Key points
- Treat marketing as an investment with measurable returns.
- Connect brand, customer experience and sales into one plan.
- Report a few commercial measures to the board, not activity metrics.
Marketing is one of the largest discretionary investments many companies make. Yet it rarely receives the same scrutiny as capital expenditure. When boards engage seriously with marketing, it becomes a powerful lever for growth.
From cost to investment
The starting point is to treat marketing as an investment with expected returns, some short term and some long term. That means agreeing what the investment is meant to achieve, and how progress will be measured.
One commercial plan
Brand, customer experience and sales should tell one story. When they diverge, customers notice, and money is wasted on promises the business cannot keep.
The brand is what customers experience, not what the advertising says.
Better measures
Boards need a small set of commercial measures, such as revenue from new customers, retention and share of target segments, rather than reports of activity. With those in place, marketing earns its seat at the table.
