Blog

May 31, 2014

Marketing Tradeoffs vs. The Cost of “More, More, More”

As a Chief Marketing Officer for hire, I hear a single four-lettered word echoed repeatedly by clients. It is the universal plea for “more”. To the uninitiated, when a company requests more and more from marketing, it might seem like a good thing. After all, a demand for more means marketing has value. The problems arise when the mandate is not reconciled with the trade-offs needed to reconcile the people, time and budget resources required to deliver “more”.

Here is a common scenario. An event transpires. Perhaps the company is being out-flanked by the competition. Urgent discussion ensues around the need for more marketing. Lickety-split, a burst of marketing activity is unleashed. The marketing team scrambles to launch new programs. With any luck, short-term success follows.

Unfortunately, the key question almost everyone forgets to ask is this: At the cost of what? Marketing has a cost beyond simple expense. Read more, to discover what to watch for.

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