Marketing vision

Grant Leboff: So, Thomas, one of the things you suggest in the book, is for marketing leaders to, literally, write their own marketing manifesto, which I think is something that, in my experience, marketing people haven’t done. Can you talk about a little bit, why you think that’s important?

Thomas Barta: I believe it’s very important for a marketer to aim high, to have a dream, to have something they believe in, something you want to achieve, market, career, doesn’t matter, but something you want to achieve. Why is this important? Marketing is a pretty tough job. You’re going to have setbacks. You’re going to have bad days. But, if you have a dream, something you can hold on to; a) it helps you keep course, but; b) it gives you energy.

Now, you asked me, marketers haven’t, sometimes, done it. When I’m doing a keynote on this topic, sometimes people push back and say, “Hey, come on. Good things will happen. I don’t need this vision thing.” Well, first of all, we’ve proven in the research that actually having a vision, aiming high, does matter, it’s quite a big contributor to success. But, more importantly, very successful marketing leaders will all tell you, “Well, I had some idea.” Great example of Simon Kang, former US Manager of LG, the electronics company, who built the whole US business in their household division from a very, very small point, because one evening he was lying on his sofa and he had this dream of having the LG logo on Times Square. This dream, this vision, and it’s a true story, helped him overcome very complicated negotiations, difficult situations, building a brand with almost no money. If you go to Time Square today, there’s still the LG logo. So, I believe, for marketers, aiming high matters.

Grant Leboff: You’re obviously talking about it from a leadership point of view. How often do you go in, and how important do you think it is, for teams to have that vision. Obviously Simon, in the case of the example you’ve given, he could have had that vision with his whole team because it was a joint … Is that an important aspect for having an effect marketing team, do you think?

Thomas Barta: It’s essential. We talk about the idea of having a team that asks for forgiveness, when they screw up, rather than for permission. So, to have a team like this, a proud, and innovative, and a strong, and a confident team, you’ve got to share your dream and they’ve got to make it theirs. Which means, they may change it a bit, but it’s so crucial that the entire marketing team believes in a goal that everybody’s feel is worth fighting for.

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