Strategy+Design

As part of my regular routine, I read articles and blogs to ensure I am on top of the things happening and shaping the business world I operate in. Recently I ran across the findings of a CEO survey over at Marketing Charts where the results indicated that a high proportion of CEO’s have a negative attitude toward marketers and marketing activities. Having been in the marketing industry for  years I know for sure that this attitude toward marketing does indeed exist, but I believe CEO’s are posturing for stakeholders and shareholders. Consider the following quote from the survey:

“Marketers will have to understand that they need to start “cutting the rubbish” if they are to earn the trust of CEOs and if they want to have a bigger impact in the boardroom,” explained Fontaine. “They will have to transform themselves into true business-driven ROI marketers or forever remain in what 65 per cent of CEOs told us they call marketing la-la land.”

– Jerome Fontaine, CEO & Chief Tracker – Fournaise Marketing Group, July 10, 2012

What I find interesting is that when CEO’s are asked in a different survey which brands they respect the most, the top of the heap are the top marketing focused companies, companies that build market share, goodwill and affinity through multiple channels, some of which are near impossible to measure (unless they have developed a way to read human emotions). Take the following quote for example:

“I respect Steve Jobs a great deal. The whole world held its breath before the iPad was announced. That’s brand management at its very best.”

– Norbert Reithofer, Chairman, BMW – FORTUNE, March 4, 2010

When CEOs say that they don’t “trust” marketers but then talk about which brand they admire the most, it is a true contradiction. My belief is that most CEO’s have studied the correct approach for running a sales organization and most are aware that the correct business supply chain requires robust marketing to ensure demand for the product. They also know that not all marketing, demand generation and awareness building activities will be measurable.

First off let me state that I believe marketing should be strategically planned and held accountable for increasing demand and market awareness of the products and services of the organization. However to actually state that all marketing should be 100% ROI focused, yet recognize companies that leverage some of the most effective marketing campaigns even though their activities historically have been hard to quantify, means that either CEOs want tried and true yet mediocre results, or they know the real deal and yet behave as though they don’t. I believe the latter is closer to the truth. Now, I know I sound defensive, but my real stance is more like… make up your mind!

As a marketer living in today’s crowded and noisy media environment, I know that in order to make a dent in the opinions of the buying public and move the sales needle, new and innovative ideas have to be attempted and executed. I actually believe that there are a whole host of successful CEO’s who say to their marketers, “Do what needs to be done to gain the market share we need.”

How am I so sure? Case in point: Until the highly successful Old Spice campaign ran, there were no reliable metrics or case studies to say that a targeted social media campaign could increase sales of body wash products especially for a mostly ignored “older guy” brand like Old Spice.

“According to Nielsen data provided by Old Spice, overall sales for Old Spice body-wash products are up 11 percent in the last 12 months; up 27 percent in the last six months; up 55 percent in the last three months; and in the last month, with two new TV spots and the online response videos, up a whopping 107 percent.”

– AdWeek, July 25, 2010

Now, the point of this data is not to prove that Social Media works, or state that effective metrics exist. The point is that prior to getting the go-ahead to roll out the campaign, the Old Spice marketers knew that no precedent or tangible ROI (related to using Social Media to lead a CPG campaign) existed. Image if the CEO told W&K (their ad agency) that they should only use measurable activities and stay out of Social Media la-la land to promote the product, this opportunity would not have existed or the overall results gained.

CEO’s that “get it”, don’t deal in absolutes

I believe CEO’s like Norbert Reithofer know that marketing does not deal with absolute items, such as inventory forecasting, product turnover or monthly income statements. So to compare marketing – which is part planning and budgeting, and part human emotion and psychology – to accounting or technology is futile.

The trend I have noticed is that the newer breed of CEO’s and new economy or tech-focused entrepreneurs have an updated relationship with marketing. They embrace the idea that people require an introduction to a brand, that the target market requires multiple touch points to learn about the brand, and that there will be channels and activities (social media, outdoor, radio, etc.) that they may not be able to pull hard data from.

At SterlingKlor, we develop marketing for many business sectors. For us a key element to any plan or communications direction is to ensure the marketing is geared toward enhancing bottom line results by connecting with buyers in ways that result in more quality sales leads and increased revenue. We leverage research, review past performance and analyze the trends which can affect the direction we choose. We can provide forecast numbers and measure a majority of the outcomes, but we cannot measure 100%. As part of this planning, we speak with our customers about the realistic expectations of the activities we recommend to ensure that although not every activity will be measurable, we can still be effective and drive a great investment versus a wasted spend.

Because I have been in the industry so long I was already aware of the sentiment of the survey and therefore not insulted. However, I felt it was time to offer a marketer’s view to this survey. We can measure, we can provide results, but the best ideas are not always going to provide easy-to-track numbers. Great ideas, however, can bring in the desired results. They can even bring an old and forgotten brand like Old Spice back to life.

Do you feel the same as the CEO’s in the survey? Share your thoughts with us below or on Twitter [@SterlingKlor].