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An article this week in the McKinsey Quarterly proclaims that as today’s marketing is all about customer engagement, it is simply too big a responsibility to be placed on the shoulders of the marketing department. At least, in its current organizational state.
Instead, argue the article’s authors, every person in the company should be responsible (and even accountable) for the company’s marketing efforts: “In essence, companies need to become marketing vehicles, and the marketing organization itself needs to become the customer-engagement engine, responsible for establishing priorities and stimulating dialogue throughout the enterprise as it seeks to design, build, operate, and renew cutting-edge customer-engagement approaches … in an era of engagement, marketing IS the company.”
The article explains how companies can take action to not only create world-class engagement opportunities, but to change the current mind-set about what marketing is and what marketing does.
We think it’s essential to take that thinking even further. If you embrace the idea that engagement is pervasive – then the importance of developing and deploying a clear, consistent message platform becomes paramount. That’s where we feel this article missed the mark. You can’t begin to “manage” engagement until you educate and train everyone in your organization on your message.
While redefining the traditional marketing organization should be considered – the importance of infusing your messaging into your company, culture and customers is absolutely imperative. After all, that’s where integrated engagement truly starts. So make sure you have a comprehensive messaging platform in place as well as the training and education programs required to bring it to life throughout your organization.
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