Assess Marketing’s Critical Role

in Organizational Performance
How to Assess Marketing Effectiveness

As strategic marketers, we recognize the

integral ways that the marketing function
drives business growth – from identifying the
right target audience to developing a
differentiated offer to communicating that offer
in a compelling way.
Ensure Alignment of Business, Brand, and
Marketing Strategy
The most effective marketing strategy (i.e. what and how we
communicate) is founded upon a clear understanding and crisp
articulation of an organization’s business strategy (i.e. how we
will win) and brand strategy (i.e. our position and offer in the
marketplace). Otherwise, marketing priorities and investments
are more likely to be “off strategy” or “off brand.” Two critical
questions can help to confirm this alignment.
• Is our desired position in the marketplace
and people’s minds consistent with how the
company aims to grow?
• Are we communicating an offer to a target
audience that is consistent with our desired
position in the marketplace and people’s
minds?
 Evaluate the Marketing Organization

Following strategy alignment comes a review of the

organization that must deliver on that marketing
strategy. The most important question is whether the
marketing group is structured in the optimal way to
grow the business and achieve the organization’s
desired future state. Here are some questions to
stimulate thinking on the optimal organization design:
• Where does the business overall make its money and
where is it seeking growth?
• What must marketing “get right” to advance and
accelerate the business?
• What are the marketing organization’s gaps or “pain
points” today?
• Is accountability for performance clearly assigned?
• How will the requirements of the business and the
marketing organization change in the next 3-5 years?
Pressure-test the Marketing Processes

Process mapping is rarely people’s favorite marketing

assessment exercise. But it will almost always surface
opportunities to conduct specific marketing activities
more efficiently and effectively, which can result in
fewer meetings, more time to focus on the “big stuff,”
and ultimately a healthier business. Here are some key
questions to help guide an evaluation of marketing
processes:
• Are the objectives, inputs, and deliverables of
our key current processes clear? If no, why not?
• What are the key internal drivers of our
marketing processes (e.g. annual budgeting,
customer meetings)?
• How well do our key marketing processes align
with the timelines of our key customers?
Assess the Marketing Outcomes
Finally, we must ensure that we are achieving the right business
outcomes – the key word being “business” – because our
measures of success must ultimately support improved business
performance. When reviewing marketing metrics and outcomes,
the first consideration is whether current metrics are the right
ones, and the second consideration is how well we are
performing against those measures.
 Conclusion
Marketing can and should play a leading role in growing a
business and delivering value from its investments. And a
thoughtful assessment and optimization of overall
marketing effectiveness will help, beginning with the
alignment of business, brand, and marketing strategy,
followed by an evaluation of the marketing organization,
its key processes, and its business outcomes.
 “Marketing” Defined
AMA Definition
The process of planning and executing
the conception, pricing, promotion,
and distribution of ideas, goods, and
services to create exchanges that will
satisfy individual and organizational
objectives.
 Needs, Wants, & Demands

• Needs
– involve a state of felt deprivation of some
basic satisfaction.
• Wants
– are desires for specific satisfiers of needs.
• Demands
– are wants for specific products that are
backed by an ability, willingness, &
authorization to buy.
 Product

• Anything offered for sale that that

satisfies a need or want.
• Can consist of goods, services,
and/or ideas.
Exchanges

Exchange means
obtaining a
desired product
by offering
something
desirable in
return.
Conditions Necessary for Exchanges
to Occur
• At least 2 parties.
• Each has something valued by the other.
• Each is capable of communication &
delivery.
• Each is free to accept or reject offer.
• Each feels it is desirable/appropriate to
deal with the other party.
 Markets

A market consists of
• all the potential customers
• sharing a particular need or want,
• who might be willing, able &
authorized
• to engage in exchanges.
Company Orientations Toward the
Marketplace
• Production Concept
• Product Concept
• Sales (or Selling) Concept
• Marketing Concept
• Societal Marketing Concept
 Customers’ Viewpoint:
What Does Marketing Provide?
Utilities
Possession Utility
Minimum risk and shopping time.
Place Utility
Convenient Locations
Time Utility
Product is available when the customer
needs it.
 Strategic Marketing Management
Processes
1. Defining the organization’s business,
mission, and goals
2. Identifying & framing organizational
growth opportunities
3. Formulating product-market strategies
4. Budgeting marketing, financial, &
production resources
5. Developing reformulation & recovery
strategies
 Strategy
• A fundamental pattern of
–present and planned
–objectives, resource
deployments, and interactions
of an organization with
–markets, competitors, and other
environmental factors.
Business Definition, Mission & Goals
• Business Definition
– Essentially, determining what business an organization is in
– MUST be defined from a customer or market perspective
• Business Mission
– Defines scope of operations and reflects management’s
vision of what the organization seeks to do.
• Business Goals
– Desired levels of performance over specified time periods
– Should be problem- or future-oriented.
 Identifying & Framing Growth
Opportunities
3 Basic Questions:
1. What might we do?
• Environmental opportunities
2. What do we do best?
• Distinctive/core competencies
3. What must we do?
• Basic requirements to compete successfully
 The SWOT Analysis
INTERNAL
Strengths
Weaknesses

EXTERNAL
Opportunities
Threats
 Hierarchy of Strategies
Corporate Strategy
Definition of the firm’s mission
Business-Level Strategy
Competencies & Number of Mkts
Marketing (functional) Strategy
Target Markets & Mktg Mix
Types of Corporate Strategy

Growth for Current Markets

Growth for New Markets
Consolidation Strategies
 Growth Strategies

Current Markets New Markets

• Market • Market
Penetration Development
• Product • Market
Development Expansion
• Vertical • Diversification
Integration • Strategic
Alliances
 The Marketing Mix
1. Product Strategy
• Kind of good, service, or idea
2. Communication Strategy
• Promoting the product
3. Channel Strategy
• Distributing the product
4. Price Strategy
• Determining amount buyer will/should
pay for the product
THANK YOU! 