CAN MARKETING THREATEN THE GROWTH OF EVERY FACILITIES MANAGEMENT COMPANY HERE IN THE UK?

It may sound wildly sensational, but I believe it’s possible.

For several years, the failure of marketing (together with sales and branding) has endangered the FM sector and its leadership.

How? Why? The answers are well documented.

Instead of the Marketing Department being seen in its correct role – a profit centre, achieving more sales and delivering shareholder value – it is deemed only as an expensive cost centre. Its budget requirements continue to rise, yet no-one in the Marketing Department can explain just how much incremental business the sales and marketing budget will generate.

That’s why CEOs, Managing Directors and other board members view marketing as nothing more than a social media and brochure department, totally lacking commercial credibility and therefore basically redundant in terms of contributing anything meaningful to strategic business plans.

The failure of marketing strategy to show any kind of ROI on its activities is a crisis that requires urgent attention if many in the FM sector are to survive – and thrive – in 2018.

Unfortunately, in marketing’s present condition, that won’t happen until a significant number of changes are made to marketing’s strategic and operational understanding.

I’ve covered these in this Special Report – the first of its kind in the FM sector – and highlight four critical issues that need addressing. I don’t pull any punches, and I’m in no doubt that  marketers, sales people and brand managers will dislike me for what I’m stating.

But my goal is truly beneficent: to help marketing to retain its rightful position as a true board contributor.

However, that comes with conditions. Marketing needs to change. It needs to free itself from the hype and start talking in a way the boardroom understands – including ROI language. Sales need to up its game, get with the 21st century and start working with – not against – the marketing department. And branding needs to boot out the  babble and start talking sense about branding.

The message to marketing is: Change as you must, or remain as the hundred-to-one outsider with little hope of connecting – or even communicating – with the board on issues of strategic importance and value.

I hope you find the Special Report interesting and informative. If nothing else, it should identify your own sales, marketing and branding strategy as being in the
20% that is actually working for you. In which case congratulations are in order.

Or the 80% that has lost its way and doesn’t know where the road back to the boardroom is located.

Download your pdf copy (around 3MB) by clicking on the link or the image and choosing ‘Save link as…’, ‘Save Link…’ or whatever option your browser gives you.

FM Special Report download link. >>

If you missed my article on Brand Growth in the December-January 2018 issue, you can download it here (around 3MB), by clicking on the link below or the image to the left and choosing ‘Save link as…’, ‘Save Link…’ or whatever option your browser gives you.
<< FMJ brand article download link.


Go to main Brand Doctor site >>

Go to i-FM site >>

 


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Brand Doctor: A brief bio.

I’ve spent nearly 40 years in advertising, marketing, design and branding. Starting life as a graphic designer and copywriter, I worked for Top-100 companies. I then progressed to heading up brand consultancies responsible for sales and marketing, branding, corporate identity and advertising for Yellow Pages, Virgin, AVIVA, EMI and British Telecom to name a few.

Throughout the years, I’ve also helped smaller businesses dramatically improve profits through building a powerful brand. (Not-for-profit organisations have seen their donor income increase using my brand approach too.)

I’m also a qualified psychotherapist. How people think and behave is crucial to knowing how to brand a business, and with 15 years of experience in the field of psychology, I'm better equipped than most to deliver brands that connect and engage with customers.

Psychology is a rare ingredient in marketing, but it should really lead the way. My psychotherapy work greatly influences the approach to branding I teach and formed the basis for my international best-selling book Branding Your Business.

‘James gave two consecutive keynotes for the past three years at our annual Indonesian Superbrands Conference. He is a breath of fresh air, bringing clarity and understanding to an audience of 400 senior marketing executives hungry for knowledge of ways to create leading-edge business and branding strategies.

James also gave two brilliant keynotes on the subject of sustainability, in advance of his new book The Starfish Business. He is now a Member of the Board of Advisors, Most Valued Business Indonesia, an exciting new initiative to recognise brands not just for their revenue, but for their social responsibility.

Whenever James comes to Indonesia, his fans eagerly await the latest from the Brand Doctor – and they are never disappointed. Thanks James – and good luck in all you do.’

– Alistair Speirs OBE
Chairman, Superbrands Indonesia
and Most Valued Brands

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