Moaning marketers and creating dialogue: Your Marketing Week
At the end of every week, we look at the key stories, offering our view on what they mean for you and the industry. From CRUK’s top marketer urging CMOs to “stop moaning and crack on” to the need for better brand measurement in the boardroom, it’s been a busy week. Here is my take.
From moaning to owning
“One thing that hasn’t changed in the last 30 years is marketers moaning about the fact they’re not listened to in the boardroom, which really frustrates me because it’s an admission of failure.”
These are the words of Cancer Research UK’s Philip Almond, who is set to retire next year after a distinguished career, spanning major brands from Diageo to Burger King to the BBC.
Certainly, in my time at Marketing Week it is an issue that comes up time and again. Marketing is frequently described by marketers as being misunderstood by their organisation, and therefore undervalued and often the first to see cuts when times get tough.
It is incumbent on marketing leaders to ensure their business understands in no uncertain terms the value marketing delivers. CMOs must show that what they’re doing is having an impact, and they have to do that using language and metrics that are meaningful to the rest of the business. They need to show marketing is achieving against the agreed objectives, and how this is contributing to the business’s overall success. Failure to do so leaves marketing and marketers in a vulnerable position.
Philip’s advice? “Stop moaning… crack on, and start solving the business’s problems.” Perhaps a little harsh, but no less true.
Common ground
No doubt fuelling the issue, and a key reason why CMOs feel like they’re not being listened to in the boardroom, is the fact so few marketers feel able to confidently communicate the impact of brand marketing.
It’s also why many default to easier-to-quantify performance metrics, which is again damaging to marketing’s reputation, as it means business leaders are not seeing the full gamut of what marketing does or its role as a growth driver over the long term.
In the latest instalment of our Language of Effectiveness study, we dug into the fact just 11.1% of marketers feel their company is ‘very successful’ at measuring the impact of brand, with the vast majority unable to ‘comprehensively demonstrate’ marketing’s contribution to overall business success.
In order to build credibility among the C-suite, clarity and consistency are key.
Mary-Ann Russell offers sound advice in the feature below, suggesting marketers should choose a handful of North Star brand metrics that align with the business metrics, ensure all parties agree on what they mean and why they matter, and then use them religiously to build a constant picture.
“If you’re talking about that all the time, then the business starts understanding that language and it becomes the language of everybody else,” she says.
It’s the only way the CFO will start listening to marketing. As Philip Almond pointed out, marketers need to earn the ear of the board; they can’t just assume they will be listened to.
Seeing is believing
In a very different, but equally – if not more – important piece this week, Henkel’s Nikki Vadera opened up about her experience as a working mum and with burnout.
She is unapologetically a mother first and marketer second. “I’m replaceable at work. I’m not replaceable at home,” she told us. And it is such a valid and important point. It doesn’t make her any less good at her job, or mean she doesn’t care – far from it. If anything, it makes her even more of an asset. No one knows how to juggle multiple tasks, how to prioritise, how to diffuse stressful situations, how to remain calm yet get things done, how to think on your feet and be industrious, better than a mother. I’ve certainly sharpened a whole host of skills since becoming a mum.
She has been incredibly open within the business about this mindset and the fact she works a condensed working week and may be out of action for important home events. Because of this flexibility, she says she is even more conscious of delivering to a high standard.
But it’s this openness that is key. Nikki was signed off at the end of last year with burnout as a preventative measure. And she is by no means alone – we have talked extensively about the looming burnout crisis in marketing – yet when suffering from an invisible illness like this, it often feels that way.
It’s why visibility is so important. Nikki has been incredibly open with her colleagues about what she was going through and should be applauded for it. It’s such a brave thing to do to talk about something so personal at a time when you feel so vulnerable. But by doing so, first with her colleagues and now in the article below, she is helping to shine a light on a very real problem, removing the taboo and giving others in leadership and beyond the green light to come forward and share their own experiences so they can get the help they need.
Feeling isolated and alone only makes matters worse. But so many people – men and women, and clearly not just marketers – feel forced to stay quiet, fearing it could negatively impact their reputation or career. Bringing the conversation into the open creates much-needed dialogue and will hopefully prevent others from suffering in silence.
The week ahead
Next week, we will be looking at the latest trends in marketing recruitment and the opportunities and challenges with ad-funded content.
