacy brands are slowly losing relevance while newer, more agile brands eat their lunch.

But consumers today don’t just buy from brands; they engage with them.

The rise of digital culture has made marketing less about broadcasting messages and more about fostering relationships.

And legacy brands that refuse to adapt risk becoming invisible to younger audiences who live online.

Ignoring new-age marketing means missing out on real-time conversations, viral moments, and direct customer interactions that can drive long-term loyalty and sales.

If you’ve ever tried to pitch a fresh marketing idea to your boss—only to be met with a polite but firm “that’s not how we do things”—this one’s for you.

So, here’s how to make the case for new-age marketing techniques (that work) without getting immediately dismissed.

1. Speak their language (a.k.a. show me the money)

Most executives don’t care about “engagement” or “brand personality.”

They care about ROI. So instead of leading with why TikTok is fun, tell them why it’s profitable.

Show them case studies of brands that have successfully leveraged new platforms and trends to drive sales, increase brand awareness, or reach younger demographics they’ve been struggling to connect with.

If you can quantify the opportunity, they’ll start listening.

2. Give them a safe entry point

Change is scary, especially for brands that have done things a certain way for literal decades.

Instead of suggesting a total marketing overhaul and being told, respectfully, to f off - propose a low-risk experiment.

This might be a limited-run social media campaign, a partnership with an influencer, a test-and-learn budget for digital ads.

Something that lets them dip their toes in without committing to a full plunge.

3. Use your competitors as leverage

Nothing wakes you up faster than seeing your competition do something innovative – no matter WHAT industry.

So, if your company’s biggest rival is thriving on social media, engaging with younger audiences, and creating campaigns that people actually talk about, your boss will start to feel the pressure.

A well-placed “we don’t want to fall behind” can work wonders.

4. Highlight the cost of inaction

The biggest mistake legacy brands make is assuming that not participating in new marketing trends is a neutral stance.

It’s not.

It’s a slow decline into irrelevance.

Customers are online, culture is being shaped in real-time, and if a brand isn’t part of the conversation, they’re basically invisible.

Spell this out clearly, and suddenly that “risky” idea doesn’t seem so risky anymore.

5. Make it feel familiar

Sometimes, resistance to new marketing strategies comes down to a lack of understanding.

Your execs might not get why social-first campaigns work or how brands build engagement through digital storytelling.

So connect new ideas to old ones they already trust. Explain how social media is essentially modern word-of-mouth, or how influencer collaborations are today’s version of celebrity endorsements.

If they can see the continuity, they’ll be more likely to buy in.

Look, at the end of the day, innovation doesn’t happen by committee.

If your leadership is still dragging their feet, find ways to test ideas on a smaller scale. Sometimes, showing results is more effective than asking for approval.

Because legacy brands that don’t evolve? They become history.

And no one wants to be a case study in what not to do.

-Sophie, Writer