PM FORUM CEE REGIONAL SUMMIT 2004
Integrating marketing & business development
Marketing works best when it is at the center of the firm - truth or provocation?
Since I attended the first PM Forum Regional Summit last year in Prague, and the second Regional Summit this year in Warsaw, it was thought that I was uniquely qualified to report on this year's Summit. So here goes ...
The theme this year's was 'Integrating marketing & business development' which was definitely a thought provoking. Throughout the day the speakers seemed to be saying that this is the ideal way for professional service firms to sell their services. In other words, an integrated approach to 'marketing' is the ideal solution for the firm. Integrating marketing with business development allows for a comprehensive, and yet customised approach, when need be, to what we are selling and what we want our clients to receive.
However, keeping all that in mind, in the after-math of the Summit, one of the major conclusions drawn from the sessions and the exchanges between speakers and summit participants, at least in my mind, was that the center of our attention should be placed on an equally provocative theme. And that theme was the title of the keynote presentation: Marketing works best when it is at the center of the firm.
It is a provocative theme for many partners and for many reasons. This issue is probably the primary question behind whether a firm should integrate marketing and business development or not. Without going into the intricacies, and as most of us marketers know, marketing is often treated as a significant cost center and its benefits tend to be seriously underestimated.
Partners see reasons for marketing being part of the business, but do not give it enough attention. Frequently, they do not see marketing as an activity which: brings direct benefits, develops the client base, enhances the brand, strengthens the position of the firm in the marketplace, motivates the staff, brings in quality people and ultimately, or rather above all, visibly affects the bottom line.
As one of the speakers at the Summit pointed out, if you want to be successful and a leader in your market, marketing has to be an integral part of the strategy from the beginning. This proves true on many occasions. If we want the strategy to be successful, it has to be supported by the management and marketed just as vigourously internally as externally.
Nowadays, it is even harder to be successful: competition is fierce, services offered are very similar and prices are also similar. So to be a leader, a firm needs to very clearly differentiate itself. It needs to find that particular aspect (or aspects) which make the firm distinctly different from the others. That in itself is a difficult task, so to be a leader is even harder. But if that is where you want your firm to be, then marketing needs to be a boardroom topic. And if the marketers have the support and direction of the management, then they have a good chance to succeed, even though the road to getting there will still be long and difficult. But if the firm is happy with the progress then it means that we marketers can also be happy in our roles, and look beyond the daily frustrations that come with the job.
This suggests that when firms place marketing at the center of their firm, the issue of whether marketing and business development should be an integrated function ceases to exist, as it clearly becomes secondary. This may not be a common approach in the professions, but when marketing covers all functions and levels of the firm, addresses internal and external clients, points to the value of the brand and lives by it, then the two areas coincide in so many ways they automatically integrate.
It is no wonder the Summit started off with such a provocative statement; provocative at least for some of us. The program was constructed in such a way, to show that the statement is true and that the main theme of the Summit is also true. For many of us taking part in the event it was hopefully a pretext to continue the discussion later and to take a broader view. We can think about and perhaps utilise the experiences of the other marketers from the region, especially those that will help us win more clients, enhance our brand in local markets, attract the best people and - generally be more successful.
But in my mind, the answer to the question in the title was provocative on purpose, so it could prove it was true during the event to those of us who had doubts.
Ewa Rzeczkowska,
Marketing and Business Development Manager,
Deloitte, Poland
erzeczkowska@deloitteCE.com
What attendees said...
"This
was my first Summit and I have to say that I was so impressed with the
quality of the level of thinking about marketing in Central &
Eastern Europe, the caliber of the delegates that were here, the people
who spoke to us and really were inspiring and passionate about the
opportunities that were available in CEE. And I am very much looking
forward with being involved with the group next year and look forward
to the next Summit."
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Cindy Godwin, Head of business development Europe & Middle East, Norton Rose, London
"This
is the first conference of this kind I have been to and I was very
impressed. The reason that I originally decided to attend was when I
saw the list of speakers. They were really top people, leaders of some
of the top firms in Warsaw and from elsewhere in the region who have
decided to speak here. And that's one of the reasons why I decided to
come. I think it is important for us as professionals to relearn these
marketing skills. I mean, most of what I heard, I was thinking, I know
that. But I need to be reminded of that. Of course most of us as
professionals we spend most of our time trying to meet the current
needs of our clients; trying to put out fires, trying to do what needs
to be done today. And we have to remind ourselves to not just keep an
eye on the ball as far as the day to day things, but to make sure that
the clients are also satisfied and we help develop our skills for
finding new clients. And I also think that the client panel session was
useful because we could hear from their point of view what matters to
them. Altogether I think it was a very helpful day."
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Christopher Smith, Partner, Laszczuk & Partners, Warsaw
"Having
attended the Summit last year in Prague I must say I was very impressed
with the level of the speakers at this second Summit in Warsaw. I just
thought that, starting all the way from the keynote speaker this
morning, the chap from Ernst & Young, all the way down to the
workshops, I just thought that the level was much, much better than
last year, much higher. And also there seemed to be a better range of
attendees, lots of different job titles and levels of people, and
fantastic contacts, some really, really interesting people and I have
enjoyed the whole thing. So I can't wait for next year and am looking
forward to it already, in Budapest of course."
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Nadia Cristina, Managing Editor, pm magazine, PM Forum, London
"The
experience today was very good because we had a good discussion
outlining basically what it is all about to get into interaction with
clients, to understand clients and to sell our services in a way that
is appreciated by our clients. And I think the closing session, the
client panel discussion, was a good mirror for us to reflect upon
ourselves and to understand a bit more self critical what we should do
and how we should go ahead."
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Jörg Menzer, Managing Partner, Nörr Stiefenhofer Lutz, Bucharest
"I
think this year's event was an improvement on last year for various
reasons. I think the seniority of the attendees this year was at a
higher level, probably brought about by the sophistication of the
program. I think also we had managing partners in the closing panel
session at last year's Summit talking about internal issues. But we
actually had the clients in this year to talk about it, so we were
really developing the kind of sell approach rather than the buy-side
approach. I think people have also benefited from being able to really
interact and use the workshop style, although perhaps we could be more
generous with the time dedicated to those workshops. But always a great
forum to network with colleagues and great to see such good
representation from the key entities in this region and we would be
happy to come back again next year."
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Marie Armstrong, European Marketing Manager, Baker & McKenzie, London
"Coming
over for the first time to the Regional Summit of the PM forum in
Central and Eastern Europe, I really have to say that it's absolutely
astonishing what you have accomplished here. It's a fantastic
atmosphere for marketers from all around Europe sharing experience,
sharing expertise, and not only focusing on the CEE market, which is
very much worthwhile coming alone. But sharing European expertise in
the business development and marketing field for professional service
firms."
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Frank Jacob, Business Development & Marketing Manager, Latham & Watkins, Hamburg/Frankfurt