This is an interesting article by Jack
Trout in Advertising Age sanctifying the role of marketing as defined by Peter Drucker: to develop
“the distinguishing and unique function of the business” because a business
exists for customers and a differentiated brand drives customer growth. He then
cites and charts a joint study between the Marketing Executive Networking Group and Anderson Analytics and argues that senior marketers are focused on the wrong
things, like data mining and ROI and segmentation and Wall Street. As a result,
he says, we CMO’s can’t hold our jobs for more than 24
months.
I can’t help but want to believe
both Jack and Peter, as a classically trained brand guy (JWT, J and J, Pepsi),
but then I catch by breath and ask why is it just so damned hard to convince our
CEO’s, our CFO’s and ourselves that this creating distinct and poweful brands and branded experiences is our primary purpose in life? Why is
branding such a naughty word in the C suite and beyond? Is it because we don’t
see our role as working on innovation to build superior products and services
and experiences that drive differentiation and propel customer demand? Is it
because we let our colleagues confuse branding with marketing communication or
god forbid, advertising? Is it because we can’t stand tough to the CFO’s and
CEO’s or even the CTO’s who don’t value a differentiated brand’s impact on the
bottom line? I’ll tell you one thing, A.J. Lafley the CEO of P and G quotes the
same Drucker quote, too, and it shows because P and G is doing a good job
re-defining the process and role of innovation and marketing in collaborative,
global world.
Then I wonder, too, in a Google and
Facebook world, a TIVO, iPod world and tomorrow’s new medium world, that we
senior marketers may very well be spending too much time worrying about what
works tactically (because we really don’t know do we?) and we justify this as a
marketing plan, or worse, a brand-building strategy.
Yes, Peter Drucker and Jack Trout, you are right: branding is king, because over time it does bring in customers. And we need to convince to our colleagues in the C suite that it takes time, and patience is a virtue. I believe the real reason for the short tenure of CMO's is that the gulf between accountability (for revenue and profits and brand and customer experience) and authority (to drive these things through the organization) is huge and continues to widen. Until that changes, the revolving door will continue to spin.
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