I see too many CMOs who commit their team’s time and effort into defining brand or category strategy, only to move into execution and then… blah. They phone it in. Sometimes all they do is update the copy on their website.

They’re essentially telling their customers their product is game-changing, completely worthy of attention and money, while they barely give their own invention the time of day.

When you launch a category, you must do it in a way that feels risky. If it’s not scary, you’re doing it wrong. That risk communicates something very important to your audience: “We're investing a lot in this, and we’re betting big because we believe in this.”

There are a million ways to do this. Maybe you brilliantly redesign your brand, or shoot a funny-cool launch video or, like our friends at Celonis, run an ad in the New York Times that guarantees customers $100k if the product doesn’t work as advertised. Whatever it is people will be drawn to your risk-taking and in return, give you their attention.

Because until your customers know you have skin in the game, why should they bother?