By Rich Boland, Client Services, Precision Group
Ask any room of marketing or business professionals what separates a great company from an average one, and most will say: better ideas. But here’s the uncomfortable truth…execution beats ideas every time. The gap between thinking and doing is where most innovation dies. This is the central argument of a piece that caught our attention recently, and it’s one that resonates deeply with how we think about marketing strategy at Precision Group.
The Power of Thinking in Threes
In a previous post, our colleague Rich Boland explored the power of thinking in threes and one of his frameworks: think, feel and do. When I asked him where it came from, he pointed to his time working with Y&R (now VML), and its strategy team with a laser focus on simplifying problems.
He handed me a copy of a book Y&R produced when David Sable was Global CEO, titled “A Collection of Thoughts on What We Think, Say and Do.” On page 61 was an essay by Benni Bronsky, the celebrated Chief Creative Officer of Y&R Israel. It stopped me in my tracks. Here’s what Benni had to say (and we think it’s one of the most clear-eyed things ever written about why good ideas fail):
“…If we had to rank these three words, which would be most important? My bet is that most people, especially in our business, would immediately go for the first. After all, what’s more important and glorified than thinking about a great idea? Well, I beg to differ. The ‘do’ is the silver bullet. Having facilitated dozens of innovation and ideation workshops, I can tell you two things I have learned: I’ve never seen a serious brainstorm session, especially about new products, that didn’t have at least 10 amazing ideas, and usually more. When I ask people to evaluate, or even just to choose the best idea of the day, they almost always — 90% of the time — choose their own. So, in a way, I think of a great idea (God forgive me) as a sort of commodity. What separates the boys and girls from the men and women is who can pick it up from the flip chart and make it happen. It’s who can do.”
Two Stories That Prove the Point
The Toilet Paper Workshop
Benni tells of running an innovation workshop for a global toilet paper brand. Midway through, a participant made a brilliant observation: people always use the same number of squares, so why not make each square 15% larger? Usage would go up 15%, no new machinery or campaigns needed just a simple pilot. Low risk, high upside. What happened? Nothing. The idea was praised. And then ignored. They liked it but didn’t do anything about it. That’s the execution gap in action.
The Jeans Diaper That Changed Everything
As Creative Director, Benni pitched an idea to a global diaper company: print the outer cover of a nappy to look like denim. A limited-edition “jeans diaper” aimed at fashion-conscious mums. The client rejected it. Wrong consumer, irrelevant, wouldn’t work. Three years later, a new brand manager joined the company, found the idea, and just did it. Design, packaging, campaign the whole thing. It was a smash hit, adopted across 12 countries and awarded Innovation of the Year. Same idea. Different outcome. The only variable was execution.
The Sliced Bread Exercise: Killing Ideas Before They Start
To demonstrate how naturally we resist execution, Benni runs a game with his team. He places them in the board room of a 1950s bread bakery. A young man wants to pitch an idea: pre-slicing the bread before packaging. Their job is to poke holes in it. And they do…brilliantly. The authenticity will be lost. Not everyone likes the same slice thickness. The bags will be expensive. We don’t have the machinery. There’ll be crumbs everywhere.
“In five minutes, we kill the best idea since sliced bread.”
We thought of it. We chose not to do it. The gap between thinking and doing isn’t a capability problem it’s a culture problem.
What This Means for Your Marketing Strategy
The lesson for marketers and business leaders is clear: the bottleneck is rarely a shortage of ideas. It’s the willingness and the processes to move from ideation to implementation. Organisations that close the think-say-do gap are the ones that win. At Precision Group, we believe great marketing is built on this principle. Strategy without execution is just a slide deck. We help clients move from thinking to doing across creative, digital, print, data, and everything in between.
Key Takeaways
- Ideas are abundant. In any ideation workshop, you’ll generate at least 10 good ones.
- Execution is rare — and it’s what actually creates value.
- The think–say–do gap is a cultural problem, not a capability one.
- The companies that win are those willing to pick up the idea from the flip chart and make it happen.
Want to bridge the gap between thinking and doing in your marketing?
Talk to the Precision Group team. We specialise in turning strategy into execution across creative, digital marketing, direct mail, data, and more.
