MARKETING
Elephant In The Room
By Geoffrey Sirumba
I have practiced in all spheres of marketing since I joined the profession 12 years ago . From working for big corporates as a resident consultant to a marketing agency as a creative lead to establishing my own agency outfit , I have seen it all . On this column , I want to open a can of worms based on personal experiences , which I know most marketers here can easily relate to .
Having been in the field for over a decade , I have noticed several unethical practices with great concern . I will try to point out a few without putting references to anyone or any firm . But if the shoe fits , please wear it ( ha-ha ). I will focus on the different players on the internal and external side .
In-house Team
First on my hit list is the internal marketing team . The composition usually depends on the size of the organization . But in a typical scenario , it will comprise a marketing director , marketing manager , and marketing assistants . Two issues stand out among this cohort . One is internal friction that is usually caused by the mismatch of roles , unhealthy rivalry within the different cadres and the good old organization politics . You will find the finance team acting as gatekeepers which is within their purview but always blocking initiatives from the marketing team by asking for an unrealistic return on investments , for example .
The marketing team can also work in silos and fail to inform the other parts of the organization about their plans . Often , you will find that the head of sales and the head of marketing in most organizations have a problematic relationship due to the misalignment of goals . The Head of sales is mostly interested in numbers and impact on the bottom line , while marketers might be interested in awareness compared to conversions . If these two groups do not have a clear set-out objective , the campaign will fail and the blame game will be the order of the day .
The other culprit is the duplication of roles
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Some organizations have gone a step further to have anti-bribery clauses within their contracts , which is only a formality . If all the employees pull in the same direction and have their company ’ s interest at heart , productivity will increase substantially . And by having competitive recruitment of agencies , organizations will get value for money . within the marketing functions . You might find within the same organization there are marketing managers , brand managers , and trade marketing managers with each trying to outshine the other mostly resulting in sabotage .
There is also the conflict-of-interest factor . This usually occurs when employees are involved in the same business as their employers , deal in sales of their employers ’ products , or have an interest in marketing suppliers ’ onboarding . While working with one organization , I discovered that all regional managers were also dealing with the same products as recognized distributors via proxy . It was difficult for newbies in the workplace to thrive since they could not develop new markets which were already captured by their bosses .
Lastly , we have theft of concepts . Have you ever done a presentation to a potential client where you went over and beyond to do a killer presentation , and then they end up executing your concept without hiring you ? It is gut-wrenching considering that pitching is done with utmost good faith and not covered by Non-Disclosure Agreement .
Marketing Agencies
The onboarding of marketing agencies most of the time is crowded with a lot of mystery . Have you ever wondered why it ’ s only the same agencies that get all jobs with all the blue-chip corporates ? I believe marketing is dynamic and , just like music , you cannot produce hits year in and year out . What is their secret ? How do they do it ? Without discrediting all of them wholesale , we know some have the best talents within their ranks and understand their clients better , thus the long-term relationship .
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