Before I get an inbox full of angry emails from everyone who doesn’t work in the marketing department, let me disclaim that the above diagram was intended somewhat humorously. Hey, it’s Friday — lighten up!
But the funny thing about humor is that it often contains a nugget of truth.
Decades ago, David Packard — of Hewlett-Packard (HP) fame — declared, “Marketing is too important to be left to the marketing department.” And although marketing as a function is clearly ascendent, the scope of the marketing mission is also broader than ever too.
In an age where every touchpoint a prospect or customer has with us directly affects their perception of our brand — and can be perpetually documented and amplified in search and social media — it’s true that everything is marketing.
And it’s beyond the walls of the marketing department.
These other functions of the organization need to incorporate marketing more deeply into their worldview. And marketing needs to proactively reach across the silos and connect with them. Some of the most interesting discussions in marketing today are around better collaboration between marketing and IT, between marketing and sales, between marketing and finance, and so on.
“Which department of marketing do you work in?”
