Trust me when I say there is nothing fluffy, cute or pretty about marketing.  All these things are intangible.  Marketing is tangible.  It’s about facts, figures and evidence.  It’s about the truth.

Marketing is as important as every other business discipline.  From research to production, from quality to finance.  To sales.  Not only is marketing as important, marketing also touches all these disciplines.

Marketing looks to find the right product for the right customer.  Product and service research needs to be market lead.  What does the market need? How will the next generation of products or services meet that need?

Marketing looks to satisfy the demand for a need, too.  Guiding the production plant is a key element of marketing.  On top of that, the product is surrounded by many other “augmentations”, including delivery. So, guiding the when is important too.

Fit for purpose and quality will have a direct influence on the level of customer satisfaction.  The greater the satisfaction, the stronger the customer relationship and the stronger the business.

Marketing is driven by profitability.  Profitable customer satisfaction.  Finance will inform marketing on how well the business is doing and why.  Finance should look to marketing to deliver a healthy balance sheet.

And so, to sales.  Marketing is looking for the customer to buy what they need.  Theoretically, “if you build it he will come”.  But theory is just theory.  And life isn’t perfect.  Although the digital age has taken marketing much closer to the final sale, sales still go on the road, negotiates contracts and brings home the orders.  Using carefully thought through marketing messages and value propositions.  Targeting that well researched market niche.

There is nothing fluffy about marketing.  It isn’t frivolous, silly or arty.  It is serious, analytical, thoughtful, and incredibly difficult to do well.