I made a reference in my first posting to the book “the shift” which I think nicely details exactly the problem you’re talking about, and that this may be a critical moment in business management history for CMOs to get into the fray at the top level. Marketing needs to be at the very top of the organization. Without marketing as part of the senior leadership, then the brand as the business has too many risks to be shot down from an exec management perspective.

Marketers see the future of their contribution being jeopardized, squeezed between Executive Management slashing budgets and customers much more vocal and opinionated about “owning” the brands they care about.

As a recovering marketer, my sense is that the marketing function probably has a very bright future but it needs to be fundamentally redefined. Successful marketers won’t be defining the brand they represent but rather make themselves an indispensable resource to fans and brand advocates who will be the ones shaping the brand and probably products/services.

Twitter, Harley Davidson, Trader Joe’s are some very interesting examples of fans taking over brands and very skillful marketers trading control for greater brand equity.

Food for thought…

I’ve also always loved that Drucker quote in particular. I believe that businesses must administer themselves well in order to successfully retain profits, but the key word to me is “retain.” Administration of business is about retaining cash flows that are created by the company – through innovation and marketing (convincing people to pay for the innovation!). You can’t retain profits if you don’t have revenues, and the more committed to the company ALL of its people are, the more chances for the message to get out to customers.

I think that too much time and energy gets devoted to administration of a business because, well, its hard. I think the problems of the administration can often drive time and energy allocations away from things that create revenues, and its up to management to keep the focus in the right place. I think management has a role to create a belief for all employees about their company that makes them want to “sell” their company from all angles.

(That’s the holy grail of course – when people see the brand as the business… but I digress…)

I think companies who get this right will be more successful at generating and sustaining revenues with stronger margins, allowing for greater possible profits to retain!

Companies that “live their brand” come to mind – Google, Apple, Gore, Lululemon all come to mind as examples.