Rick … thanks for the link love.

Now, I agree wholeheartedly when Ries bemoans the top-down autocratic CEO bellowing out marketing marching orders from the corner moat … err, office. And that is what Ries means when he writes, “How do marketing people deal with CEOs who have the power to make strategic marketing decisions without the marketing experience only a lifetime of marketing work can accumulate? I wish I knew.”

However, that thinking gets lost when Ries bellows the marketing strategy proclamation from the corner moat that marketing is 90% strategy and 10% execution.

Is it more like 35/65 as I offered up? I dunno. What I do know is that to make meaningful marketing happen, it takes more than 10% execution.
johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)
URL | 03.09.05 - 5:17 am | Comment link

John,

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment. And thanks for getting me thinking. It's greatly appreciated, on all counts.

I still don't know what the appropriate mix is. I've been trying to factor in Pi, and that's not even helping. But I agree that 10% seems a tad slim.

And for those of you who haven't been to Brand Autopsy. Go. Go now.
Rick Turoczy
URL | 03.09.05 - 7:54 am | Comment link

Thanks for linking out to my post. I agree with you -- stategy is more important (maybe not 90%) but it is the key. If the strategy is sound but the execution of a tactic is flawed, I still think a good result is possible. Results certainly would be better had execution been better, or the creative more creative or whatever. But,if the strategy is flawed, it just won't happen for the product,no matter how clever an ad or a campaign. This is where my pet peeve comes in: Marketing *and* Marketing Communications are both important parts of the whole endeavor, they just aren't synonyms. When people talk about marketing strategy, they tend to be talking about marcomm, which leaves a whole lot of marketing on the table.
Susan Getgood
URL | 03.17.05 - 10:29 am | Comment link

Susan,

Thanks for visiting and taking the time to comment. It's always greatly appreciated. And I always like people saying that they agree with me.

I am adamant that your point of clarification -- separating marketing and the communications spawned by marketing -- is one that needs to be repeated, over and over and over again. So many folks get wrapped up in the "what they see" as "marketing" when it is truly only the tip of the marketing iceberg.

I'm glad that you're helping people see the difference, and I encourage you to keep up the good work. We're reading.

Thanks, again,
Rick
Rick Turoczy
URL | 03.17.05 - 11:13 am | Comment link