[MarkTaylor68]

One of the major problems with many marketing campaigns is that they are far too narrow in scope. To often, companies get the 'front end' right without having the 'back end' support. The message is good, the media are right, the creatives have done a great job, but the fact is, the rest of the organisation is not geared up for the task; marketing is seen as a department or function, rather than a culture that pervades the company - that the company depends on for its long-term survival.

The original 4 Ps - Place, Price, Product and Promotion have been augmented to include People, Process and Physical environment - in other words, the entire organisation! And that's how it should be. The whole organisation geared up to meet the needs of the customer.

But this isn't always an easy transition to make. The process of social negotiation is critical - ensuring all key players have their say in how the business operates. The process of Making Strategy facilitates this process and leads to the creation of a robust, sustainable business model and this works at every level in the organisation, none more important than marketing.

More information can be found by googling Eriskay Associates.

All enquiries and feedback are welcome.

Best wishes,

Mark.

[Lions Den Computers]

This is interesting for me - Lions Den Computers is a one man band (I occasionally use another sub-contractor) and my better half organises the back end of my business. I like to think that my back office is a smooth operation, my trouble is successful marketing - I end up relying on word-of-mouth which generates great referrals but can take a longish time to do so.

Even so, customers regularly compliment me on how their query was dealt with / the personal touches / the good comms. If in the future I decide to take on staff I'd want to continue business integration as you've described.

Departmentalisation is a problem too many companies face - successful businesses tend to have each employee down to the toilet cleaners at the very least appreciating the role they play in moving the company forward.

Otherwise you end up with a fragmented system and key items like marketing are relagated to an often neglected function.

[MarkTaylor68]

That's a great point - you just can't buy that personal touch. I think it's harder to manage as the business grows because it's all too easy to lose sight of the fundamentals that made the business successful in the first place. And, as you suggest, marketing gets relegated to a half-baked promotional campaign, rather than a front-to-back company philosophy.

[MarkTaylor68]

BTW... Do you have a written / formal marketing plan or is this more of an intuitive and natural thing?? M.