How to market 'marketing'.

• Author: Diesel, Paul M.
• Position: Feature - Showing management the importance of marketing

Sometimes senior management doesn't appreciate the importance of marketing. If you experience this problem, you can elevate your status by using your skills as a marketer to reposition both your job and your function as vital components of the hank's core mission.

Too often senior management doesn't understand or appreciate the marketing function--and maybe even your job as a marketer. Wouldn't it be great to change your image from "Christmas party planner and cost center" to "critical contributor to the organization's short- and long-term financial goals?"

You can succeed. All you need to do is to make some important, substantive adjustments to the way you define and position marketing.

Here's the secret: Learn management's priorities, work to attain them and then demonstrate your intent and ability to contribute according to management's terms. Every oral and written communication--reports, comments, plans, conversations, e-mails, presentations and actions--are opportunities to do just that.

The day I got religion

Five years after arriving at FleetBoston (in those days, known as Industrial National Bank), I was promoted to director of marketing. In that capacity, as you can imagine, I had to present annual plans and a proposed budget in the fall for the following year. I was, of course, nervous as I made my first such presentation to the senior management planning committee. Afterwards, I thought it went well.

I walked from the room and down the hall with Terry Murray, who was the head of the bank and the person responsible for transforming the institution into what ultimately became Fleet Financial and FleetBoston. Fishing for a compliment, I commented that I thought the meeting had gone well. His reply was, "I'd rather spend my time discussing ways to make money," implying that we'd just spent three hours discussing ways to spend it. And he was right!

I was crestfallen. I knew Terry hadn't gotten up that morning with any intent to hurt my feelings, He was and is one of the nicest people in banking. The blame belonged squarely on my shoulders. I spoke of spending for this, spending for that, the cost of this campaign, budget increases over the previous year. All I discussed was money flying out the door, never asking myself beforehand what the audience wanted hear about. I walked and talked like an expense duck and was rightly perceived as an expense duck. Yet management clearly wanted revenue and profit ducks.

I took my bruised ego home...