When I went for my MBA, I picked the school by the amount of finance classes that were required…GVSU won with just two needed. I was able to concentrate on the marketing and business classes I wanted. And I felt vindicated when the accounting professor said that marketing ‘is where its at’.
But maybe I shouldn’t be so fast to dismiss finance in marketing, especially when the Marketing Headhunter says so in his post: Why Financial Literacy?
“Increasingly, great marketers are excellent intra-preneurs who can marshal internal and external resources to get the funding they need for their expeditionary marketing projects. That means being savvy enough to speak the language of the risk-averse finance guys in your company. Naturally, the better you can communicate with your internal stakeholders, the higher the likelihood your project has of getting a green light.”
Harry Joiner links to a great finance site with spreadsheets and short articles on different finance terms and methodologies. Its like finding my Finance 524 crib-notes.
That said, there should have also been a MBA class in politics and motivation. (I’m getting my online training on politics at Big Picture Small Office, and motivation at Motivation on the Run.
Let’s not forget that the CFO should be required to take marketing classes too.
Let’s not forget that the CFO should be required to take marketing classes too.
LOL
LOL
Here in the UK it is certainly true that the Marketing positions in top flight companies are going to people with a strong financial background. As for me I’m only studying Marketing, so I’ve had it.
Here in the UK it is certainly true that the Marketing positions in top flight companies are going to people with a strong financial background. As for me I’m only studying Marketing, so I’ve had it.
On politics:The best way to describe the politics of The Small Office is to quote the late Canadian Prime Minister, Pierre Elliott Trudeau. Politics, he said, seeks to fit the truth to the facts. Which facts we select and how we interpret them, of course, enables us accommodate all manner of truths, which in The Small Office becomes to each his own. On Finance and Marketing:I believe in separation of church and state; keep the accountants at bay. That said – and I have stated this numerous times in other places and in so many words – marketing managers must become business managers. They have to understand the numbers. They have to be able to link marketing initiatives to financial objectives and to assess the impact these initiatives on the bottom line. They need to be able to measure ROI and to relate marketing metrics like brand equity and the lifetime value of customers to business results. Most important, they need to be able to understand business drivers and how to use them as a basis for decision-making.
On politics:The best way to describe the politics of The Small Office is to quote the late Canadian Prime Minister, Pierre Elliott Trudeau. Politics, he said, seeks to fit the truth to the facts. Which facts we select and how we interpret them, of course, enables us accommodate all manner of truths, which in The Small Office becomes to each his own. On Finance and Marketing:I believe in separation of church and state; keep the accountants at bay. That said – and I have stated this numerous times in other places and in so many words – marketing managers must become business managers. They have to understand the numbers. They have to be able to link marketing initiatives to financial objectives and to assess the impact these initiatives on the bottom line. They need to be able to measure ROI and to relate marketing metrics like brand equity and the lifetime value of customers to business results. Most important, they need to be able to understand business drivers and how to use them as a basis for decision-making.
I’ve been working in Marketing & Finance for several years. I have my own firm specialising in this area. I have to say that the amount of marketers which rely on creativity over simple reach, conversion, ROI analytics is disappointing. You have to look at the numbers. Some internet based strategies have considerably low ROI and limited reach & conversion ratios and really should be side lined. Those consultants pushing online strategies – if not part of a well thought out guerrilla niche campaign – need to take more of an integrated approach. Sometimes there are better media. I have also seen the same to be true in many telemarketing – lead generation campaigns where the conversions don’t justify the marketing expense. I wouldn’t hire a marketer to work for me now unless they could design a marketing model and navigate proper forecasting analytics. It’s not worth the bulls#$%t trying to explain to the client down the track we need more money because the campaign had poor ROI. Marketing is part creativity but mostly math. My clients come to me because unlike the stock market I give them better than 12% gains on their money. Cheers
I’ve been working in Marketing & Finance for several years. I have my own firm specialising in this area. I have to say that the amount of marketers which rely on creativity over simple reach, conversion, ROI analytics is disappointing. You have to look at the numbers. Some internet based strategies have considerably low ROI and limited reach & conversion ratios and really should be side lined. Those consultants pushing online strategies – if not part of a well thought out guerrilla niche campaign – need to take more of an integrated approach. Sometimes there are better media. I have also seen the same to be true in many telemarketing – lead generation campaigns where the conversions don’t justify the marketing expense. I wouldn’t hire a marketer to work for me now unless they could design a marketing model and navigate proper forecasting analytics. It’s not worth the bulls#$%t trying to explain to the client down the track we need more money because the campaign had poor ROI. Marketing is part creativity but mostly math. My clients come to me because unlike the stock market I give them better than 12% gains on their money. Cheers