Colleagues:
As a senior marketing executive and former CMO/VP at large public and also early stage companies, I have first hand experience this time of year fighting the battles with the CFO, CEO and Board justifying why Marketing is a critical/essential function for the company and why requested marketing budgets are key strategic investments in the business. Of course, these debates often turn into philosophical arguments about how "soft" Marketing is and if these dollars are "really required" to attain financial goals.
For those of you sitting in the CMO seat, you can probably relate to what I am saying here. December is often a tense time of year, especially if financial targets were not met during the business year and belts have to be tightened going forward. During this extended recession, this has often been the case at many, many companies.
I'd like to submit that this annual right of CMO passage is not likely to change any time soon, nor is the realistic budget requirement to do more with less. You can't be a CMO for long anymore and survive the battles unless you can provide a viable ROI for every dime you spend. That's just reality. So, how do you survive and even thrive in this challenging environment and manage a tightening budget to do more?
I suggest it is time that all CMO's critically evaluate HOW they staff their internal marketing functions, HOW they hire outside marketing agencies and support resources, HOW the process and business model efficiencies can be improved, and HOW the marketing mix they use to allocate marketing dollars can be optimized. Current and traditional business models for staffing key functions, critical strategic projects, or obtaining powerful creative marketing support have not changed for years. These models are slow, inefficient, loaded with risk, burdened by unnecessary costs and fees, and no longer the optimum way to manage shrinking budgets and increased pressure to deliver faster.
Instead, I urge CMO's to step outside your traditional mindset and assemble an "on-demand", virtual marketing team of professionals that can throttle up or throttle down as business demands, workload, and budgetary resources are available. Why force yourself to hire all full-time, dedicated resources---relocate all of them, and be forced to lay some of them off if results don't materialize? Will morale suffer? Will your productivity levels decrease? Absolutely. They do today under the realities of this business cycle we have been operating under. Same for agencies. Why hire multiple agencies who "bait and switch", offer only specialized expertise, and charge you hidden fees that dwindle the actual dollars you have left over to spend on media or actual marketing programs?
I am a passionate advocate that our traditional mindsets have to change for how we run our businesses going forward and the classical, hierarchical, machine bureaucracy organizational structures that are static are no longer the most efficient way to drive efficiencies. Instead, I argue that organizations and marketing professionals alike would both benefit from a virtual, on-demand business model where talented resource pools, platforms and other services can be accessed "on-demand" to fill critical requirements, meet deliverables, and produce efficient results. Clearly, our economy has produced an over-supply situation where more quality professionals exist in the marketplace than full-time jobs and available positions. That is why we have a 10% unemployment rate and a 20% underemployment rate. Is this likely to change anytime soon? Are we witnessing a seismic shift in how business will function going forward? I believe we are and it is time business leaders and professionals alike stopped sitting around waiting for things to "bounce back" and instead changed how they view the professional supply/demand equation.
Going forward, consider the virtues of having access to a world-class pool of marketing resources whenever you need them---on-call, on-demand and affordable. In peak times, you can throttle up and tap into as many resources as you need. In off-peak times, you can downsize the virtual pool and only utilize what you need---when you need it. Same for creative services and talent.
This virtual marketing model allows the CMO to have extreme flexibility, save significant dollars over traditional models and approaches, and also avoid many traditional, hidden fees. Additionally, you get open access to the best and brightest resources available to work on your business with much better morale, excitement and energy---they are not sitting around the water cooler wondering when or if they might be laid off.
Certainly this new model is not without flaws or risks. I doubt it would make much sense to swing 100% of your staffing and support in this direction. However, I do feel comfortable suggesting that 2011 is a year CMO's need to give serious consideration to a blended approach and begin evaluating these virtual models as complements or replacements to their traditional game-plans. Why not?
Finally, I accept criticism if anyone who reads this blog suggests this is strictly a self-serving post because this defines many of the services offered by NextGen Marketing Group. No question, this is true. However, my passion for this mindset change is driven by my need to share and challenge us all to begin thinking very differently as we look for solutions to our business needs. The good old days are gone---maybe forever. So, let's stop living off "hope" and operating with traditional models that no longer fit the realities of the world we now live in. A virtual model that leverages world-class marketing talent and resources---in an efficient and affordable manner deserves strong consideration from all CMO's in 2011. Try it and see how this could very well change your world and open up an entirely new set of opportunities for you going forward and reduce the battles you have to fight---but deliver you results and peace of mind.
Best wishes for great holiday season and a terrific 2011.
Sincerely,
Greg Crosby
Founder/CEO
NextGen Marketing Group
