From department to DNA: Why marketing must become everyone’s job
Ross Hastings and Kieran Antill from marketing firm Ne-Lo explain how marketing can no longer be confined to a single department. The current system is broken – and the language we use and our shared understanding of the context mean that finding a solution is challenging.
Marketing by any name...
The problem facing marketing
We now have people — by definition, marketers — working in departments who do not identify as ‘marketers’ and do not recognise their role in ‘marketing’, who are developing their own fundamentals. And we have people working in departments called ‘marketing’, yet they do not control or have the experience to manage all aspects of marketing in a modern business. The system is broken – the language we use and our shared understanding of the context mean that finding a solution is challenging.
The evolution of marketing needs
The metamorphosis in marketing’s needs reflects a changing business environment where the 4Ps (product, price, place, promotion) have outgrown their original departmental confines. While anomalies, from P. T. Barnum to Phil Knight, mark the history of marketing, we have never before seen this company‑wide approach at the scale we are seeing now.
In a trend that is most pronounced in the tech industry, ‘product’ has evolved into a distinct department and related practice, underscoring the need for specialised expertise in development and innovation.
Similarly, ‘price’ has, in many cases, transitioned into the realm of financial analysts, a move that underscores the strategic importance of pricing in competitive positioning and profitability.
