Call it branding. Call it marketing. Call it whatever you want. But it has the singular objective of motivating the right customer to want to do business with a particular company or to buy a particular product or service. In this document, John Graham lays to rest some common misconceptions on the role of marketing.
Marketing is perhaps the most misunderstood term in business. At times, even people given the title of “Marketing Manager,” “Director of Marketing,” or “Vice President of Marketing” are unclear and sometimes confused in their understanding of marketing's role. The way that management discusses marketing suggests there's more than enough room at the top for clarifying this critical business function.
It doesn't come as a surprise that company executives question the effectiveness of marketing. “We spend lots of money and what do we have to show for it?” is a question that's often asked.
One reason for this confusion is that marketing seems to be shrouded in myths and misconceptions. Getting rid of these offers an opportunity to see the marketing function in a clearer light and to take advantage of the powerful and positive role that it can play in growing a company.
Here are nine myths that can thwart successful marketing efforts:
MYTH #1: MARKETING CAN BE DONE ON A SHOESTRING
How to market without spending money is a popular subject. There always seems to be an article, seminar, or book promoting “marketing on a shoestring.” Why doesn't someone write about “accounting on shoestring,” “selling on a shoestring,” or “manufacturing on a shoestring”? Why is it just marketing that gets the shoestring treatment?
It's often difficult to understand that marketing is an investment in the future of a company, a product, or a service. In other words, marketing costs money. Depending on what needs to be accomplished, the price tag on marketing can be high — and it will be substantial if a company wants to differentiate itself from the competition, achieve significant visibility, and gain market share.
At the same time, it's easy to waste marketing dollars. Without a clear understanding of objectives and tactics, money is literally thrown away.
MYTH #2: MARKETING SUPPORTS SALES EFFORTS
This is one of the most popular marketing myths and it's particularly prevalent with business owners and company executives. They see marketing as assisting the organization's sales activities. The sales department is the heavy and marketing is the water boy.
Companies have been known to do things backward and marketing is close to the top of any list. Here's a simple way to set the record straight: Salespeople are interested in orders; marketers are interested in customers. The first task is to make sure that there's a market for the products or services you offer. That's a marketing task. If there is a market, marketing identifies the customers, creates the message, and sets in motion a plan to elicit interest from the target constituencies. Now, sales is ready to go to work.
MYTH #3: MARKETING TAKES TOO LONG
There's a second, often unspoken, part to the previous myth: “We need sales now.” Marketing does not offer an instant answer or a miraculous cure-all for slumping sales. The best quick fix to increase sales is to offer generous incentives, give away big discounts, or simply slash prices. These are sales strategies that have nothing to do with marketing.
Marketing takes time. But a carefully crafted and well-executed marketing plan produces continuing positive sales results over a long period, without having to resort to price cuts.
Whether it's Wal-Mart or Tiffany's, Giorgio Armani or Office Depot, customers seek certain brands because of value, not just price. They'll get what they want for the money they spend. That's marketing.
MYTH #4: MARKETING IS JUST ANOTHER WORD FOR ADVERTISING
If there were ever a common misconception about marketing, this is it. Marketing and advertising are often used interchangeably by those who sell and produce advertising.
Depending on the goals of the marketing plan, advertising might be one component of an overall program that includes a variety of promotional and public relations activities. The full effect of marketing is achieved by using a number of tactics at the same time to create a cost-effective impact.
MYTH #5: WE DON'T NEED RESEARCH; WE KNOW OUR CUSTOMERS
It's easy to assume that we know our customers. We're so confident because we've been serving them for years. But times change and so do customer demands and expectations.
A marketing consultant was asked to review a series of help-wanted ads that had failed to attract candidates for insurance salespeople. The consultant reported that the ads, aimed at the “recent college graduate” and those seeking “a good career,” offered little more than “a golden opportunity.”
This provides a perfect example of how even a modicum of research of recent college graduates who fit a sales profile would have been helpful in designing an employment package and an advertising campaign that fit their expectations.
MYTH #6: MARKETING IS JUST FROSTING ON THE CAKE WHEN SALES ARE UP
It's true. Marketing is often ignored during periods when sales are strong. When sales drop, there's never enough money for marketing.
These common attitudes reflect a misunderstanding of the function of marketing. A consistent, unified, coherent marketing program should produce a constant flow of business to minimize the “hills and valleys” so many companies face.
The process of influencing how customers view a company and its products must be continuous to maintain its marketplace position and to deny competitors an advantage. Influencing the perception of a company is fundamental to its success — and not frosting on the cake.
MYTH #7: MARKETING IS OK FOR BIG COMPANIES
It's often assumed that it takes a big company with extensive resources to benefit from a marketing program. Although it's true that large companies tend to take marketing seriously, businesses with proportionately smaller budgets can also benefit from marketing.
A West Coast insurance broker saw the need to differentiate itself from a growing number of both larger and smaller competitors. “We wanted to get away from a price-driven posture and have customers choose us because they see us doing a better job protecting their assets,” said the vice president in charge of marketing.
After adopting a marketing message that fit its objective, this brokerage set out to position itself as a knowledge-based broker. Although its budget is limited, each marketing activity serves to reinforce the theme of competence.
MYTH #8: MARKETING ONLY WASTES MONEY
There are good reasons to hold this view because many so-called marketing decisions do waste financial resources. For example, the person in charge of “advertising” at one community bank didn't know that the radio spots he purchased were running through the night. “I thought they were on at drive time,” he said. When the advertising fails to produce positive results, someone will correctly conclude that spending the money was a waste. Marketing isn't the culprit, however. People who lack an understanding of the subject cause the problem.
Marketing that's based on solid information and focused on the correct audience produces positive results. But as with any other discipline, good marketing takes talent, knowledge, and experience.
MYTH #9: MARKETING AND SALES ARE ONE AND THE SAME
It can be argued that this one should be at the head of the list the No. 1 marketing myth. So why leave it to the end? Because this is where the confusion begins and ends. Some companies try to disguise the salesperson's role and give them the title of “Marketing Representative.”
Often those who claim to understand the distinct roles played by marketing and sales have difficulty keeping these functions separate in practice. It's all too easy to fall into the trap of viewing marketing as “sales support.” The success of the dot-coms in raising venture capital was due to effective marketing by connecting with what already existed inside investors' heads. In this case, it was greed. Because investors “wanted to believe,” the money flowed freely and the salespeople only needed to take orders. It wasn't until there was nothing to show for the dollars invested that the fantasy faded.
Home Depot's Expo stores offer a perfect example of a marketing-driven retail concept. It took the company a few years to find the right formula, but find it they did! The Expo stores attract crowds because they're designed to appeal to the lifestyle “pictures” that homeowners have in their heads of kitchens, baths, floors, custom appliances, lighting, and outdoor living. It isn't all the appliances and lighting fixtures and floor tiles that make the difference — it's placing them in appealing and compelling settings that connect with the customer. In creating what's nothing less than a Disney World of the Home, the Expo stores achieved a marketing triumph.
The objective of marketing is to seal the deal, while the goal of sales is to facilitate the order. Separate and distinct as the two functions might be, they are also two sides of the same coin.
If the marketing is on target, making the purchase makes sense to the customer. The role of sales in this process is to stay close to the customer, interact appropriately, and serve as a guide and counselor. In this way, marketing and sales complement each other in a way that results in creating willing and at times eager customers.
The failure of companies to harness the full power of marketing inhibits growth. Getting rid of these myths can open the way to benefiting from marketing, as well as sales.