Good marketers are hardwired to please people. Whether that’s your agency client, your customer, your boss, or some other stakeholder in the marketing mix, it’s natural to want to say “yes” as frequently as possible. It makes sense, since saying yes leads to opportunities for success—both personally and for the organization you’re supporting.

Change is hard. Change at large organizations is even harder. But if you have confidence in a new way to do things, you’ll fight for the idea. This is the story of how Michael Brenner used data to fortify his belief in a new way and change the way SAP marketed itself.