Marketing in Boardrooms recipe for disaster

Prasanna PERERA, Marketing & Management Consultant, Chartered Marketeer, CIM U.K.

Much is talked about getting Marketing representation in the boardroom. This is very important but marketing is not something that is confined to boardrooms but across every sphere of an organization. If a marketing ethos prevails in an organization, boardroom representation is a foregone conclusion.

Shareholder Value Analysis (SVA)

It was the late Prof. Peter Doyle that highlighted the concept of SVA as a means of reconciling the conflict between finance and marketing professionals. If a SVA focus is maintained in a business, marketers will get many positions in boardrooms. No doubt about that.

Marketers in Boardrooms must Perform

It is good to observe that more marketers are entering boardrooms. But the moment of truth is "performance," not merely bottom line but the Triple Bottom Line (TBL). To perform at board level, multi disciplinary skills are required.

Some are of the opinion that finance is key, which is not untrue but human resources, corporate governance, taxation, are equally important.

When they enter the boardroom, some marketers forget about the "market."

This is a recipe for disaster. Whether you are in the boardroom or not, you must have a firsthand feel of what is happening in the market. How many marketers at board levels make field visits on a regular basis?

Respect for other Professionals

Whilst marketing is the driving force of a business, it cannot operate without the support of other professions. At board levels, marketers must respect other professionals and work together with them. My advice to top marketing pro's is to be humble, keep your feet firmly on the ground, demonstrate teamwork and commit yourself to internal and external customers.

Corporate Governance

In marketing, organizations deal with many external entities from customers to service providers. Marketers at boardrooms must ensure that corporate governance principles are adhered to at all times.

Transparency, elimination of conflicts of interest and ethical principles should be practiced at all times. Marketers at boardrooms can set an example to others in terms of corporate governance.

Risk identification and mitigation, ethical issues and managing crisis situations are boardroom responsibilities, which marketers must get actively involved!

Be Accountable at all Times

A weakness in marketers is a lack of accountability, for expenditure. Increasingly shareholders are demanding higher returns on their investments.

Marketers at boardrooms must create a marketing accountability culture across their organizations and drive this aspect personally. "Marketing Due Diligence" is a concept that must be taken on board, specially in the context of enterprise and market risks. Marketers in Boardrooms must act as "Brand Champions"

Whilst all Directors are responsible for the corporate brand, it is Directors from Marketing that have a greater responsibility.

Marketers at board levels must take on the mantle of Corporate Brand Ambassadors and enhance the equity of brands. Take the example of Muhtar Kent of Coca Cola, who championed the Coca Cola brand through turbulent times.