Welcome to The Beat by Rockstar CMO. I’m Ian Truscott, not a rock star, but a CMO and trusted advisor, and in this newsletter, I’d like to share a mix of marketing street knowledge that I hope will help unlock the rockstar marketer in you.
Hello!
As you know, marketing and advertising have a love of the letter P, specifically the 4 P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion, and over the years there have been debates about whether we should tag on more P’s, like People and Process.
There is then a spirited debate about which of these the CMO actually owns or should own, as all of them are levers for revenue success and ultimately the success of anyone in the Revenue Department, as I like to refer to sales and marketing, including the CMO.
Now, clearly this is more of a consumer, thing-on-a-shelf thing, but it’s applicable to B2B - for example how many of us own price, when it’s such a fundamental part of positioning? We are often just promotion.
But that’s not what this newsletter is about; it’s about an idea that the CMO’s success is also dependent on a different set of P’s.
Well, that’s according to Jon Evans, host of the podcast Uncensored CMO based on talking to hundreds of CMOs; his 4 P’s are:
Politics: Navigating the organisational hierarchy to understand how decisions are actually made.
People: Identifying talent and nurturing them. You can’t do the brand manager’s job; if you try, you’ll just burst their bubble and micromanage them into mediocrity.
Planning: Owning the vision and providing the “air cover” that allows your team to work without interference.
Persuasion: Constantly framing marketing in business metrics that the CFO and the board can get behind.
And in my time in the CMO role, I definitely relate to all 4 of these, especially if you have been brought in to bring change, which we often are. Getting these four right, especially in the first 90 days, could define the rest of your tenure.
As you know, the subject line for this thing is always a song title, and this weeks rather curious “P” comes from SAULT, who I have been listening to a bit. Maybe start with “Wildfires” if you are not familiar with them, but “P” is a good tune.
Plus, a bit of a spoiler if you listen to my podcast: I’m planning on talking about these 4 P’s and my experience this week - will publish that on Saturday.
Have a splendid week!
Cheers,
Ian
Ian Truscott
Host & Chief Bottle Washer - Rockstar CMO podcast
Managing Partner - Velocity B
Personal website: iantruscott.com
This Week’s Street Knowledge
Get your Marketing Mojo Working
You might be unfamilar with them, and there is no video for this track, so listen below on YouTube or punch SAULT into your digital music purveyer of choice, you are in for a treat.