Care & Feeding of a Marketing Team

(Okay, so I said a really long time ago that I would write the companion post to my "Care & Feeding of a Creative Team". What can I say--it was the holidays and long sessions on the Wii with my family somehow took precedence.)

This post is for all Creative professionals (including executives).

In our quest to be hyper-creative, we often forget the symbiotic relationship we have with our Marketing brethren and sistern. We need them to make the requests and secure the budgets that, in turn, give us something to turn into "great creative". Or to put it more metaphorically, without them, we are the trees falling in the forest and no one is listening.

Way too many times, I've seen an adversarial relationship grow between the marketing and creative teams. I've spoken on how the Creative teams perceive this in the other post, here I want to concentrate on the Marketing side of things.

In my experience, Marketers are highly overworked and usually underpaid. (Sound familiar?) In the Technology sector (with a few notable exceptions), they are the ugly stepchildren to the prodigal Engineering and/or Product Development teams. In fact, one company was not a Technology company with no Marketing department but, rather, a Technology company that was anti-Marketing. You literally were discounted if part of the Marketing organization. That's tough!

Now here's my take on it (and it will probably be controversial since I do love technology). In a world of commodities, the great differentiator is Marketing and Branding. It's not going to be a better technology because that can always be bested in the purest, most fundamental sense. Someone will always be faster, cheaper, quicker and a little more clever with the feature set. We have multiple examples of lesser technologies that succeeded in the market despite their drawbacks due to better marketing combined with first-mover advantage. (And I have first-hand experience in this as a die-hard Betamax owner.)

Great marketing is what is going to set certain companies and products apart, all things being equal. Technologies can and will be replaced-- things get bigger or smaller-- things run faster or more efficiently-- today's Ajax is tomorrow's frames. Technology will continue to make our lives better and marketing will make us understand why (and more importantly, why we should care).

To get back to the primary purpose of this article, there is a great way to treat your Marketing team. It's the same way you want to be treated. They also want to feel valued and an integral part of the creative development process. Invite them in to brainstorm, pick their brains for all of the data and insights they possess, ask (and listen to) their opinions. If you disagree, tell them why and have a rational explanation. No one wants to be contradicted by the expert solely on the principle that they are the expert.

So what do you need to do? Take these simple steps to cement a phenomenal relationship with the Marketing team.

1. Align Your Goals:
Every organization goes through a goal setting period. At the very least it's annual--more often quarterly. Take the initiative to find out the goals your Marketing team is signing up for and share them. Essentially, you're telling the Marketing team that you're signing up for the same success or failure they are. Nothing brings people closer together than shared goals.

2. Listen Before You Speak
Hear what they have to say before you start trying to creatively solve their problems. You will get the chance to solve their problems later using your unique blend of creativity, chutzpah and common sense, but for now listen to them. You may just hear that one piece of seminal information that drives a far superior creative execution.

3. Help Them Help You
You know what you need to deliver outstanding creative (and if you don't, that's a whole other post). Let them know what you need. And not in that "You have no idea how to write a great creative brief, do you" way. It's not that they want to hold information back from you, they genuinely may not know what you need. Don't be afraid to ask in a mutually respectful manner. Remember that following #1 means you're on the same team.

4. Break Bread With Them
In my experience, marketers always know the best places to eat, the best wines to drink, and usually throw the best office parties. You may say it's a cliché but I've found it to be a profound truth. Besides, it's much harder to rip apart a creative solution from someone who has eagerly agred to be a part of the team's success and is your friend as well. That doesn't mean they will not tell you when your work is subpar, they will just be much more helpful about it.

Back to Walter Consultants.

Subscribe to this blog in a reader