I worked for Unilever for 12 years and one of the biggest activities we always embarked on was Brand strategies and planning that really shaped the company’s growth agenda.
As I got into more senior jobs one of my most critical jobs was to give senior managers some comfort that as a leader, I understood that marketing would be a strong contributor to the overall business performance.
Fast forward many years in my career and I found myself in companies where marketing was considered to be just the execution arm, never involved in any business strategy and never taken seriously.
I see a lot of that happening and it saddens me as I think marketing is a key strategic partner to drive growth for the business. I believe a stronger marketing function can lead into greater business results. Here are my top 7 reasons as to why business needs the marketing function:
- Marketing’s role in the business is to design executional activities that can be a growth driver – making sure that any acquisition, or consumption or loyalty targets are firmly embedded in the marketing process.
- Marketing can help strengthen the company and brand’s equity in the market. Strong brand equities usually can command some premium over competitors.
- Marketing can help enhance the company and brand reputation.
- Marketing can help in driving the innovation process.
- They can help in better understanding consumers and their needs.
- Marketing can help in customer service and experience.
- They can help in positioning a brand and ensuring that the messages remain relevant over time.
Of course, this is not an exhaustive list, but sometimes people don’t get why marketing must exists – and think of them as just doing pretty pictures and golf days.
A strong marketing function does help bring value to the business, and need the support of business leadership.
This blog was written by Mosidi K Seretlo – Founder and Director of Mosidi K Seretlo Brand & Marketing Agency, Johannesburg.
