There is an interesting article in Ad Age about the need for CMOs to understand how their businesses work, For CMOs to Be Visionary Leaders, They Must Have a P&L Mind-set. This seems overly intuitive, but you would be surprised. A true marketer needs to understand all the drivers of the business, the profitability of each customer type, the cost of each product. And many do not.
When I started at Georgetown University, I was coming from financial services. The first question I asked was "what is the business model?" I wanted to know how the university made its money. Academia doesn't really talk this way, but it has a business model nonetheless. Turns out that tuition and philanthropy are key to staying in business.
I have always believed that a marketing strategy really is the same thing as the business strategy. Many people don't really understand what marketing is. Some think it is PR. Others think it is sales. The truth is, marketing is the strategy for selling your product, ie, the business. Marketing is the starting point, not the end point. In other words, if you are doing it correctly, you begin the entire strategic process by asking: Who are our customers? What do they want or need? Does our product or service meet those needs? That is where the strategic process begins....and that is marketing.
Check out the article:
Chief Marketing Officers Must Have a P&L Mind-set - Advertising Age - CMO Strategy
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