How do you define "marketing", "insights", and "adding value"?

1) How would you define "Marketing"?

Based on your experience in the industry – be it months, years, or decades – what would your simplest, most effective definition of marketing be?

At the Esomar Congress 2019 Chris Burggraeve, former CMO of Anheuser Busch InBev, shared what he believed to be the best working definition for marketing…

“Creating sustainable pricing power”

So simple, yet so powerful.

He went on to remind us that brand health today is pricing power tomorrow. Let’s face it, increasing price increases profitability far more effectively than cutting costs does.

How much of your upcoming week is dedicated to creating sustainable pricing power?

2) How would you define an "Insight"?

Chris also shared what he believed to be the best working definition of an insight from his time at P&G.

He suggested an insight is “an accepted belief, habit, or practice related to your brand or category that if understood can immediately be acted upon to impact behavior and or preference.”

The only thing I would add to the definition Chris shared was something Cherri Prince shared at the AC Nielsen Summit (more details here), which is that an important element of an insight it that while it is undiscovered and unexpected, it tends to feel strangely familiar.

Is there anything you would add to this definition?

3) How are you "Adding Value"?

Another great talk at the 2019 Esomar Congress came from the team at the Royal Bank of Scotland.

They reminded us about the important of paying attention to the voice of your customer (that is, your internal stakeholders) as much as your consumers.

That said, insights are only as powerful as the actions behind them and delivering value and ROI doesn’t mean saying yes to everything and appeasing everyone.

If you had to choose just three stakeholders in your organization, what is the one thing you could do to help them advance their brands and their careers?

What's stopping you?