Let's meet at 10: is it a good idea to set up regular, formal meetings with employees from other departments in order to get feedback on your marketing plans or operations? The pros and cons of using so-called 'marketing committees.'.

• Author: Marlin, Brenda
• Position: Strategies - Cover story

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Imagine that your CEO assigns you the task of organizing a marketing committee to meet monthly. The committee will provide guidance and suggestions concerning ongoing marketing plans and campaigns. He explains further that he wants the committee made up of employees from various departments, the majority of them to be operational types.

You might say to yourself: "Oh great, what could possibly be beneficial about such meetings? These types of get-togethers probably never accomplish anything; after all, what do operations people know about marketing?"

Don't be quick to write off marketing committees. If organized and operated correctly, they can help you do a better job.

Marketing committees are usually designed to heighten awareness of marketing throughout the bank by involving employees from various departments in marketing issues. Although these committees are usually composed of employees, they sometimes include members of the bank's board of directors. The most common reason for forming marketing committees is to assist in the development of new products.

When asked if a marketing department can benefit from having a marketing committee, Jeff Stephens, president and brand director for Creative Brand Communications in Portland, Ore., says, "I think that it can be a great tool, but it needs to be kept in perspective. There is a danger in deferring responsibility. You need to make sure that the committee serves a specific purpose, and then you need to make sure that it maintains that." He adds, "For example, the committee might take feedback and kill an idea. Sometimes a committee can take a suggestion too far. In my opinion, the committee can serve as a good sounding board but not as the final decision maker."

There is a benefit to having representatives from other departments sitting on a marketing committee. For one thing, people from outside marketing can be helpful in thinking through the operational side of product development. Even though these meetings might seem time consuming on the front end, they can save valuable time on the back end, helping to avoid costly mistakes. Stephens adds, "If the brand strategy of your bank is to become ultra, ultra simple-to-do-business-with, one of your tactics may be to revise your statements to make them easy to use. Marketing will need to have someone from the operational side of the bank involved; it makes it more doable to execute."

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Be willing to adjust

When developing a marketing committee, the management culture of a bank needs to be considered. For example, a bottom-up or a...