Steve McKee is the president of McKee Wallwork + Co., an advertising agency that specializes in working with stalled, stuck and stale brands that was recognized by Advertising Age in 2015 and 2018 as Southwest Small Agency of the Year. He’s the author of "When Growth Stalls" and "Power Branding."
The trajectory of business is not always a continuous angle upward. Sometimes all it takes is a bit of reflection to identify weaknesses that need to be addressed.
When ROI can’t be calculated with reasonable certainty, don’t give into the temptation to fudge the numbers or, worse, kill the initiative. Instead, ask a second question: “What’s the RONI -- the Risk of Not Investing?”