It’s the economy…

Finding the right answers will have a critical impact on how well their businesses perform, not just in the short term but also long after any recession has ended. To help CMOs around the world focus their thinking on what will make the biggest difference for them, we asked the members of the WFA Global Marketer of the Year jury for their advice on what the most important steps to take are right now.

Starting from top left, clockwise, the jury members: Alyssa Fenoglio, Mikimasa Hamamatsu, Riikka-Maria Lemminki, Ron Lund, Ian Malcolm, Eloísa Moscardó, Lucinda Peniston-Baines, Gillian Rusike, Matt Scheckner and Bobby Simborio

Don’t lose sight of your North Star

Mikimasa Hamamatsu, General Manager, Global Brand Engagement & Global Brand Experience at Nissan, says the challenge is retain your north star. “It’s important to have the patience and conviction that while we need to be agile and adaptive to volatility, we don’t lose sight of our long-term brand vision.”

Alyssa Fenoglio, Global Head of Marketing Excellence at Sanofi, says the key to success is to be able to identify what makes a real difference. "Embrace the challenge to bolster your analytic, entrepreneurial and innovative powers: how can a sharper analysis uncover new opportunities or precisely target investments? What unique test and learn opportunities does this environment offer? What new consumer desires or market leadership opportunities are revealed?"

Double up efficiency with empathy

Eloísa Moscardó, Directora de Publicidad Corporativa, Santander, says what’s critical is to combine both empathy and efficiency. “Two things – empathy: now more than ever, we marketers should put ourselves in the customer’s shoes; and efficiency: we have to dig deep to make sure we make the most of all our resources.”

Riikka-Maria Lemminki, Managing Director, Marketing Finland, echoes the need to connect with people. “This is the moment to focus to engage people in dialog with your brand and advertising is a good tool for it. Communication helps you to understand people’s needs but also creates long-term commitments.”

Show your brands can have an impact

Matt Scheckner, Global CEO at Advertising Week, is one of many who argues that in recession, it’s more vital than ever to demonstrate an ability to make an impact. “Demonstrating value and impact in any climate comes with the territory and history tells us cutting marketing as a strategy to combat economic headwinds undercuts profitability. And ensuring the humanity of what great marketing does rises to the top – – at its best great marketing tells compelling stories.”

Gillian Rusike, Founder & CEO, MAZ, says it’s about winning hearts and minds across the company. “Internal marketing is key for every marketer to succeed under any environment. The internal stakeholders need to appreciate what marketing is doing and be a part of it in every step to the top. Marketing cannot be left to the marketing department alone but right from the top guy to the last one who locks the shop at the end of the day.”

Ron Lund, President & CEO, ACA, comes from a similar place when he emphasises the need to educate company decision makers. “Reduce emphasis on short-term strategy and invest for the long term, maintain marketing investments and educate the C-Suite on the value of sustained investments.”

Retain talent and strengthen capabilities

Lucinda Peniston-Baines, Owner and Managing Partner, at The Observatory International, takes a more specific approach, with four items on her to-do list.

“First, right-size and skill-match your agency roster to capitalise on the increasing convergence of media, data, digital, creative and content; second, mitigate against the agency talent crunch by being the most high-performing, attractive marketing teams and brands you can be to agencies; third, review in-housing potential of (the right) agency skills sets for maximum effectiveness and efficiency; and four, over-demonstrate marketing’s value to be viewed as the ‘growth engine’ for the business.”

Invest in measurement

Ian Malcolm, President and CEO, Lumency, emphasises the importance of measurement. “Invest in measurement. Understanding the effectiveness of their marketing pressure will help marketers make defensible evidence-based decisions that optimize efficiencies and drive the right KPIs.”

Stay agile

Bobby Simborio, Executive Director, PANA (Philippines), says agility will be required. “The marketing landscape is continuously adjusting and so is the economic climate brought about by past and current challenges. That’s why it is very important for an organization to have a marketer who is agile and can adapt to changing customer behaviours and market conditions. Marketers must identify the essentials for adjusting marketing strategies, reassess product/s and target market, consider using omnichannel in communicating with your audiences, … to name a few.”