What type of Marketer are you? Reviewing the Marketing & Strategy relationship

If you are an avid reader of marketing literature, you might feel that much of the content out there on commercial book shelves is focused on Promotion–just 1 of the traditional 4Ps of the marketing mix (product, price, place & promotion).  Sure, I get it, it is fun to read how a beautiful communication plan drove a brand from zero to hero; I enjoy reading several of these excellent books every year myself.  The promotional world has become so excruciatingly difficult to follow with the deepening fragmentation of media touch points that books (and eBooks) on promotion are written almost overnight now.  Will all this focus on the new reality of complex promotion drive marketers toward becoming pure playing, “1P shows”?

I hope not…

I stumbled across a recent Forrester study highlighting that while a majority of marketing leaders feel somewhat comfortable with leading product and promotional strategies involving consumers (2 of the classic 4Ps) a mere 28% are multitasking geniuses, able to juggle the 4Ps successfully for their businesses.  Here is the Executive Summary of the report:

Most marketing leaders drive — or are involved in — their firm’s consumer and product strategies. But three out of four have decided to leave distribution strategy and brand acquisition to their peers. To be successful in driving customer engagement, marketing leaders should involve themselves in these activities, especially as the effect of eCommerce on pricing and channel strategies grows.

At a minimum, marketers should lead consumer and product strategy (the heart of a marketer’s job, matching consumers to products).  The report goes on to make the case that marketing leaders should get back on top of all of the 4Ps (ideally).

What type of marketer are you?

According to this Forrester study, there are 3 types of marketing leaders:

• Low-involvement marketing leaders, focusing mostly on market and competition.
• Average-involvement marketing leaders drive customers and products.
• High-involvement marketers have a stake in all marketing P’s.

If strategy is the unique and clearly communicated positioning of a company, then as Mary Beth Kemp points out in her article, marketers need to be able to provide strong insights so they can drive and monitor strategic choices.

So, if you are starting to cut your teeth in the marketing world & you are charting a plan to put in your 10,000 hours of practice (see Gladwells Outliers) don’t forget about those other “Ps”.  Mastering all 4 of the Ps can help you become a highly involved, strategically minded, & well-rounded marketer.