It’s been a funny old week, and like most Sundays, I’m in my kitchen batch cooking and thinking about the week just gone by. For many in our industry, especially on the client side, marketing can feel like a never ending carousel of new social media platforms, analytics tools, and content formats. Every week, a new must try tactic appears, promising incredible results. Many businesses, especially small and medium sized enterprises, end up in a constant cycle of experimentation, shifting from one idea to the next without giving any single approach enough time to prove its worth. This can be an exhausting and sometimes fruitless endeavour.
I’ve just finished rereading The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout (something I try and do regularly) and I’m reminded that there is a different way to think about marketing strategy. The Law of Sacrifice, suggests that a carefully chosen strategy should be allowed time to take root. When you embrace this idea, it opens the door to understanding why focusing on what truly works rather than on constant reinvention, can offer significant value to businesses. This is especially relevant when comparing the consultant’s role to that of agencies.
Agencies typically have an incentive to propose new advertising initiatives because their income often depends on producing campaigns for different channels or creative concepts. Although there is nothing wrong with this in principle, it can sometimes clash with the long term interests of the client. A consultant, by contrast, has a main objective of discovering what genuinely benefits the business over time instead of chasing shiny new methods. This difference in motivation can help you stay on course and avoid the lure of constant change.
The Temptation of Constant Change
It can be tempting to overhaul your marketing every time a new social platform emerges or when you see other companies making moves that appear to be successful. When results dip, it can feel logical to scrap everything and start over. Constantly switching tactics may seem proactive, but as Ries and Trout point out, following every twist and turn in the market can lead you off the road altogether. Frequent changes leave little space to measure performance or gain clarity on whether your original plan might have worked if you had stayed the course.
Annual budget reviews often trigger this impulse. Some businesses believe they have to reinvent their marketing simply because the calendar has turned. If your strategy aligns with your goals and continues to produce positive outcomes, changing it for the sake of novelty can undermine brand consistency and confuse your audience. The Law of Sacrifice reminds us that consistently applying a well considered strategy can be far more effective than discarding it prematurely.
Understanding the Law of Sacrifice
Ries and Trout describe the Law of Sacrifice with three core ideas. The first concerns having a focused product or service range instead of trying to cater to every possible customer need. The second highlights the importance of zeroing in on a specific target market so that your business does not spread itself too thin. The third, which is particularly relevant here, questions the habit of changing strategy without a solid reason.
Consultants often emphasise this final point because their role is to look at the bigger picture. Agencies might be inclined to suggest frequent overhauls if it means more campaigns, but a consultant aims to confirm whether a change is justified by data, emerging customer needs, or a significant shift in your business direction. Ries and Trout ask where it is written that you must change your strategy every year just because it is time for a budget review. This challenges businesses to think critically about whether their motivations for change are genuinely strategic or simply driven by restlessness.
Why Agencies Push and Profit From Change
Agencies contribute valuable expertise in areas like creative development, media buying, and campaign execution. Their fresh ideas can propel a business forward. However, it is also important to acknowledge that an agency’s bottom line may depend on launching new campaigns or introducing novel approaches. There can be a natural pull toward trying something new that may or may not align with what is best for the brand.
Small and medium sized enterprises, in particular, risk burning through limited resources when they constantly shift their marketing efforts. A single major campaign overhaul can be expensive, and doing it repeatedly can eat into budgets without a clear return on investment. It can also dilute a brand’s identity if the messaging changes too frequently. A consultant, serving as an independent voice, is more likely to advise continuing with a course that works or making measured adjustments rather than sweeping changes that suit the agency’s business model more than the client’s.
The Marketing Consultant as Strategic Anchor
Instead of suggesting multiple quick fixes, a consultant should be looking at how your brand is positioned, who your customers are, and what your data reveals about past performance. This approach involves understanding whether the core strategy is sound and whether it needs refinement rather than replacement.
Consultants are often compensated for their expertise rather than a specific volume of deliverables. This means their success depends on whether your strategy achieves its goals, not on whether you buy more services or try out every promising new platform. They encourage a practical focus on results. If your current plan continues to increase brand awareness and revenue, a consultant is likely to recommend staying with it while making targeted improvements based on real evidence.
When to Pivot and When to Persevere
The Law of Sacrifice does not mean that strategies must remain unchanged forever. Consumer behaviour can evolve, new technology can reshape how people search for information, and your business may need to adapt. The key is to differentiate between a meaningful strategic evolution and a cosmetic change driven by impatience or external pressure.
Genuine reasons to pivot include a significant shift in audience behaviour, a new direction for the business that makes previous tactics less relevant, or data that clearly shows a persistent lack of results. It might also be wise to adapt if a powerful new channel or approach emerges, backed by convincing evidence that it can help you meet your objectives. On the other hand, it usually does more harm than good to make sweeping changes solely because a competitor seems to be on a new platform or your internal team has grown bored with the current brand identity. Without data to support the move, you may lose the momentum you have built.
Real World Examples of Consistency
The iPhone is one of the clearest examples of how minor, deliberate refinements, rather than radical change, can lead to long-term success. When Apple launched the first iPhone in 2007, it revolutionised the mobile phone market by combining a sleek design with intuitive software and multi-touch functionality. But what stands out in Apple’s strategy is what they did next. Rather than reinventing the device year after year, Apple focused on perfecting the core concept through small, thoughtful iterations.
Each new version of the iPhone has brought incremental improvements with better cameras, faster processors, longer battery life. Importantly, the overall experience remains unmistakably familiar. The design language has evolved gradually, not drastically. Apple has been careful to retain the look, feel, and usability that people recognise. Even when introducing major changes, such as the removal of the headphone jack or the transition to Face ID, Apple integrates these shifts in a way that feels aligned with the brand’s established direction.
This consistent, iterative approach hasn’t just kept customers loyal; it has driven extraordinary sales growth.
In 2007, Apple sold roughly 1.4 million iPhones.
In 2023, Apple sold 232 million iPhones
What makes this success remarkable is that Apple’s approach flies in the face of the “new and different” mindset that dominates much of the tech industry. Many brands chase trends or attempt radical reinventions to stand out, but Apple shows that consistency doesn’t have to mean stagnation. Instead, it means refining what works, improving it incrementally, and staying true to the core of what customers value. Apple has cultivated a customer base that trusts the iPhone to deliver a reliable, familiar experience, year after year, while still keeping the product fresh through innovation at the right pace.
Stay the Course for Sustainable Success
The Law of Sacrifice challenges the notion that more is always better. In marketing, constantly adding new elements or jumping to untested tactics can lead to confusion, wasted resources, and a scattered brand image. A more balanced path involves defining a clear strategy, supporting it with solid research, and committing to it long enough to see tangible results. This is where the guidance of a marketing consultant can be particularly helpful. By focusing on what is working and knowing when to refine or pivot based on real need, you stand a better chance of creating a brand presence that resonates with your audience and strengthens your business over time.
If you are feeling overwhelmed by endless marketing trends and are ready for a calmer, more results oriented approach, consider exploring how a marketing consultant might help. A consultant can bring the perspective and objectivity necessary to stay on course and achieve meaningful growth, even when the market around you is in a constant state of flux.
