Quite the title… being labelled “VP of Marketing”. Taken by many, understood by few.
The role of a head of marketing in a public company is far different than in a private one. The interplay with the investor relations side, no longer left to CFOs dutiful reporting of quarterly or annual results, has changed so much in these past few years, thereby also increasing the scope of work of people in such positions.
An adept and capable head of marketing must be able to deal with many new media, including social networks, in a manner which will elevate the brand of the entreprise (or division) and create the kind of engagement, where control is no longer the goal, replaced rather by “guidance” and acceptance that the public will have more impact today on your brand than ever before.
Some heads of marketing are so stuck in the past, that they treat social media as an afterthought. A good awakening is coming their way. Consider news today of a new investor relations service on Twitter called “Stocktwits”. Its like your very own investor board, replacing some companies attempts to engage discussion through investor boards put up by others.
So not only does a chief of marketing need to understand the interplay between their brand, stock value and the new media, they need to create plans to take advantage of them in favour of their overall corporate investor relations goals.
At the end of the day, companies seen as rude or arrogant, will pay the price of a diminished value in the eyes of investors, no matter how great the news they come out with will be. If you treat investors with disdain, you will be rewarded with same. If you treat them with respect, you will see multiples on your earnings increase. It does not mean that you pander to each and every word written on a social network or investor board, it means you respect it as part of the creation of your brand and treat it accordingly. And while words may be seen by some as being the currency of the day, its the actions behind those words that will be the ultimate bar measured.
The role of marketing in a public company is no longer relegated to buying advertising, creating logos, marketing plans and sales pamphlets, or investor press releases. That view of marketing was left behind in dinosaur days. It is today a role which must understand every nook and cranny of the interplay between the different areas of a company and how, as a service, it can help generate more business or facilitate processes, within the context of a public arena that is far less forgiving than many may wish for it to be.
Sass
PS. As sure as the sun came up this morning this post will form part of someone’s challenge to how IR is being handled at Salamon Group. What I ask of you is a bit of patience as things move forward and some of these concepts are re-integrated into the marketing plans.