Industry: What to do with the usurpers of the marketing title?

Written par

GdeGConsulting

in

Marketing

Who are they?

I have met two kinds of profiles:

Well-established sales people who are given a geographical area and the responsibility not only to sell there, but also to monitor the market. Their number one priority remains sales. In addition to sales, they are tasked to update the annual sales plan slides on the market, customers, and competition, and to promote an innovation during customer visits or events. These activities of transmitting information, which certainly have added value, are not enough to justify the marketing title, because a marketing manager is expected to articulate a vision, formulate proposals, and convince decision-makers.

Young engineers, from product development functions, or former project managers. They are experts in the product field, and have demonstrated their ability to interact with customers and collaborate with many functions in the company. The MBA they may also have in their pocket does not make them qualified in marketing, but rather in business management. Promised a bright future in the company, they are propelled to a position for which they were not prepared. They know that this is a step in their career, and aspire to pass it without damages.

Do they make mistakes?

Do not worry! Those marketing usurpers are appreciated in the company. They are harmless in the short term: They do not question routines nor the consensus market view. They do not draw the attention to weak signals, or to the risks of doing nothing. They operate within their comfort zone, and fit in with management thinking.  In my experience, when there is a mistake, it is one of omission that can be diagnosed years afterwards:

This is the story of a marketing director of an activity linked to internal combustion engine vehicles. Technically legitimate, well integrated into his division, he nevertheless did not anticipate either the dieselgate scandal in 2015, or the sudden drop in diesel engine passenger cars that followed, or the change in the market towards hybrid and electric powered cars. This is the story of a marketing manager in a highly technical business unit, which has experienced growth and profitability difficulties. He was very familiar with the world market and the products, and worked in close collaboration with the engineering department. Yet he failed to point out to management that the company had been neglecting for too many years a segment that represented more than half of the world market and in which it had significant assets.

What are the consequences for the holders of the title?

They miss out on the core expectations of the function:

• They take refuge in the technical aspects of marketing: customer relationship management, marketing databases, digitalisation of processes, production of beautiful sales tools, optimisation of the website.
• They position themselves as process managers: reporting to management, sales plans, sales agreements.
• They hope to move on to the next stage of their career without taking the blame for any mistake.

Deep down, they feel disappointment and frustration:

• When their management has little or no marketing experience itself, the frustration is even greater: they are often given assignments that are not marketing value added.
• When they observe changes in the market that bring risks or opportunities, they do not know how to make themselves heard. This can lead to frustration: they discover belatedly that they have not acquired the know-how to communicate internally, and not invested enough in their legitimacy to become influential.

What are the consequences for the company?

There are no negative consequences in the short term. However, they are significant in the long term, because few people outside the company play the role of synthesiser, watchdog, and spokesperson for the market:

• They do not dare to tell hard things, and to set the company in motion.
• They do not explore the emerging or unchartered territories of the market.
• They do not bring novel views and answers to new challenges.
• They do not provide suggestions for innovation or change in the business model.
• They do not act as the voice of the sales-marketing function to make the voice of the customer and the market be factored in the major arbitrations, particularly in relation to new products and services.

What can be done?

The problem is not urgent, but important. There are several options in the hands of the manager to help the job holder to gradually take full responsibility:

• Ask the marketer tough questions, with a reasonable time frame for answering them. The topic should be out of their comfort zone, and put them in the position of ‘voice of the market’ within the company.
• Immerse them for a while in the market reality, for example by involving them in one or more collaborative projects with clients.Put them in the position of an intrapreneur, and participate in, or steer, the creation of new activities, which requires meeting many customers and market players.
• Offer them the support of a marketing mentor, either internal or external to the organisation, who will help them to learn on the job the specific postures techniques and thought processes, and to build-up their legitimacy.