Patrick Barwise and Thomas Barta’s study of marketers shows us all how we can help change perceptions and increase our business impact.

Marketing’s important. But marketers often aren’t.

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Marketing’s important. But marketers often aren’t.

Ask anyone, “Who’s important in your company?” Marketing rarely tops the list. Yet every firm wants to be more customer-focused – and the evidence is that having an influential marketing team does boost business performance.

The paradox

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Marketing’s important. But marketers often aren’t.

Marketing is your company’s linchpin for customer focus. But only 44% of the senior marketers we interviewed said they had successful careers.

We can change this – leading to more effective and successful marketers and improved business performance.

Marketing leaders often struggle

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Marketing’s important. But marketers often aren’t.

As part of a five-year study, 8,600 marketing and non-marketing leaders were surveyed – and more than 68,000 individual assessments by these leaders, their bosses, peers and teams were analysed.

We put the organisational challenge facing marketers down to three fundamental gaps.

Largest-ever marketing study reveals big gap…

71%44%

of senior marketers reported high business impact

of senior marketers reported successful careers

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Marketing’s important. But marketers often aren’t.

It is a marketer’s job to live in the future – future products, future markets, future campaigns, prices and sales. When they present, there will always be a trust gap compared with, say, finance and operations, which are mostly about the present and the past.

1A trust gap

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Marketing’s important. But marketers often aren’t.

Imagine your company has the best customer experience in your market. How many people would need to make this happen? Many. And how many of them would report to marketing? Few.

Marketers are often ignored because of this reporting gap.

2A reporting gap

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Marketing’s important. But marketers often aren’t.

Marketing is getting ever more complicated and the pace of change is speeding up. The reality is that marketing leaders can no longer be experts at everything. They can’t know it all.

Inevitably, there’s a continuing skills gap.

3A skills gap

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Marketing’s important. But marketers often aren’t.

What can we learn from the 44% of successful senior marketers? They weren’t just good at doing marketing, they also excelled at leading marketing. They found ways to close the three gaps.

The powers of a marketing leader

Mobilise your bossMobilise your colleagues

Mobilise your teamMobilise yourself

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Marketing’s important. But marketers often aren’t.

To close the trust gap marketing must be important to the CEO.

The issues you work on must be big. They must meet both customer and company needs, increasing the Value Creation Zone (V-Zone).

Mobilise your boss Tip #1: Tackle the big issues

ValueCreation

Zone(V-Zone)Customer

NeedsCompany

Needs

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Marketing’s important. But marketers often aren’t.

To close the reporting gap, marketing must be important to everyone.

Marketers: get out from behind your desks: tell your non-marketing colleagues stories that will get under their skin; that will capture their minds and hearts.

Mobilise your colleagues Tip #2: Walk the halls

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Marketing’s important. But marketers often aren’t.

To close the skills gap, marketing leaders must build a team with the best mix of creative, analytical and leadership skills – and then help them to become brilliant by covering them in trust and letting the outcomes speak for themselves.

Mobilise your team Tip #3: Become a leader of leaders

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Marketing’s important. But marketers often aren’t.

Marketers have a big weapon: inspiration. They can’t tell their CEO, colleagues or – these days – even their team what to do. But they can inspire people to follow them.

Do you know how you inspire? First, go out and find your own inspiration. If you’re inspired, you’ll be able to inspire others.

Mobilise yourself Tip #4: Know how you inspire

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Marketing’s important. But marketers often aren’t.

Marketing leaders have the power to increase their influence and have more fulfilling, successful careers – for the benefit of their customers and companies as well as themselves.

Now you know how to unleash it.

Increase the power of marketing leaders

Patrick Barwise is Emeritus Professor of Management and Marketing at London Business School.

Thomas Barta is a marketing leadership expert, former McKinsey partner and alumnus of London Business School.

The 12 Powers of a Marketing Leader: How to Succeed by Building Customer and Company Value McGraw-Hill (October 2016)www.marketingleader.org

Discover all 12 powers of a marketing leader on London Business School Review