Make Marketing Everyone’s Job

Far too often, marketing is seen as something that somebody delivers after a request is made to put content together. Whilst headlining the function usually sits in one pair of hands, the truth is that no one person can drive marketing into or through a business – everyone must share the load.

Paying lip service

It is important that everyone in the business understands the strategic direction of the company and how they can help to deliver it within their own role; and in that regard marketing is no different. All personnel are representatives of your business no matter what their job function is; and all have a part to play in ensuring that the image presented to market is correct.

For instance, I have lost count of the number of times I have walked a production floor and seen multiple versions of a company logo. Take a look next time you go walkabout, and you’re likely to see old versions next to new on the walls, signage that’s out of date, colours that are incorrect, old workwear – even mugs that represent what the company used to be and not what it claims to be. This is a clear sign of a business that pays ‘lip service’ to its marketing; for if things are not right internally, they can never be right externally either.

When this happens, the sense of identity is lost; and so is the understanding of the direction of the business. Full and proper explanation of the direction your business is taking is far more important that many realise; and what this means is that the internal marketing effort is as important as the external – the messages are tied tightly together to form the whole. You need your team to understand your corporate identity and what it stands for, to know when campaigns are happening and what the goal of each one is; and most of all to have real pride in their business – and in their individual contribution. In short, you need everyone to care.

Why a tie made an impact

I am reminded of a story a senior director told me once about being stopped by a semi-retired employee when walking through a production hall. The director in question walked through production regularly and was usually very well dressed in suit and tie. This time he was stopped, and the employee asked very directly “why are you wearing a tie that has our competition’s promotional logo on it?”

The tie in question was not a corporate one – it was a cartoon tie with a large depiction of a certain character on it (and yes, those were fashionable once!). The Director was fond of such ties and so just wore it without paying any attention to the overall design, but when he looked closely he was forced to admit that the employee was right – a major competitor was using that character in a huge marketing campaign; on literature, trucks, TV and product and he should not have been wearing it. He had paid less attention to detail than the employee who challenged him and called him out on it.

Communication

The point of the story? In that business, the marketing team had fully briefed everyone, all employees understood the direction and impact of what they were doing; and had all been informed of the competition’s activity too. They all cared deeply about the end result. That semi-retired employee accepted the Director’s somewhat embarrassed apology with the comment: “It’s OK, making sure we all get it right is everyone’s job around here”. If you look at the picture attached to this blog you will see how involved that particular employee was – he was complaining about the pink panther image which, as you will see, is not exactly easy to spot when someone walks past wearing it on a tie.

What a lesson! That business had managed to build a culture where everyone cared and was able to take action to ensure that things were done right – every time. So, remember, marketing is not a one-person function; or something that a few people deliver. It is a function and process that belongs to everybody – effectively, to do it well, marketing must be everyone’s job. When the belief in the strategy exists throughout the business, the messages delivered are far more powerful because everyone helps to drive them.

Make marketing everyone’s job

So, don’t write the marketing plan and then hide it away in some management file – share it, live it, breathe it – you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the results; and especially at the positive culture you’ll build in your team.

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