Comments on: Marketing Inertia?

By: James Taylor

James Taylor — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:43:00 +0000

Great, if terrifying post. I don't think marketers can hide any more - the world is moving too fast and in most industries at least one company has moved on, threatening the laggards with extinction. I think marketers need to go back to the basics of their company's value and see how new media, micro-segmentation and more can leverage that. Nothing less will do. The lack of focus on customer insight and on customer-centric activities was shocking, I completely agree. The switching costs for most companies has fallen dramatically in recent years and the information you have about your customers is one of the few competitive assets you have that cannot be replicated by a lower-cost competitor. To not use it is criminal. Check out some of my related posts: http://smartenoughsystems.com/wp/2008/05/02/heres-how-you-can-deliver-extreme-personalization/ http://smartenoughsystems.com/wp/2008/01/16/using-edm-to-keep-loyalty-where-you-want-it/ JT James Taylor Author, with Neil Raden, of Smart (Enough) Systems http://www.smartenoughsystems.com

By: Ted Mininni

Ted Mininni — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:15:00 +0000

You’ve made many great points here, Dawn, and I thank you. I’ve heard lamentations for years about the fact the merchants have left retailing and the “bean counters” and investors have trashed the entire sector since they’ve taken it over. There is more than a kernel of truth to that. That’s why smart entrepreneurs are starting up specialty operations everywhere, and taking substantial business from Macy’s and other retail giants. No surprise. They specialize in customer service and stand for something unique in the customer’s mind.
All of the current trends do not excuse marketers from the retailing sector, or any other, from complacency and paralysis brought on by indecision and fear. Sure, it’s challenging and tough. What isn’t?
If marketers want to be respected within their organizations, and they want their contributions to be valued, they have to prove themselves like everyone else. That all starts with communication, doesn’t it? Working more closely with CFOs, IT and the top execs and agreeing on strategies, tactics and a game plan sure helps. Implementing plans and sharing results openly also helps to reinforce the value of marketing within organizations. Do I think that’s enough to gain respect in every company? No, I don’t. But I also maintain it will go a long way in many companies if marketers don’t hide out, work hard, take initiative, communicate well with their peers and management, and prove their worth. The alternative? Budget and staff cuts, the perception that marketing departments are window dressers, etc, etc, etc. . .
Thanks for adding your cogent thoughts as usual, Dawn. I appreciate it.

By: Dawn

Dawn — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:56:41 +0000

Thanks again, Ted for another wake up call. But the statistics don’t surprise me either. This is why we have businesses not looking at their competitiors to see how they can better COMPETE with them, but how to COPY them!!
Marketing is a tough business. I work full time as a marketing director for a paper distribution company in New York, and am a partner in a firm in New Jersey, so my life is consumed with marketing.
CEOs and their scarier CFO colleagues think business will just magically gravitate their way and marketing is merely the “parsley on the plate” of every business. It’s a tough sale just to get these people to embrace the vision of any project, much less to have them spend the time and money on developing a system of marketing and much-needed metric follow up. I spend more time on that than I do working on the creative end.
But I won’t belabor this point. The statistics you cited, Ted, were startling but the one that blew me away was this:
Only 14% cited retail and service execution was a priority”? (What the hell?) Is it me or is that the whole business, whether you’re selling products or services. Isn’t that the point where we get the people to give us their money?
Macy’s, as I’ve stated many times before, is a perfect example of this. I won’t belabor this point either.
This startling and very disturbing statistic is what happens when entreprenuers trade passion for profit. Once the bean counters from the conglomerates take over a business, that’s it. They’ve had their faces in ledger sheets (those born before 1940) and Excel spreadsheets their whole lives. They’ve probably never set foot in one of their stores. Numbers don’t tell you what a customer is thinking. They don’t show the delight in a customer’s face when they’ve found the perfect item. They’ve never made friends with a customer. The art of seducing a customer is lost. It’s “get em in, get em out (after having em’ stand on a checkout line for about 35 minutes), how much profit did we make on that sale.”
I’ve loved marketing ever since I was a child marketing my home made Barbie dresses. I still do. As the economy now gets more unstable, customers are more and more scarce. The marketing community has to get out of this malaise the bean counters have driven us to and push forward and become the mavericks of our organizations.
I often wonder to myself after a “strategy” meeting…”If a marketing manager falls down in the CEO’s office and no one hears her, does she really make a sound?”
As an aside, did anyone else but me hear about Starbucks closing 600 stores and focusing more on coffee? Wow, why the hell didn’t I think of that? Duh!!! Thank goodness Howard’s back!!!!

By: Ted Mininni

Ted Mininni — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:05:10 +0000

Patrick,
Measuring marketing ROI has long been a bone of contention in many organizations. New media tools are bringing new challenges along with them. New media presents marketers with many new tools and many of them are not appropriate apps for companies. Not all of them are that expensive, either. Bottom line, I think, is that whether the health care companies you work with provide products or services, they should put a primary emphasis on the customer. Carrying on a dialogue with the customer is extremely important, and your clients don’t all need to develop blogs to do that. Paying attention to fully servicing their clients and asking them what they need/want, may not be high tech, but it will deliver much-needed information to marketers. I just don’t think we ought to hide behind excuses for not trying to implement new marketing strategies. Too expensive, too risky, too new and untrusted. . .remember all of these things have been said before. . .about all of the things that have become accepted practices now.
Thanks, Patrick, for sharing your insights with us. I love hearing from marketers and consultants from many industries.

By: Patrick T. Buckley

Patrick T. Buckley — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:57:52 +0000

Ted,
I haven’t been reading your posts prior to this one, but wanted to comment. I have consulted in the health care marketing field for over 10 years. Unlike other fields, health care is extremely reticent to experiment with products and services because of a fear that such innovation will not be reimbursed by the payors. Another factor that contributes to marketing inertia in the health care business is difficulty in proving ROI as a result of marketing efforts. The number of articles, seminars, and talks given at the national conferences on measuring ROI and proving marketing was directly responsible for achieving it demonstrates how desperate marketers are for some magic formulas and approaches. All of this militates against a desire to get too out front with things that are untested.
Thanks for a provocative topic!
Patrick T. Buckley
President and CEO
PB Healthcare Business Solutions LLC
See my blog at http://www.themarketingwhisperer.blogspot.com

By: Patrick T. Buckley

Patrick T. Buckley — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:57:39 +0000

By: Ted Mininni

Ted Mininni — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:09:07 +0000

Interesting POV, I am Search Marketing. Could you kindly elaborate on your idea for me and for DF readers? I’d like to read more. . .
Thanks for making such a provocative comment.

By: I am Seach Marketing

I am Seach Marketing — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:01:03 +0000

The “go to” market is dead. You need to branch out, hit those “dont go there” markets

By: Ted Mininni

Ted Mininni — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:49:03 +0000

Hi Amber,
Your statement is dead on: “I think it’s also symptomatic of companies being so overwhelmed with all of the new channels and avenues available to their marketing efforts that they stick within their comfort zone because they don’t know where to start”. A number of recent marketing articles have pointed to this problem. However, I like your solution. Just one new tool might be used and then its success gauged before trying to take on too many new media choices all at once. Regardless what they choose to use, if marketers would simply engage their customers and solicit their true opinions and feedback, they’d learn a great deal. But conversing with the customer is one thing, and then acting on what the majority of them want and need is quite another. All of the conversation and information we gather in the world is useless unless it is acted upon. Right?
We can never assume anything about our customrs. Especially these days of such high market volatility. I suggest marketers reorient their priorities and put customer interaction and customer information gathering at the top of their lists. If they want to be successful, that is. . .
Thanks, Amber, for sharing your insights. I hope your clients are listening to you.

By: Ted Mininni

Ted Mininni — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:40:07 +0000

I’ll tell you, JP, the most disconcerting finding of this study: customer service seems to be such a low priority. Not only that: so was the emphasis on gaining better consumer insights. That’s just plain deadly to any business.
Then stating that customer acquisition and retention are used as “marketing measures” by 53% of executives in the survey doesn’t make any sense if service isn’t a top priority, does it?
Lastly, I’ll say that your observation that some marketers may still be: “”SHOUTING AT” rather than “conversing with” existing and prospective customers” is another great point. Time to stop, listen and learn about all of our customers, right?
Thanks for your insights, JP. They’re excellent and valued.