Real marketing consists of two functions: generating quality leads and reducing sales costs. Every traditional marketing activity, if effective, does one of those two things.Apparently, in Mr. James' world, marketers -- excuse me, "marketeers" -- are obsessed with burning money on expensive videos while ogling "hottie interns" and forcing employees to use tag lines, and are unrestrained by any accountability or performance measures. (Mr. James' post, by the way, spawned his fellow blogger's excellent posting "How Is Marketing Like Sex?" I referenced below.)
The entire posting is worth a read, as are the comments. My exchange begins with Comment #27.
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I don't want your students to get the wrong impression and enter marketing for the wrong reasons. The fun days of "sex, drugs and market research" are pretty much gone for good. As the result of the Internet, companies are demand measurability from their marketing groups, which means that marketing can no longer pose as a "strategic" (i.e. unmeasured) department. It was a nice ride while it lasted, but it's largely over. In the real world of today's business, marketing is ending up as it was always intended to be -- a service function to the sales group. But don't feel bad, because that's true of EVERY group. Without sales, you don't have a business. In the best companies, everyone (engineering, manufacturing, support, and especially top management) realizes that their ONLY real purpose is to help ensure sales take place. Without that, you don't have a business. BTW, "marketeer" is not particularly pejorative; there are plenty of marketing professionals who use the term.
ReplyDeleteI need a shower after reading that piece about marketeers. Let's start with the concept that the web has introduced metrics. Huh? I guess Simmons, AC Nielsen, focus groups, panels, and the rest were never done. They simply existed in the figment of marketing research executives' minds. The internet has made some information cheaper and more available. But the search to prove effectiveness remains.
ReplyDeleteTo the rest of the site, everything you need to know is located at the top. Ah, yes, ABC. Let's hear it for shyster selling. The oily sales rep made fun so well in Boiler Room.
Sales is not about closing. Where is prospecting? Where are sales report?
If your not closing, then your not selling. That mantra may work in insurance, media advertising, and cars. How well respected are insurance sales reps, ad reps, and car salesmen?