We Need to Market… Oh, Do We?

My first marketing job was with a healthcare system.  Shortly before the holiday season, I was called inside the Chief Medical Officer’s (CMO) office and was told we would be bringing on a new Pediatrician after the holidays and needed to develop a plan so we could “market the hell out of her.” 

The situation outlined above happens all the time across various industries.  Before diving further into what underlies situations like these, let’s reflect on how the conversation proceeded, as this outlines some of the fundamental issues.

The first question posed to the CMO was designed to frame the rest of the conversation: “when did we decide to hire her?”  We decided to hire her in June.  This conversation was now taking place in December.  Next question.  “What did you have in mind when you say ‘market the hell out of her?’” “Oh, I don’t know.  Get her on the radio, run some newspaper ads, hang up some flyers.  We just need to get her busy – she isn’t coming cheap.”

What I had suspected, and what has been confirmed through dozens of similar situations in different companies and roles, is marketing is often equated or used synonymously with advertising or promotions.  I can think of countless examples when someone from some department has stopped by my desk and said, “we need to market _____.”  What they are really saying is, “I would like to advertise…” whatever ____ was.  This is problematic in that the proper time and resources are not devoted to truly understanding what the objective and corresponding strategy should be in accomplishing business objectives.  Instead, it’s content sporadically thrown together.   

True, advertising and marketing are related, but advertising is but one component of marketing.  Brenner (2019) notes that on “a fundamental level, marketing is the process of understanding your customers, and building and maintaining relationships with them” (p. 1).  Most marketing departments are broken, because they are insulated from other departments within an organization (Brenner, 2019).  There is often little time or resources devoted towards developing the content or message in a way that has been researched and is going to demonstrate an understanding of the client’s needs. 

At the core, “great marketers are passionate teachers” (Brenner, 2019 p. 1).  The lessons in marketing need to be taught across the structures and designs of organizational systems.  Understanding the needs of clients and customers on a deeper level provides an opportunity for marketers to demonstrate the incredible impact they can have, in a way that brings marketing to the forefront as an invaluable service.

Reference

Brenner, M. (2019). What is marketing? Marketing Insider Group. Retrieved from
https://marketinginsidergroup.com/strategy/what-is-marketing/