At a time when CEOs are crying out for reduced complexity
and signaling creativity as the most important organisation
capability to nurture, the Marketing function has never had a
better opportunity to step up as the champion of the customer and
drive focus, simplicity and energy back into the
business.
Yet one must lament the continuous focus on 'marketing metrics'
as the silver bullet for improved accountability and marketing
outcomes.
Reported today (AFR 4 October, 2010, Pg 40) is the excitement
around Coke's decision to join the US marketing accountability
standards board focused improving measurement of return on
marketing investment.
I understand the importance of 'what gets measured gets done' in
creating a new culture. The Australian Marketing Institute's six
year quest to use metrics as the tool for increasing marketing's
influence in the boardroom is admirable in raising the profile of
marketing but toolkits offering a choice of over 161 metrics seem
to be missing the point.
The same AFR report cites results of a recent survey of 196
Marketing executives, found 'customer based metrics most
valuable'! In this report, an academic is quoted as saying,
"Are academics out of touch in terms of the metrics they think are
most important or do managers need to be educated? Probably a bit
of both"
Are we not focussing on the wrong issue? In the
quest for a 'quick fix', have we lost sight of the tried and true
principles that drive really effective marketing?
Isn't it time for our marketing educators and leading industry
advocates to address the real need? Specifically, a focus on
promoting the core principles of effective marketing and promoting
a marketing education system based on both aptitude and the
development of future marketers to deliver against these core
principles. Specifically,
- Can we get better at understanding our customers?
What really motivates them to choose our products and or
services? The psyche of our customers not just the
functional!
- Can we truly satisfy our customer by delivering superior
value relative to our competitors? Often this means less
offered not more!
- Is our entire organisation focused on delivering this
value to our customers day in, day out? An organisation
engagement challenge not one of metrics!
- How do we stay on top of a moving market? Moods
change as do the competitive alternatives. Does the
organisation have the right market and consumer feeds to read what
matters and the nimbleness to capture the opportunities
presented?
It would be far more comforting to hear from leading academics
how they might be educating future and current marketers on how to
better address these principles.
The critical skills of reading human behaviour, creative
problem solving, commercial judgement, organisation change
management seem to have taken a back seat.
In the context of a more complex operating environment, with
technology changing shopping and search behaviour, empowering
consumers, dis-intermediating brands and delivering regulatory
pressures around privacy, these principles are more important than
ever.
Please. Can we shift the debate to the core driver of
marketing. Bringing real customer and market insights to the
organisation to drive its growth agenda. How this is done in
a complex world is not a matter of 'metrics' but capability and
organisation engagement.
Measuring incompetent marketing will only deliver
frustration. The core driver of performance is capability
inputs not metrics.