TIME TO ADOPT MARKETING HYGIENE

Today, last day of the year 2019. It is very important that we take new steps and mend the old mistakes to make 2020 the most successful year of our career. In this context let me share something new and interesting.

It is high time that each firm creates what I call MARKETING HYGIENE. Marketing is not a 20:20 Cricket match, wherein you can hit the ball anyway. Till it connects and gets runs it is good. Marketing is not like this.

Ushering Marketing orientation in an organisation and thereby establishing a positive brand image takes years. But, the same can be diminished in a matter of days. Just one incident and it is gone.

Thus, it is important that we create our own rules of Marketing Hygiene. The Do's and Do not's in the greater interest of the stakeholders is what I call the Marketing Hygiene Checklist. Seldom do firms think in this direction.

Some may argue that more standardisation kills creativity. But, here standardardization prevents any deviations which can harm the customer(both internal and external). This is more important in the present digital era. It takes moments to communicate through digital media. It takes seconds to create a negative PR through this mode. So Marketing Hygiene is a filter to avoid such embarrassments and long term damage to brand equity.

Yes, the checklist will defer from firm to firm. An FMCG company will have a different tilt than a B2b company. Constituents of Marketing Hygiene will differ based on Industry, Target audience, level of backward or forward integration, rate of market growth, level market penetration, and cultural factors.

Some firms may have the concept of Disaster Plan or a cultural charter. But till I document it and make it available to everybody from Production, Operations, to distribution and Finance it doesn't help. Marketing Hygiene should be adopted as a cultural policy of the organisation. It is something without which a firm cannot survive in today's market.

Will be nice to read what firms are doing in this direction. I am confident that many firms may already be active in this arena. Marketing Hygiene