I think a lot of CEOs mistake the execution of a marketing strategy for the actual marketing strategy. You can outsource execution—in fact, that’s often encouraged—but an outsider can rarely know your company well enough to provide the right strategy.
Marketing is not a bolt-on component of your company that you can outsource to another person. Marketing is an integral part of every decision the company makes…. A good marketing person can only help execute a plan that is based upon a strong vision that is set by the CEO. Hiring a marketing person before you know your marketing strategy is like hiring a developer before you know what platform/technology you are using to build your product.
Chris Moody, News To Startup CEOs: You Can’t Outsource Marketing
08/24/09
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Sean Berger
“….an outsider can rarely know your company well enough to provide the right strategy….”
I’m not sure if this comment comes from Chris or from you, Grant, but I respect it. It carries truth.
However, does strategy come from knowing your company well or knowing the audience and industry well? An agency or outside partner can provide research and well-tuned insights specific to the marketplace, an industry and a consumer audience, whereas folks tied up in a busy office at corporate HQ may only see what’s in front of them: their corporation’s internal needs and goals.
gb
@Sean – good questions. I think that quote comes from me. And given some time/space, I’m not sure if Strategy is actually the right word – it’s too narrow.
The context of his original quote is with regard to startups – companies so young that they barely know themselves. In this case, I’d argue that the leader of the company needs to be strategically involved in shaping the marketing (and culture, and everything else about the company).
To give my idea a little more context: I’m thinking that an outside firm can’t make your company into something it’s not. But the problem is that it’s often easy/tempting for an outside firm to attempt this very feat. A good outside firm will help you shape your marketing, and hopefully push you to where you needed to be all along, but it’s up to you, as a CEO, to help recognize when someone from the outside is not understanding something, or simply missing the point.
Like I said, ultimately, strategy might not be the right word. I’m talking about a wider issue that I see happen time and again where an outside agency tries to mold a company into something it’s not, or take it in a direction it shouldn’t be going, and nobody at the helm of the company even takes notice because to them, marketing is this ancillary budget-item.
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