Just How Does Marketing Fit into the Organization?

The battle to get marketing recognized as the key driver of organizational value is an ongoing one. One major issue appears to be the perception that marketing lacks accountability and this does not sit well in today's quantitative and results driven organizations. In a recent study of non marketing executives by Cranfield University in the UK, marketers were described as “expensive and slippery”. This is a shame as well as problem. What gets measured gets done maybe true, and a truism, but saying something that is not measurable is not valuable is ludicrous. That is not to say that marketing ROI cannot be measured, and indeed, there has been considerable effort in this area by the Chartered Institute of Marketing in the UK as well as academics (see book review section). However, one must take serious care in running a firm based on the numbers only. Enron is not a distant memory yet. For non believers, check out the following reference:

Valentin, E.K (1994) Anatomy of a fatal business strategy. Journal of Management Studies, 31, May, 359-382.

(drop us an email if you would like us to send you a copy).

So where does marketing fit in?

Marketing can and should be results oriented and as such, is a high priority topic for any firm. Counting numbers (i.e. economic profit) maybe the domain of financial types and of great interest to senior executives but without understanding the drivers of cash flow (that is customers) the numbers being looked at are in danger of being seen in isolation. In effect, they become lag indicators that can be manipulated to improve short term performance at the expense of long term sustainability. Obviously, both are important but it is here where marketing drives value as a market orientation is the bed rock of company performance.