It just dawned on me...

Graduation Day

Today I had the great priveledge of giving the CIM's marketing award to the top student at University of Central Lancashire's Business School - Nick Malham.

We hope that gaining such an award helps set students apart, and makes it easier for them when it comes the world of work. For this particular student, Nick, this will be some time away, as he's now taking a year out to go travelling.

This isn't the first time I've met Nick, or given him a prize - he was on the winning team at The Pitch - CIM's student competition which was run in February.

Whenever I meet today's marketing students, I'm always impressed by their confidence and composure. They seem to know what they want to acheive, and more importantly how to take the first steps in getting there.

It may seem odd, but when I first graduated I didn't even know what marketing was - having spent 4 years doing an engineering degree. And I still don't know what I want to do when (if) I grow up.

I'd like to wish all the students who will graduate this year the best of luck. It's a competitive environment for jobs, and a rapidly changing world of work. And my advice?

• keep up to date with learning, in whatever field you find yourself or want to be
• find a job that stimulates you and rewards you - that way it won't feel like work
• don't worry about taking steps to the side instead of steps up - they will all lead to experience and make you a more rounded person

and my motto in life? You only regret the things you didn't do (so say "yes" to any opportunities that come your way)

Good luck!

Blessed are the geeks, for they shall inherit...

I'm often accused of being a geek - getting excited about finding a new function in excel or finding a new way to draw things in visio probably helps - but should "geek" still be seen as a derogatory term?

Could any of us truly function to the best of our ability in today's digital age without at least a basic understanding of the miriad of IT applications we use? And doesn't having mastery of those applications just make life easier, quicker and more rewarding? How often have you not done something because it's too hard or you just don't know how?

But knowing the applications themselves just isn't enough. It's the same as knowing all the marketing principles - it doesn't work or come to life without some insight, imagination and pure creative thinking. It's how you use the tools that counts - and it's often using a tool or technique in a completely new way that will get you results.

So, if you're the kind of person who only has a hammer in your toolbox, then your answer will probably be to hit everything. Add a few more tools and you open up your options. But don't be afraid to try hitting things with a spanner! And if learning new tools brands you as a geek, then take solace in the evolution of the species, and the fact that "blessed are the geeks, for the geeks shall inherit the earth!"

Knowledge is Power

It's been said before, many times, but knowledge IS power. However, the kind of knowledge that gives you stregnth and the kind of power you get is changing rapidly. It's no longer sordid secrets about your peers and superiors that will win you favour, but data on your business that provides the power of insight.

Understanding your business - customers, channels, processes, costings - will give you the power to change them for the better, and to make the right decisions quickly.

I remember the mantra taught to me when doing my MBA - "that's all very well, but what do the numbers say?". Without running the numbers, schemes are just schemes. Without running the numbers, you might be able to forecast a profit, but will you go bust due to cashflow first? You might see a market opportunity, but how do you know that it's worth the investment?

Marketers are often seen as creative types, imaginative, flamboyant extroverts - but it's time for us to prove that we can run the numbers too, we can back up what we say or what we predict with cold, hard facts (not just warm and fuzzy feelings). And if we can't? Then we better stay quite until we can work it out.

Striving for excellence

I recently signed up to become an EFQM Assessor for North of England Excellence. We are using the EFQM framework at work, and I wanted to see how we are faring against other companies, and to see what we can learn from how others implement it.

I won't know all of this until we've completed the training and done a site visit, but I'm already learning lots. Probably the most important thing is that for it to be effective, excellence has to run throughout an organisation - it's no good just doing one bit. The real benefits come from structured, joined up thinking.

For marketers, this is a powerful tool - having the whole organisation aligned behind a common set of objectives can make you pretty hard to beat.

Over the next few weeks, I'm going to find out more about how excellence can benefit marketers, so watch this space!

Top Teams

On Tuesday I attended a presentation by Paul Heathcote (the twice Michelin starred chef) on inspiring and building successful teams. Much of what he talked about was obvious stuff - not rocket science - the difference is that he's actually doing it.

I suspect that for many of us, we know what should be done to improve our teams or business, but being busy doing day to day work just gets in the way and prevents us. We need to be more circumspect and take a step back, and from this viewpoint reprioritise our activities.

When was the last time you sat with your team and went through the missions and goals you are trying to achieve? Or recognised and rewarded their contribution? Certainly for me it's been a while - when we are together the discussions tend to be more tactical and deadline led.

One of the other things Paul does is to have strong and enthusiastic managers in each of his restaurants. He can't be everywhere all the time, so the majority of staff can't "touch" him on a daily basis, but they can touch their own managers, and if those managers are imbued with Paul's passion, dedication vision and values, then this is a suitable substitute. For me, the parallels between this and brand champions used by marketers is obvious - but it hadn't occurred to me until it was pointed out.

So what will I do differently?

Identify some brand champions for the business, and make sure that we discuss bigger picture stuff, not just the urgent things. I'll keep you posted!

What's in a name?

It just dawned on me that first names are like brand names. The very mention of them can stimulate feelings and stir impressions and even prejudices. Some of these will come from experience, and some from preconceptions we pick up from the media and other sources.

Who doesn't associate Heathcliffe with a brooding temperment, or think a Dave is going to be more fun than a David? A Cassandra is likely to be percieved as posher than a Sharon, even though the fact may be entirely different.

But the interesting thing to me is how often these preconceptions prove to be right. Since we are generally named before we have developed much of a personality, does this suggest that our very name changes our being as we grow up? Do we begin to conform to what people expect of us, with every note of surprise or perception of our behaviour contributing to the effect?

And, if we are stuck with a brand we don't like, how can we change it - would one posh Sharon be able to change the preconception of Sharons everywhere? Or do you have to resort to the deed poll office and effect a total rebrand?

Certainly food for thought - what does your name say about you? (Despite what people might think, I'm unlikely to get up early!).

With apologies to all the Sharons, Cassandras, Daves, Davids and Heathcliffes out there.

New Year, New Habits

Well, it hasn't taken me long to not live up to my New Year's resolution - blogging at least once a week! Still, there are some other habits I've managed to maintain.

One of them is keeping up to date with current affairs. It's one of the biggest difficulties marketing students tell me about - they just don't know enough about what's going on. If you're like me, then you will find the 6 o'clock news finished by the time you get home from work, and the 9 or 10 o'clock news too depressing for bedtime. And having spent all day in front of a PC, logging on to a news site to catch up doesn't seem that appealing.

Help is at hand though. I find I can get most of my current affairs info in small, bitesize pieces - and here are some of my favourite ways:

1. Chris Evan's Drive time, radio 2, weekdays 5-7pm - lighthearted and entertaining, but covers business news and current affairs daily with The Fox - and gives some great customer insight for a variety of topics. Any of you in the grocery business would have loved last week's "text me what you have to eat with what" topic. I know I have to have brown sauce on sausage rolls, but didn't know there were people out there who couldn't eat a boiled egg without marmalade!

2. Mock the Week, BBC 2, Thursdays at 10pm - don't take everything as gospel, some of it is obviously made up, but there's enough to give you the gist of the story and spark your interest

3. The News Quiz, Radio 4, Fridays at 6.30 and repeated Sat at 12.30, another one for a light hearted look at the world, but without the pictures.

4. The Late Edition, BBC4, Thursdays at 10.30 (just after Mock the Week) - a more sarcastic and satirical view of the world from Marcus Brigstocke. He's not everyone's cup of tea but if you like him it's a great roundup of news.

So those are my current favourites - and they help me stay (reasonably) up to date without losing my sense of optimism (vital for anyone in marketing!)

enjoy!

Who's the Daddy?

I attended a CIM event this week on the gap between Sales and Marketing, and what we can do, as marketers, to bridge the gap. It was an interesting and well attended event, with 3 main speakers.

One of the positions put forward about the gap (and rivalry) between Sales and Marketing is about "Who's the Daddy?". I think this is the first time I've heard this in these terms, but it really struck a note with me. In many companies, there does seem to be an ego battle going on between the two camps, each vying for supremecy, and to prove that they are the ones who are indispensible (especially if cuts are looming).

In truth though, neither one could survive on it's own. Sales need marketing and marketing need sales. Each have their own strengths, but equally they have their weaknesses. As a team, they are formidible - but too often they are so busy fighting each other (and blaming each other) that teamwork goes out of the window as acrimony sets in. The whole thing can, if not managed by a strong leader, degenerate into a messy divorce, but where neither party can move out of the house.

So what's the answer?

The first part seems to be for everyone involved to start appreciating the strengths of the other party, and turn this appreciation into liking and then harmonious working. But this won't happen unless you have a strong, dedicated leader who shares this view and who makes both sides work together - either by cajoling or by banging proverbial heads together.

The second part is to build on the first, remind everyone about how much better it is now it's all going smoother, and how much better it is now that everyone appreciates everyone else (and everyone's egos are stroked).

It may sound like a dream - for those of you in the midst of the battle, you may not even believe it can happen. But it can, and I've seen it, and it's magical when it starts to change.

Believe it, discuss it, then make it happen for you too.

Acknowlegement and thanks to all the speakers, and especially to the Daddy - Greg Anyon

It just dawned on me...

this is an expression I use a lot. Because I am called Dawn, perhaps it's a subconcious thing. But then it dawned on me that this might be a good title for a blog about marketing. Since much of marketing is about sudden inspiration, and about ideas filtering through your brain to become salient thoughts. Things often "dawn" on people in marketing. I'm hoping to share some of those moments with you through these posts.