The CEO’s marketing manifesto

Citation

Kumar, N. (2009), "The CEO’s marketing manifesto", Strategic Direction, Vol. 25 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/sd.2009.05625ead.003

The CEO’s marketing manifesto

Article Type: Abstracts From: Strategic Direction, Volume 25, Issue 5

Kumar N.Marketing Management, November/December 2008, Vol. 17 No. 6, Start page: 24, No. of pages: 6

Purpose – Looks at how marketing can recapture its strategic role in the firm. Design/methodology/approach – Reports the results of a global survey of 700 CEOs by The Conference Board on the challenges facing their companies. Findings – Many CEOs are disappointed at marketing’s inability to produce measurable results and view marketing as an expense rather than an investment but while the marketing function has been declining, the need for marketing has never been greater. Reveals that three mutually-reinforcing changes are enabling faster and more coherent coordination of the customer value-creating activities within organizations: companies are thinking in terms of processes rather than functions; they are moving from hierarchies to teams; and they are substituting partnerships for arms-length transactions with suppliers and distributors. Urges marketers to break from the tactical four Ps and associate instead with organization-wide transformation initiatives worthy of the CEO’s agenda which are strategic, cross-functional and bottom-line oriented. Advises them to target problems that involve multiple products, countries, brands, channels or functions and in particular to understand the entire value chain. Concludes that transformational marketing efforts should focus on initiatives that: profitably deliver value to customers; require a high level of marketing expertise; need cross-functional orchestration for successful implementation; and are results-oriented. Originality/value – Contends that marketers must learn to lead with imagination driven by consumer insight and not rely on market research for predictions.ISSN: 1061-3846Reference: 38AC485

Keywords: Change management, Marketing, Marketing strategy