In the May 29 edition of Brandweek, Constantine von Hoffman shares findings from a Booz Allen Hamilton study which asked marketing executives about the structure/function of their marketing department within their overall company. After analyzing the responses, Booz Allen researchers identified that there are six types of marketing organizations.
1 | Marketing Masters
2 | Senior Counselors
3 | Service Providers
4 | Brand Builders
5 | Best Practice Advisors
6 | Growth Champions
1 | Marketing Masters “… enjoy the authority to coordinate with other major business functions. They do not, however, make strategic decisions and seldom lead new-business development.” [Hmm … sounds just like the corporate Starbucks marketing department where, when I was there, marketers were project leaders coordinating/facilitating interaction between business units.]
2 | Senior Counselors assist in guiding “… the CEO on marketing strategy and also serve as primary advisors on marketing strategy for individual businesses.” Rarely will these marketers lead product innovation initiatives, but they are responsible for leading major advertising and/or promotional campaigns.
3 | Service Providers are the coordinators of “… advertising, promotion and public relations at the request of the company’s brand and product teams.”
4 | Brand Builders provide “… marketing services like communications strategy, creative output and campaign execution of key brands, but their leadership role and decision rights on strategy and investment are all but negligible.” [The National Marketing Department at Whole Foods Market worked exactly this way when I was there. While we had virtually no say in the strategic direction of the company, we were responsible for developing and implementing marketing tactics.]
5 | Best Practice Advisors work directly with “… individual business units to maximize marketing effectiveness and efficiency” by gathering and disseminating best practices within the company as it relates to advertising, promotion, and public relations.
6 | Growth Champions lead their company’s efforts in product innovation and in new business development. They also are heavily involved in decisions pertaining to new-market penetration and strategic investments.
Anyone else care to chime in on which type of marketing organization the one you work in works under?
