New, improved marketing manager.
STR Team / August 8, 2011, 0:29 IST
The role is fast changing from managing to being a growth champion.
The relationship between brands and consumers is growing more dynamic, challenging and multi-dimensional. New challenges are emerging with each passing day thanks to technological, social and cultural breakthroughs. These changes mean that the role of the marketer is undergoing immense change — and like brands, marketers also need to stay relevant with time.
Two big shifts are impacting marketing at the macro level. Classically, a manager would make a business projection and work backwards on the marketing spends and the avenues thereon. Media would cost money and thus the marketing cost had to come out of product sales. But today a manager has the wherewithal to market a product before it is available, as spends are not a challenge in the new media vehicles like Twitter and Facebook. Thanks to the new forms and channels of media available, a sense of intrigue can be created around the products before launch and that too at no extra cost. This was not part of a conventional marketing plan, and hence, the profile of marketing managers.
India, by its sheer size and subsequently the scale that it offers, especially in categories like food, appliances or entertainment, develops its own trends that may not necessarily follow the tastes of developed markets. Managers in India face the task of leveraging local nuances and concerting the offerings into a global scale. Customers seek validation of their behaviour from family, community and culture. So the room for influence available to marketers is partial.
A case in point is the hair oil category that was deemed as a dying category in India by many multinationals and the brands kept changing hands. Till one company stuck to working with the consumer by making shampoo an ally and went on to create a large business on the basis of this one brand. And it has become large enough to expand overseas while keeping its foothold in India strong.
In the times that we live in, the marketing manager’s responsibilities extend beyond marketing strategies and programmes.
From managing to growing and creating: The marketing manager’s role needs to evolve from just managing to creating. Most of what is done under conventional marketing involves looking at the scenario in terms of the 5Ps of marketing, which essentially is only about market planning. But marketers need to be enablers of creation, moving from brand management to brand enhancement, from brand promise to brand action. From what a brand says to what it actually does. Nike’s ‘Just do it’ explains this shift. It’s a movement, a call for action.
Earlier, roles were clearly demarcated. CEOs would hold the fort for expanding and retaining the customer base, work on innovation, and be responsible for revenue management, while marketers would apply traditional marketing tools to fulfill that agenda. Now, it is imperative that marketers take part in transforming the business model. This creation process implies marketing as a growth centre and not a cost centre. There is a gap between what marketing is delivering and what can be delivered. From managing a brand it needs to be seen as a growth champion.
From managing an asset to adding value to the brand: While marketing is the new line function with the brand profit and loss, many marketing managers are still living in the staff function role. The marketing manager needs to be both a businessperson (left brain) and a marketer (right brain). While a creative background is an asset, the key for marketers is to understand and speak the financial language of business. The role now demands that marketers are equipped with a broader set of skills and personal qualities, and are able to demonstrate financial accountability using metrics like revenue, cash flow and profitability. This brings credibility during management meetings. From developing a marketing strategy after the business plan is made, the shift demands identifying opportunities where the company invests and has the capability to win consumers, thus creating business. Recent acquisitions of brands have shown ‘brand investeeship’ at play.
More partners to collaborate with: The marketers’ partners have expanded from marketing and advertising agencies. The rules of the game are constantly changing; retailers now offer significant influence in shaping consumer preferences. A marketer who sees retailers as allies in shaping consumer behaviour would be furthering the growth agenda of their categories.
From a broadcaster to an aggregator: It’s not about communicating to the consumer but with the consumer. A relationship is a two-way process. Marketers trying to control every interaction hinder the development of a real relationship with the customer because the customer base is fragmented and is looking for a conversation. The marketer needs to acknowledge that he/she is no longer a broadcaster pushing out messages but essentially an aggregator who brings together content, enables collaboration, and builds and participates in communities.
The views are personal.
DEVENDRA CHAWLA
President, Food & Fmcg, Future Group
Source Business Standard.
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