Making the Leap to Marketing Effectiveness

By Andrew Pierce, June 28, 2007 — The good news? CMO tenure actually grew to 26.8 months in 2006, according to the much-cited annual Spencer Stuart study. The bad news? Only one-third have held their positions for three years or longer.

Those who have beat the averages have likely done so by quickly delivering brand success while driving both short- and long-term business growth. Yet as those who have fallen by the wayside would certainly attest – it’s no easy task.

The pressure’s building on marketers to maximize the effectiveness of their efforts – and the company’s investments. Their marching orders: Achieve measurable outcomes that advance business objectives.

So what’s holding marketers back? We discovered in our recent State of Marketing Study that only 54 percent of senior level marketers consistently measure the impact of marketing activities. Small wonder that 84 percent of our respondents told us Marketing Return on Investment is not well understood within their businesses.

Fixing the situation is a long-term proposition. But it starts with some immediate new directions:

1. Wherever possible, align marketing investments to simultaneously achieve business objectives and meet customer priorities.

2. Cultivate internal relationships and capabilities – people, processes and technology – and ramp up the ability to measure it all.

3. When analyzing marketing data, ask “why” as well as “what.” This will give a more holistic understanding of what’s working and what to do more of – and less.

4. Focus on leading indicators, not lagging (which may be a misleading gauge of future results). Taking a more forward thinking approach such as “test and learn” (where elements of the marketing mix are trialed on a smaller and more controlled scale) is an effective option, particularly when funds are scarce and there is little tolerance for marketing missteps.

For successful organizations, the achievement of marketing effectiveness is a business imperative. For successful marketing leaders, it’s a career maker.