The Marketing Manager's Yearbook 2006
Foreword
Paul Gostick, International Chairman
Chartered Institute of Marketing
Good marketing drives the long-term growth and success of all organisations. The Chartered Institute of Marketing has a passionate belief in real marketing and, as the world’s leading professional marketing body, we are committed to promoting marketing as being at the heart of business, whether in a profit or not-for-profit organisation. In 2006, we will continue to work with government bodies and other marketing bodies to set the standards in marketing and to represent and campaign on behalf of the entire marketing community.
The importance of marketing
A business must understand what its customers want, keep on top of fluctuations in demand and emerging market trends, and adapt quickly if it is to survive. If it is to thrive, it must do all this better than its competitors. It is marketers who are the best placed to analyse these changes and make the right decisions about how to respond. All companies need to make choices. They need to decide which markets they want to target, in which products or services to specialise, what price to sell these at and how to promote them. Marketers are the people to make these choices.
Marketers have a unique view and can balance the capabilities of their organisation with the requirements of the external world. This is an ability that is not usually shared by their colleagues in other departments, where internal considerations can cloud judgement. Marketing must balance the short-term needs of the organisation with long-term business success. In the short term, profits can be improved by cutting costs or quality. But in the long term, growth can only be generated by delivering value to customers. There is no one better placed than marketers to know how this can be achieved.
And the importance of marketing extends far beyond sales success, market share and increasing penetration. Studies have proved time and time again that marketing is central to increasing the value of an organisation, whether a charity or a FTSE 100 company. This is clearly demonstrated when a company is sold and its worth goes beyond its tangible assets to include intangibles such as brand and customer loyalty, both generated by marketing.
A licence to practise
Such a crucial task must be entrusted to those who are well trained and well guided from the beginning to the end of their career. No employer would consider an accountant who did not have the correct qualifications or who did not keep up-to-date with changes in their profession. The Chartered Institute of Marketing was instrumental in defining the professional standards for marketing and we firmly believe that qualifications and training are key to success but they are just the start. Lifelong learning is a prerequisite to keeping up-to-date and being a good marketer. For those who are willing to not only say that they keep up-to-date, but to demonstrate it actively through continuing professional development (CPD), The Chartered Institute of Marketing awards individual Chartered Marketer status. This is the highest professional accolade in marketing and represents the pinnacle of the profession.
An art or a science?
There is no doubt that modern marketers need an abundance of creative skills. They require artistic flair and, even though the works of the marketing department are increasingly constrained by legislation, to be a good marketer you need to be imaginative, provocative and intuitive.
But marketing also demands a degree of scientific thinking. It is a complex profession, requiring technological insight, an understanding of how to use data effectively, plus a good grounding in a variety of other scientific and mathematical principles. Without these skills, marketers will struggle to measure effectiveness, understand how marketing affects stake holder value, and demonstrate how it influences bottom-line success with a good ROI.
Marketers must seek the training and support necessary to allow them to embrace the scientific nature of the profession, and not avoid it. They do need to be ‘hard edged’ in their approach. They must interpret value broadly, and make the right decisions to focus scarce marketing resources on the areas of best return. They must use meaningful metrics to quantify marketing’s contribution to business success. To be valued and taken seriously within their organisations marketers need to be able to demonstrate how they add real value. Then their organisations will be more willing to allow them to have significant influence at the strategic business level where they belong.
So what skills are required? The Chartered Institute of Marketing has been instrumental in defining the professional standards for marketing. Marketers can map out their skills against this framework to help them determine their own learning needs and identify where they can be put to best practical use within the business.
Marketing is for everyone
Today, there are many more workers involved in marketing than those with it defined in their job title. Everybody, from pharmacists to farmers, lawyers to pub landlords needs to build relationships between their company and their customers. The Chartered Institute of Marketing is committed to helping these people on the road to success, as well those with specific marketing responsibility.
We are there for marketers at all stages of their career. As an organisation we aim to support marketers from their first tentative steps in a junior role to the pinnacle of their career as a member of the boardroom. Come and join us on our journey to drive professionalism, raise the profile and, above all, put marketing where it belongs, on the boardroom agenda and at the heart of business. Marketing really does mean business!
The Chartered Institute of Marketing is the leading international professional marketing body with some 50,000 members worldwide. First established in 1911 it defines the marketing standards that operate in the UK and is the global champion of best marketing practice. The Institute exists to develop the marketing profession, maintain professional standards and improve the skills of marketing practitioners, enabling them to deliver exceptional results for their organisations. It does this by providing membership, qualifications and training to marketing professionals around the world.