Australian Marketing Institute – Our future is in the Finance Department

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At last, the Australian Marketing Institute has given its member’s a clue to their vision of the future of marketing.

Roger James, chairman of the Australian Marketing Institute in this month’s issue of ‘Marketing Update’ tells us about the need to bring marketing and finance closer together.

He explains, his vision of marketing is based on a somewhat tongue-in-cheek suggestion by Tim Ambler in ‘Marketing and the Bottom Line’, that proposed a simple solution to marketing’s problem: “give finance the responsibility for marketing measurement, since that way the bean counters would be forced to learn about marketing and marketing metrics.”

And listening to a presentation by Angus McKay the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Foster’s, the title of his presentation gives a clue to its particular interest: ‘The CFO’s Role in Brand Management’.

Yes my fellow marketer’s…the brains trust at the Australian Marketing Institute think the CFO is the best person for championing good brand management practices!!!

Our miss guided Chairman has to remember his responsibility is to the members and championing the marketing profession. It’s not to put our marketing careers under the control of the CFO.

I think Milan Kundera was right when he said “Business has only two functions – marketing and innovation.” He didn’t say “Business has only two functions – “Cash in and cash out.”

At this point, I want to mention that I’m not downplaying the importance and role CFO’s play in the corporate world. It’s just that I believe in marketing and its importance, I didn’t join the marketing profession to be a bean counter…Get my drift?

In my opinion, our so called peak marketing body has lost the plot and they want to sell the family jewels, to a bunch of accountants (with all due respect to accountants).

In layman terms, our Chairman has just removed his bicycle clips, dropped his elasticated slacks, removed his crusty Y-fronts and taken a cash receipt book from behind, just to appease a bunch of cardigan wearing over inflated egotistical accountants, who just don’t get it (with all due respect to all over inflated egotistical accountants).

Doesn’t he know that 100’s of companies and agencies all around Australia have just been put at risk, due to the Global Credit Crisis? Who put these companies at risk? The marketer…no, the CFO…YES!!!

And the Australian Marketing Institute wants to put them in charge.

I’ve read heaps of marketing books by leading marketing thought leaders like Philip Kotler, Jack Trout, Don Peppers, Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki, David Aaker and Al Ries, but I don’t remember them suggesting we should be integrating marketing with the finance department. 

How many companies are taking this radical idea? Our Chairman said “At this stage Foster’s is likely to be the exception rather than the rule.” With all due respect to our Chairman, if he had any experience in explaining marketing theory or pitching key marketing concepts to a CFO…he would understand why Foster’s is the only brand silly enough to hand over a key marketing function to the finance dude (with all due respect to Foster’s CFO).

In any case, CFO’s don’t have the time to manage the marketing team, CFO’s are to busy spending their time investing (losing) the company profits and cash reserves on the sub-prime mortgage market and/or manipulating their company’s financial performance and profitability metrics, before they go into retirement or gaol.

What next? A merger with the Charter Accountants.

But wait, that might be a good idea…rather than being a CPM, we could all become CPA’s…that’ll be good, we may gain some respect.

Marketing’s 4 P’s would become Price, Profitability, Performance and Productivity. The 4 C’s would become Cost, Capital, Counting and Crisis or Credit, Currency, Constraint and Consequences.

A leader must be able to gain respect for his vision and as a person. A leader is a dealer in hope. The Australian Marketing Institute is dealing in defeatism.

I’d like to leave you with a few words from our Chairman on his vision “there is a good argument that this approach should be increasingly adopted by Australian businesses. Let’s hope so; marketing will be the better for it.”

In the words of Gordon Whitehead mmktg, afami,cpm: “CRAP!” You haven’t presented an argument, all you’re trying to do is justify the AMI leadership’s fixation with marketing metrics program and marketing will not be better for it.

I said final word, but I can’t stop.

Yes, we all know marketers have to speak the language of business and achieve return-on-investment, but the role of the Australian Marketing Institute is to champion marketing and marketers, not give up on marketing because CFO’s just don’t get it or can’t be bothered to change.

To read the offending article in the AMI’s ‘Marketing Update’ go to www.ami.org.au. Be quick they might remove it.

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