This Bias Isn’t Talked About Enough: On Product vs Marketing

Remember those Science vs Art debates in school, where one department argues which is tougher or better than the other? Who’d have thought this would translate into the business/corporate world?

I saw a tweet highlighting how the whole marketing arm was fired because they couldn’t successfully find PMF . The first thing that came to mind was, “Is that the marketing team’s responsibility?”

Let’s address the elephant in the room.?

Most founders and business executives consider engineering harder than marketing—the good old Maths vs English debate. In the dynamic landscape of modern businesses, collaboration between engineering/product and marketing teams is crucial for success. However, political prejudice is a chronic issue in many companies, with the technical team receiving preferential treatment over the marketing team. This gap not only reduces productivity but also inhibits innovation and growth.?

Throughout history, technical roles have been valued more than creative or marketing roles within organizations. This emphasizes technical expertise, relegating marketing to a secondary role and giving engineering teams more decision-making authority and resource allocation, leaving marketing teams marginalized and undervalued.

In my experience as the leader of Pixxis, I’ve had my share of this discrimination. It’s frustrating when partners want you, the marketing team, to quickly perform miracles and hit milestones. Still, when you make suggestions the engineering arm needs to address, there’s room for many excuses.

This leads to significant disparities in budget allocation between engineering and marketing departments. Engineering initiatives often receive a chunk of investment, reflecting a systemic undervaluation of marketing efforts.

Why does this happen??

Chances are, if the startup’s founders are engineers, they will likely regard marketing as a secondary function. If the founders are marketers, they will probably likely have an engineering team to rely on. The role of marketing in larger firms is becoming increasingly uncertain. The emphasis is on downstream activities such as lead generation, campaign management, pricing, content creation, awareness, and back-office sales assistance.?

I’ve had conversations with many marketing colleagues, and the stories are almost always the same. Some lament how they fight to get equally compensated with the techies, or always explain how the volatility of the market impacts effort, and so much more.

We often need to remember that the primary responsibility of marketing is upstream to build markets. This includes understanding needs and drivers, identifying customers, and segmentation. Marketers have to deal with the most unpredictable industry in the world, the PEOPLE industry.?

Two main reasons marketers suffer this blow are:

Cultural Stereotypes: Ingrained beliefs about the importance of technical skills over soft skills contribute to the marginalization of marketing roles.?

Unconscious Biases: Unconscious biases influence leadership decisions, resulting in the devaluation of marketing perspectives. Implicit biases favoring technical expertise undermine marketing recognition as a strategic asset.

How Does This Affect Businesses?

Missed Market Opportunities: Political bias hampers innovation and creativity within the marketing function, leading to missed market opportunities and diminished brand resonance. Engineering-centric decision-making stifles marketing initiatives, hindering organizational growth.

Case Studies: Real-world examples demonstrate the detrimental effects of bias on business outcomes. Companies that fail to address bias suffer reputational damage and loss of market share, highlighting the urgency of addressing political bias.

The Solution?

First, we must agree there shouldn’t be a battle between both arms. They are two sides of the same coin; one can’t thrive without the other. A great product won’t sell itself, and top marketers won’t push a shabby product.?

Cross-Functional Training Programs: Advocacy for cross-functional training programs fosters mutual understanding and respect between marketing and engineering teams. Organizations bridge the gap and promote collaboration by equipping team members with diverse skill sets.

Interdepartmental Workshops: At Pixxis, we always hold strategy workshops when onboarding new clients. We never fail to highlight and emphasize the importance of collaboration between techies and creatives with real-life case studies of how they can work together. Regular workshops and collaborative projects encourage communication and empathy between team members.?

Leadership Role: The culture is pioneered by leaders. Having founders understand the importance of both arms makes it easier for everyone on the team to follow suit. Plus, founders must hold teams accountable for promoting collaboration and understanding. Leaders ensure that biases are addressed and mitigated by establishing clear expectations and enforcing consequences for biased behavior.

Discussions regarding Marketing vs. Engineering are not about which comes first. The ultimate goal is to generate growth; “innovation” is the product, and collaboration is the means. Finally, what matters is the founders’, marketers’, and engineers’ attitudes toward knowing the human being behind the consumer. No matter your title, everyone is an evangelist with “ownership” of the client and user. Your marketing and engineering must be relevant to real people; otherwise, it is a waste of effort.

I’m Gideon, founder of Pixxis Agency , and I am open to connecting. Subscribe to this newsletter as I share more intricate details of my weekly journey of building my agency. See you next week!

You can also write to me here: [email protected]