In his role as managing director of energy transition at Forum Energy Technologies, Ivo Bozukov has outlined a development pathway to help customers achieve the greatest possible impact on the environment by embracing equipment and products that help lower their carbon footprint. In addition, Ivaylo Bozoukov also invests in technologies that further the company’s goal of reducing its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, as well as reducing its greenhouse gas emissions impact overall.
This article will look at marketing, exploring how marketing excellence is assessed and valued in the business world today.
Professor Brian D. Smith specialises in supporting strategists in the life science industry. Although there is much hype about marketing excellence, according to Dr Smith only four things really matter, namely:
- Excellence in understanding
- Excellence in strategic choices
- Excellence in delivering value
- Excellence in monitoring value and learning
Marketing is about more than just communicating, incorporating a variety of different elements, including promotion, pricing, channels, products and place. Marketing excellence requires much more than merely building websites and launching online advertising campaigns.
Also known as commercial excellence, marketing excellence is prioritised by first rank companies, as well as those who aspire to join them. Today’s forward-looking companies are increasingly investing in marketing excellence training programmes, arming marketing teams with new tools and skills and effectively turning marketers into market leaders.
For a comprehensive picture of what marketing excellence looks like businesses need to look at their competitors. Of course, every company aspires to outperform its market rivals. However, to achieve this, businesses need to break down this goal into smaller, actionable steps, identifying precisely what they need to do, how and when. Without pertinent answers to these questions, a company’s marketing excellence programme runs the risk of being labelled a ‘WOMBAT’ or ‘waste of money, brains and time’.
Many of today’s savvy organisations recognise marketing excellence when they see it, with their marketing and leadership teams having acquired decades of experience of what works and what fails. Less encouragingly, there remains a staggering number of practice managers and training managers who fail to conduct even the most rudimentary research.
Excellent marketers acquire a wealth of marketing skills, experiences and behaviours over the course of their career. Equally, however, it is important for marketers to guard against knowledge gaps that could arise due to the specialised nature of their roles. In such situations, it is crucial for marketers to identify and tackle aspects where they fall short.
Honesty is integral to marketing excellence, and companies need to adopt an honest and authentic approach. Firms that excel often enlist the services of well-qualified external consultants to help them with this aspect. Self-awareness is the foundation of growth, and it is crucial for individual marketers to accurately assess the effectiveness of their marketing efforts. As many marketers fall into the trap of over-estimating their own abilities, seeking out an objective assessment is an important first step in terms of the marketer improving their capabilities.
Graham Robertson is the founder of Beloved Brands, a leading marketing training provider. He suggests that brand management teams implementing a marketing excellence programme should focus on skills related to strategic thinking, marketing plans, brand position, marketing analytics and marketing execution. Above all else, Graham Robertson suggests that marketing excellence programmes must focus on how to think, define, plan, execute and analyse.
Achieving marketing excellence requires leadership commitment, as it is only possible where businesses set aside the time and resources, investing in the highest standard of training. When business leaders treat marketing as a second priority it can never excel.
Marketing excellence is aided by importing and adapting ideas, not only from competitors but also from outside the industry. It is important for companies to be wary of benchmarking, which is a concept imported from manufacturing that can potentially lead marketing excellence astray when it does not allow for differences in market context and company culture.
A groundbreaking new study conducted by Ebiquity, the Institute for Practitioners and Advertising and the World Federation of Advertisers has uncovered valuable insights into best marketing practices capable of driving positive change. The report suggests that marketing excellence is heavily dependent on sharpening marketing processes; cascading a comprehensive measurement framework; demanding and implementing better tools; creating better insights; and strengthening collaboration. In addition, the study also highlighted the importance of putting in place clearly defined measurement frameworks to address business challenges.
Effective marketing training covers different streams to suit different types of marketers, helping ambitious marketers to gain a solid grasp of the fundamentals of brand plans; strategic thinking; brand positioning; writing creative briefs; marketing execution; marketing analytics; marketing finance; and advertising decision-making. Crucially, effective marketing training programmes help marketing teams to develop the skills they need to succeed, enabling team members to make smarter decisions that culminate in exceptional outcomes and drive business growth.
