KEY THOUGHTS: The CMO Council has published a report based on a survey of marketing executives, and it clearly shows why there is so much bad marketing out there. Instead of getting their names in trade magazines, perhaps they should be fostering a culture of learning and retaining talented people.
SUMMARY: When a company loses a great employee, it causes the other employees to have a reason for pause, thinking, “Why would that person leave the organization, and why would the organization let them get away? To deny a reasonable increase to a top performer in the organization can be a very costly mistake. To try and hire a replacement for a great employee will inevitably cost the organization significantly more money.
IN SUMMARY: The perfect product, perfect packaging and perfect price don’t necessarily lead to success. Successful brands know that to be a great brand they need to focus on their employees and treat them better than customers.
A Washington Post analysis found 45 of the 50 biggest U.S. companies turned a profit since March. The majority of firms cut staff and gave the bulk of profits to shareholders. It seems that profits are more important than employees to most companies.
SUMMARY: The better you treat your employees, the better they treat your customers. If your brand is doing well it’s time to say thank you to your employees in a meaningful way.
QUICK READ: The pandemic crisis created a host of new challenges for brand teams as plans quickly change and evolve. In fact, 56% of a survey respondents indicated that managing shifting priorities or strategies as the top challenge. Consumers are going to change their spending habits, but they’re also going to remember which brand/corporations used their tax dollars to bail them out while they used tax breaks to enrich investors and CEO’s.
SUMMARY: The elimination of the CMO position at dozens of high-profile brands, including Johnson & Johnson, Kellogg’s, Taco Bell, McDonald’s, Netflix, and Walmart is indicative of a problem with marketers. Too many marketers haven’t adopted the mindset change and a realization that the customers are in control — the customer is the marketing department.
