Marketing Isn't Grain. Don't Put It In A Silo

183:736605810 (Andrew Warner) — Fri, 20 Aug 2021 16:18:40 GMT

"Marketing is too important to be left to the marketing department."
– David Packard, co-founder, Hewlett-Packard

More Than A Departmental Responsibility

I've seen the quote above linked to a few people but Dave Packard seems to be the winner who history has chosen as the primary source of attribution. To be honest it's the sentiment which matters the most.

As a young marketer, a long time ago, my boss patiently explained to me why, as marketers, everyone wanted to do our jobs and that they would happily take them from us if we didn't ensure that marketing stayed within the marketing department.

Of course, it was a myopic point of view and a counterproductive one too. In the subsequent years, I soon learned that the greatest influence, any marketing leader could have, was the ability to involve, engage and secure commitment from, teams across the organisation.

In some companies, Marketing extending its influence beyond its job-titles can cause some resentment. Which is why it's important that Chief Executives take a viewpoint that they are also "Chief Brand Officers": Encouraging their teams to engage around a common set of principles that define the perception of the company to its customers and prospects, in line with its brand aspirations.

To not do so can risk millions of pounds worth of marketing investment being devalued overnight. If you position yourself as the friendly bank, then the Head of Operations hides all the customer service staff behind an impenetrable digital call answering system which, if breached, is reinforced by a demotivated, outsourced army of minimum-wage call-handlers...well it doesn't take a genius to see the issue.

Who You Hire Matters

CEOs should also think carefully about the nature of the people that they hire into senior marketing roles. In theory, marketing leaders are often best placed to choreograph senior leaders in a coordinated dance partnership between customer centricity and profitability. However, this requires a Chief Marketing Officer who doesn't only possess technical marketing skills but the requisite humility and deftness of touch to influence a diverse set of functional leaders.

This isn't just idealistic puff either, a few years ago I participated in the Marketing 2020 initiative (a name which sounded forward thinking at the time but dated quickly), which undertook extensive international research to establish the common factors characterising high performing marketing organisations. The key findings were published by the Harvard Business Review under the cover story " The Ultimate Marketing Machine ". In short, high-performing marketing leaders don’t just align their department’s activities with company strategy; they actively engage in creating it and co-ordinating its deployment across the company.

Key Alliances

Marketing & Finance are often thought of as diametrically opposed disciplines. Finance tries to keep costs under control, whilst marketing wants to speculate in a vague hope it will accumulate...or at least accumulate some nice lunches, paid for by the agency. Of course, the modern reality is quite different, with many finance teams anchored around the principles of financial planning and analysis, a natural conduit to the market and customer orientations of the best marketers. The key to making this relationship work is having leaders in the respective roles who are able to build mutual respect and take the time to understand each others language and motivations. Those motivations should, of course, be shared; a desire to effectively manage resources to ensure the survival of the business today and sustainable growth into the future.

Marketing & HR tends to be an easier relationship but it again takes work to create a perfect marriage. At Susumi we believe that the strongest brands are always built from the inside out. If your internal reality clashes with your external positioning the dissonance can devastate companies. Our strongly held belief in building brand cultures is why, as a marketing consultancy, we have senior HR and talent specialists on the team. This isn't just to manage our payroll, but to support our clients deliver meaningful change, rather than some superficial values to paint on the office walls. When people, positioning, purpose and goals are aligned, they can light a brand spirit that shines brightly, from the heart of the business, beaming like a lighthouse, through the fog of the marketplace, to shine light on new customers. Ok, I got a bit carried away there, but you get my point.

Marketing and Sales are often confused as one and the same, which isn't the end of the world in since they should both be focused on sustainable, profitable growth. In reality this relationship can get feisty, particularly if sales targets result in a prioritisation of short term sales revenue over longer term, sustainable profitability. Or indeed if marketers forget their job is to increase sales rather than to associate themselves with whichever cause is fashionable, at any given point in time. Recruiting a commercially savvy marketing leader and a progressively minded sales head can go some way to making this partnership be a little more harmonious and a great deal more productive. A little interdepartmental friction keeps both sides on their toes- all good relationships involve a few arguments- but ultimately companies need commercial leadership partners whose relationship will stand the test of time- or at least until the end of the sales period.

And last, but by no means least, Marketing & Customer Services. It often comes as a surprise to outsiders that many customer service leaders are more focussed on logistics, process and cost-containment than they are on delivering exceptional service. Most will have some form of NPS (net promoter score) or CSAT (customer service satisfaction) KPI, but generally 'customer operations" is a more accurate description of what they do. However, having a customer-centric brand proposition counts for nothing if it’s not delivered by the people most likely to engage with customers at their time of need. So creating an environment where marketing and customer service can deliver customers a seamless impression of the company can be absolutely vital to realise the long term sales potential delivery of a brand promise realised through customer experience and subsequent recommendation.

In Summary

So in short my view is that Dave was right. Marketing is far too important to be left to the marketing department.

However, to realise the growth potential of successful, effective marketing, companies need to find a way to align their functions around common, customer-centric yet commercially viable values.

This starts at the top, because building successful brands requires more than fancy logos.

Companies which succeed hire diverse leaders, with the ability to complement each others strengths and align for shared success.

Marketers are well placed to be the maestros which conduct the orchestra, but more important is a share understanding of the principles which make marketing matter. It's easier to say than do but at Susumi we're up for helping businesses, around the world, rise to the opportunity.

Get in touch to find out more

Keep in touch with site visitors and boost loyalty

Sun, 03 May 2020 16:39:34 GMT

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Tips for writing great posts that increase your site traffic

Sun, 03 May 2020 16:39:34 GMT

Write about something you know. If you don’t know much about a specific topic that will interest your readers, invite an expert to write about it.

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Susumi Thoughts

Marketing Isn't Grain. Don't Put It In A Silo

"Marketing is too important to be left to the marketing department." – David Packard, co-founder, Hewlett-Packard

Keep in touch with site visitors and boost loyalty

Tips for writing great posts that increase your site traffic

"Marketing is too important to be left to the marketing department."
– David Packard, co-founder, Hewlett-Packard