Marketing Champions: Practical Strategies for Improving Marketing's Power, Influence and Business Impact

Too often, top executives fail to comprehend the true value of marketing and the contribution marketing makes to the bottom line. And without proper metrics for measuring effectiveness, marketers have trouble demonstrating how valuable they truly are. As a result, when a company struggles and the corporate belt tightens, it's the marketing department that bears the brunt. But this just makes marketing less effective and companies less profitable.

In every business, the marketing department should be an influential, powerful, and critical part of the operation. Marketing Champions will show you how to break out of this cycle and make marketing the center of your organization.

Marketing Champions will show you how to debunk common myths about marketing, translate the language of marketing into the language of business, and make marketing matter to corporate leadership. Most important, you'll learn how to define the metrics of marketing success and establish repeatable, transparent processes that show the reasoning behind—and the potential payoff of—every marketing decision you make. With these tools at hand, you can prove your importance to top leadership and wield more influence than ever before.

If you're a marketer dedicated to helping your company succeed—and boosting your career in the process—you must learn to connect what you do with your company's bottom line. And you must learn how to communicate that value to corporate leadership. If you do, you'll be a Marketing Champion.

"Much has been written about the importance of using marketing principles and tools effectively. But we've paid far less attention to how marketing works within an organization--and how marketers can better interact with other prime movers in their companies. This book really delivers on this much-neglected subject--sounding a wake-up call to marketers everywhere on how to exert their influence and improve their contribution to cash flow."

--Philip Kotler, S.C. Johnson Distinguished Professor of International Marketing, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

"The authors understand that marketing is now the most important force within an organization--if you can figure out how to coordinate the rest of your colleagues. This book shows you how."

--Seth Godin, author of Small Is the New Big

"This leadership guide is a must-read for every executive who wants to understand the crucial connection between marketing and bottom-line results."

--Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor of Business Administration, University of Southern California, and author of On Becoming a Leader

"The best marketing leaders are those who can harness the power of the enterprise--not just lead the marketing team. This book will give you the ability to align and inspire the entire company."

--Jerry Noonan, Spencer Stuart

"Much has been written about the importance of using marketing principles and tools effectively. But we've paid far less attention to how marketing works within an organization—and how marketers can better interact with other prime movers in their companies. This book really delivers on this much-neglected subject—sounding a wake-up call to marketers everywhere on how to exert their influence and improve their contribution to cash flow."

—Philip Kotler, S.C. Johnson Distinguished Professor of International Marketing, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

"The authors understand that marketing is now the most important force within an organization—if you can figure out how to coordinate the rest of your colleagues. This book shows you how."

—Seth Godin, author of Small Is the New Big

"This leadership guide is a must-read for every executive who wants to understand the crucial connection between marketing and bottom-line results."

—Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor of Business Administration, University of Southern California, and author of On Becoming a Leader

"The best marketing leaders are those who can harness the power of the enterprise—not just lead the marketing team. This book will give you the ability to align and inspire the entire company."

—Jerry Noonan, Spencer Stuart

ALLEN M. WEISS, PHD, is Professor of Marketing at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business. He consults mainly with business-to-business organizations and is widely published in academic journals.

DAVID W. STEWART, PHD, is the Robert E. Brooker Professor of Marketing at USC's Marshall School of Business. A former editor of the Journal of Marketing, he is a marketing strategy advisor to Fortune 1000 companies.

Why This Book?

The Marketing Champion’s Imperative.

The Marketing Compass.

About Our Research.

PART ONE: Understand the Landscape.

1. Defy Marketing Myths.

Myths about Marketing.

Myths and Consequences: Marketing’s Confused Role.

Four Distorted Views.

Transforming the Marketing Landscape in Your Organization: What You’ll Learn in This Book.

2. Clean Up Your Language.

Clarifying the Language of Marketing.

Say What You Mean, and Mean What You Say.

Standardize Your Professional Processes.

Translate Marketing into the Language of Business.

Tips for Talking Business.

PART TWO: Manage North.

3. Make Marketing Matter to Your CEO.

Sleepless in the C Suite.

Marketing to the Rescue.

A Word about the Board and Wall Street.

Your CEO SWOT Analysis.

4. Forge a Friendship with Your CFO.

Understand Your CFO’s Needs.

Give Your CFO Something of Value.

Marketing: The Wellspring of Profit.

Marketing: A Growth Driver.

Let’s Talk: Communicating Regularly with Your CFO.

CFOs under Pressure: A Note about Sarbanes-Oxley.

Your CFO SWOT Analysis.

5. Define Metrics for What Matters.

Your Marketing Metrics Audit Process.

Tips for Selecting and Using Marketing Metrics.

PART THREE: Manage East.

6. Bust Silos and Build Bridges.

A Closer Look at Silos.

Silos and You.

Busting Silos: Five Tactics.

7. Scratch Sales's Back.

Help Sales Boost Velocity.

Define Qualified Leads.

Manage the Lead Pipeline.

Quantify the Lead Pipeline’s Financial Value.

Overcome Price Resistance.

Accelerate Sales Funnel Flow.

Your Sales Partnership SWOT Analysis.

8. Dream with the  R&D Team.

Marketing and R&D: A Crucial Partnership.

Conduct an Innovation Review.

Reduce R&D’s Risk.

Craft Compelling Product Stories.

Your R&D Partnership SWOT Analysis.

PART FOUR: Manage South.

9. Build a Brand for Marketing.

Perception Becomes Reality.

Two Little Words.

Reshaping Perceptions of Marketing.

Your Brand-Building SWOT Analysis.

10. Deliver on Marketing's Brand Promise.

Leverage the Power of Persuasion.

Establish Transparent, Repeatable Processes.

Forge Productive Working Relationships with Agencies.

Make Smart Marketing Decisions.

Your Brand-Delivery SWOT Analysis.

PART FIVE: Manage West.

11. Leverage Fresh Opportunities on the Business Frontier.

Evaluating New Opportunities.

Reclaiming Marketing’s Lost Heritage.

Act on Your Assessments of Opportunities.

Your New Opportunities SWOT Analysis.

12. Lead the Way in the Cash-Flow Frontier.

Market Yourself.

Get a Reputation.

Conquer the Time Crunch.

Find a Mentor.

Your Leadership Future SWOT Analysis.

Index.