The document discusses how to effectively pitch and implement big ideas in a challenging environment, emphasizing the need for gaining buy-in and building trust with leadership. It outlines a process involving alignment, socialization, pitching, proposing, iterating, and celebrating successes while highlighting the importance of creativity, patience, and collaboration. Ultimately, it stresses that successful marketing and change initiatives rely on understanding people and fostering relationships within an organization.

1. Uphill Both Ways
How to Make Meaningful Change When
Everything is Against You
Seth Odell
Vice Chancellor, Marketing
National University System

2. A Bit About Me

3. https://www.mentimeter.com/s/40781f32c8f0d6e9c489c
1e296c1fbdf/198fb6c6fd41

9. OLD FLYER PHOTO

10. IT’S NOT ABOUT BEING IN THE

11. “Any chance you know Final Cut Pro?”

12. Say Yes

15. Be the person who says yes

16. If you want your boss to support you
you need to support your boss

19. “It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission”
- Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper

20. If you want your boss to buy into your ideas
they need to buy into you first

21. It’s not about working alone
but deciding when and how to bring people along

25. It takes more than a big idea
to sell a big idea

26. “If you find yourself doing a big presentation
laying out your idea for approval,
you've probably lost”
- Lawrence Lokman
VP, Communications @Penn State University

27. “Your ‘big’ presentation should be a yawner”
- Lawrence Lokman
VP, Communications @Penn State University

28. If we fail to secure buy-in
it’s not our boss’s fault

29. “If your boss isn’t making a
decision…first, blame yourself.”
- Leif Babin

30. Big ideas are risky
Risk requires trust

31. Is this about what I want?
Or what the business needs?

32. HIGHER ED LIVE IMAGE

33. Every marketer needs
a safe space to create

34. Selling big ideas takes patience

35. CHECKERS IMAGE

36. CHESS IMAGE

37. BASEBALL IMAGE

38. Find an employer who needs you to do
what you want to do

40. KONAMI CODE IMAGE

41. MOST INTRESTING PREZ IMAGE

42. You have to pitch to pitch

43. “A closed mouth won’t get fed”
- Everybody’s Grandmother

44. EARLY TV IMAGE

45. EARLY TV IMAGE

46. Want to sell big ideas?
Process blocks and tackles

47. “The less specific you are about what you are
doing and what you hope to accomplish, the
more of a politician you are going to look like”
- Jack Feuer
Former National News Editor @AdWeek

48. Great ideas require great strategy

49. “I want people to know that we give a shit”

50. Ways to Spark Creativity
• Get outside
• Listen to music
• Break a sweat
• Have a drink (or two…)
• Collaborate
• Converse
• Consume
• Laugh

51. LIGHTBULB IMAGE

52. So what did we do next?
• We pitched it
• And we pitched it
• And we pitched it
• And we pitched it
• And we pitched it
• And we pitched it
• And we pitched it
• And we pitched it

53. Selling big ideas is iterative

54. It’s not about “Yes”
It’s about getting them from “No” to “Not yet”

55. Sometimes you have to do the work
before you get to do the work

56. PEPE SILVIA IMAGE

57. YES IMAGE

58. YES IMAGE

59. YES IMAGE

60. YES IMAGE

61. BUS TOUR IMAGES

62. BUS TOUR IMAGES

64. BUS TOUR IMAGES

65. BUS TOUR IMAGES

66. BUS TOUR IMAGES

67. BUS TOUR IMAGES

68. BUS TOUR IMAGES

69. BUS TOUR IMAGES

70. “Exhibit A of Marketing Success”
- Chronicle of Higher Education

71. “One of the most buzzed about marketing
campaigns in higher education”
- Chronicle of Higher Education

72. 0
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
120000
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Total Enrollment

73. Nothing snowballs faster than success

75. HELIX EDUCATION IMAGE

76. GREAT SALT LAKE IMAGE

77. People trust process

78. CAMPAIGN BOOK IMAGE

79. CAMPAIGN BOOK IMAGE

80. CAMPAIGN BOOK IMAGE

81. CAMPAIGN BOOK IMAGE

82. Process shouldn’t replace participation

83. Selling big ideas requires great leaders

84. Great leaders bring people along

85. “Ego is the enemy”
- Ryan Holiday

86. NUS IMAGE

88. “Seek first to understand
then to be understood”
- Stephen Covey

89. “A person’s success in life can usually be
measured by the number of uncomfortable
conversations he or she is willing to have.”
- Tim Ferriss

90. First people, then process

91. Our First Two Years
• Built out in-house agency model
• Grew team from 23 to 45
• Launched new brand campaigns across affiliates
• Increased website conversion 140%
• Increased email open rates to 40%+
• Increased inquiries, decreased cost
• Increased working dollars by 10 pts

92. Know when to shop
and when to be stealth

93. It’s almost impossible to simplify process
without hurting someone’s feelings

94. So what’s it really about?
• It’s about people
• It’s about people
• It’s about people
• It’s about people
• It’s about people
• It’s about people
• It’s about people
• It’s about people
• It’s about people + It’s about Process

95. The Process

96. The Process
1. Align
2. Socialize
3. Pitch
4. Propose
5. Iterate
6. Pilot
7. Analyze
8. Scale
9. Optimize
10. Celebrate

97. The Process
1. Align internal stakeholders
2. Socialize early and often
3. Pitch the idea, not the execution
4. Propose the solution
5. Iterate based on feedback

98. The Process
6. Pilot the execution
7. Analyze the results
8. Scale the solution
9. Optimize to improve
10. Celebrate

99. “Cherish the pain that it takes to undertake a
big idea. Few get the honor to feel it.”
- Phil Komarny
VP, Innovation @Salesforce

100. Thank You
Seth Odell
Vice Chancellor, Marketing
National University System
Stay in Touch
@SethOdell
sodell@nu.edu
www.SethOdell.com