CMOpinion: Everyone is a marketer, aren’t they?
Regardless of where you work or what industry you’re in, marketing is a topic most people are opinionated about. In her regular Mumbrella column, Bill Identity CMO Diana Di Cecco explores why this is so, and how a marketer navigates the expert phenomenon.
Caveat: If you and I have ever worked (or currently work) together, please note, this column is not about you. Save yourself the dread of reading between imaginary lines and piecing together a story about how it relates to “that time when…” It’s not about you per se. It is, however, a culmination of experience in working for a multitude of businesses, in a variety of industries, with a diverse range of people. Departments and scenarios have been changed to protect anonymity. (And to protect me)
In two-decades of marketing, I have never witnessed the operations department provide counsel to legal on how to apply legislation to a case. I have never seen the IT department suggest how human resources should manage succession planning. (I did once meet a programmer with a penchant for horticulture and romantic advice but that is a completely different story). Nor have I seen procurement direct the sales team on how to nurture leads. Why is that? Because people are employed to perform a job – their own job. They generally come with experience in a field, which they may have studied for, and are usually busy performing that job as oppose to providing other people advice on how to do theirs. So why is it, at the very hint of marketing activity, someone (or everyone) feels compelled to provide expert feedback?
Firstly, let’s explore scenarios from common expert types. You will relate to at least one.
