Refocusing On Marketing & Leadership Principles

Marketing and Leadership are topics that I have tremendous passion for.  I have been extremely fortunate in my career to work for some fabulous leaders and teachers, for some great companies, and on some iconic brands. Here are a few examples of businesses I’ve had the good fortune to help shape:

The inspiration behind this blog is to give back—to share what I have learned over the years, to throw out observations and ideas, and to challenge convention. It is my hope that this will lead to debate, and to growth. Philosophically, I believe each day we are either getting better—growing and learning—or we are getting worse, falling behind—its simply not possible to stay the same.

The business world is at an incredibly interesting time. First the economic reality we have all had to face:

• Entire industries like banking and auto manufacturing have been turned upside down
• Unemployment is at a peak
• The stock market has become extremely volatile with several hundred point swings becoming commonplace and retirement nest eggs have been diminished
• Discretionary income has declined as taxes and health care costs continue to rise and wage freezes/pay cuts become common- meaning consumers have less dollars to spend at retail

In addition, the consumers who drive companies’ economic engines have also evolved:

• Consumer segments are becoming much more diverse in terms of ethnicity, age, interests, attitudes, and behavior.
• How we interact has changed dramatically—social media and texting have replaced many face to face conversations
• Technology has enabled extraordinary availability of information (both accurate and not so accurate), which has changed the way consumers make decisions.

While these unprecedented times call for some changes in how companies behave, the core leadership and marketing principles of successful companies should not change. Here are some of the most important marketing principles (we’ll save leadership principles for a later post):

• Understanding your consumer and what motivates them
• Building brand equity by creating an authentic relationship with your consumers
• Always act ethically, and transparently with your consumers (and all your stakeholders)
• Providing true value
• Continue to innovate to meet consumers wants and needs
• Resist the urge to cut marketing spending dramatically; instead focus on maximizing return on your marketing investment

In the coming weeks, I’ll delve deeper into these principles, as well as sharing thoughts on effective leadership. Thanks very much for stopping by, and please let me know what you think.