Making a Marketing Leader: An Interview with Bob Baginski

At ITSMAs Annual Marketing Conference in 2006, Bob Baginski, a 25-year veteran of professional services businesses and ITSMA’s new senior vice president of member engagement, provided insight into how to establish oneself as a marketing leader. This article outlines some of the insights he shared.

ITSMA: To quote blogger Brett Duncan, “Everyone thinks they’re a marketer. Everyone thinks they know what makes people buy something. What ads work and what don’t. What color looks better. What product name is better. What price is better. What strategy is better … There’s no other department in a company that is susceptible to committee input like marketing is.” Given this environment, what can a career marketer do to establish himself or herself as a true marketing leader?

Baginski: Each time I begin to market a new business or new company, the last thing I want to have happen is that my boss comes in on my first day and sets the marketing agenda. A marketing leader takes ownership and sets the marketing agenda. Does the business executive really want to continue to do the same old stuff the same old way? Or will the marketing leader step up, claim ownership, and not only do things differently, but do them better?

But there is so much to learn about a new business or company. And so I always insist on conducting a business and marketing assessment. Such an assessment might seem like a traditional marketing planning process, and the boss will probably say that he or she already has that in hand. The boss will also want to know how long it will take. The key is to emphasize that the team, from day one, will continue to execute and improve while the assessment is under way. These analyses can take from two to six months and involve three to several core team members. There will be some negotiation here, but because the company is about to invest considerably in marketing for the next few years, it’s worth the time and effort to start that journey with the right strategic direction.

ITSMA: Can you elaborate on the business and marketing assessment approaches?

Baginski: All marketing leaders are going to have their own ways of doing this. You start with what’s worked in the past and then weave in new techniques and best practices. For me, a comprehensive business assessment looks at five key areas: markets, customers, alliances, competitors, and the company itself. When I do this, I package the information three different ways for different audiences and uses:

• Snapshot. A very short summary, perhaps one page on each key area, for a total of five pages.
• Executive summary. A more detailed look at each of the key areas, totaling no more than 25 pages.
• Full report. A detailed analysis of each key area, typically 100 pages or so.

Senior management doesn’t care for the 100-pager; typically the snapshot enlightens them and convinces them that you’re on the right track. Armed with this knowledge of the business and market, you earn a lot of credibility and position yourself to be viewed as a peer/leader.

There are four key areas of the business analysis that I would like to highlight because they are so important:

• Client issues and opportunities. Marketers should know more than anyone else at the company about their clients. Marketing leaders gain a lot of credibility when they demonstrate that they can bring intelligence from the marketplace to the business—that they know what the clients are thinking, why they hire the firm, and what they expect. But don’t just dwell on the client business issues; also look at the opportunities.
• Client anecdotes. Personally, I will interview 15 or so clients myself so that I have first-hand knowledge of them and their business matters. This also provides the marketing leader with compelling insight and anecdotes, including some things the client service executives might not have known.
• Competitor innovation. Understanding your competitors’ research and development agenda is a window into their investment in innovation and thought leadership development. In the services business, breakthrough thought leadership is the source for differentiation and competitive advantage.
• Your company’s financials. The company’s CFO, CEO, and auditor are going to know more about the company’s financials than anyone else. But the marketing leader must be among the top five people who are knowledgeable about the company’s financials. This knowledge will help set strategic direction, determine investment allocation, and credential the marketing leader during executive sessions.

I find that business unit leaders—rightly or wrongly—typically sit in their own silos and do not have a comprehensive view across the entire company and its markets and clients. So if I show up at meetings armed with the information from the business assessment, I can add real value. Here, as in other situations, information is power.

To read the ITSMA Viewpoint from which this article was excerpted, please visit:

www.itsma.com/research/abstracts/V0035.htm

‘

Comments are closed.

ITSMA specializes in helping companies market and sell services and solutions more effectively. We work with the world's leading technology, communications, and professional services providers to generate increased demand, strengthen customer relationships, and improve brand differentiation. ITSMA annual program clients include business leaders such as AT&T, Cisco, Deloitte, EMC, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Microsoft, SAP, and Tata Consultancy Services, among others. Our comprehensive research, consulting, and training on topics including ITSMA Account-Based Marketing℠, Brand Positioning, and Solutions Development provide the insight and experience companies need to improve business results. ITSMA is based near Boston, and has offices in London and Tokyo. Learn more at www.itsma.com.