Why marketers must stop accepting table scraps

A few years ago I attended an extraordinary event. Marketers gathered from all over APAC. I was inspired by their stories, their willingness to share, their honesty, their inventiveness and their guts.

Last year I went to the same event. Only, it wasn't the same. It was completely 'meh'.

• The speakers were saying nothing new.
• The panel sessions were telling the same old stories.
• Even the closing speaker spoke very eloquently and accurately about how nothing ever changes in marketing leadership.

Had the event changed? Or had I?

Confession: I've had a life-long struggle with marketing

When it comes to marketing and leadership I feel a bit like an addict who needs a recovery programme - Marketers Anonymous, perhaps? I'm torn by pride in my chosen profession and despair at how bad its reputation is.

I celebrate the advances that have made marketing more measurable (thank you, analytics!), predictable (thank you, ROI and tracking!), connected (thank you digital tools!) and intelligent (thank you CRMs like HubSpot which put customers at the centre).

I love the fact that marketers around the world are increasingly seeing themselves as learning animals, collaborators, guardians of great customer experience, responsible advocates for the greater good and people who can be proud to call themselves marketers.

It is with great delight that I celebrate posts from every corner of the world when marketers have graduated with CIM qualifications, succeeded in becoming Chartered Marketers, gained membership of the AMI or spoken up through marketing for what their customers need, not just what they're being told to do.

But that's the problem. Historically marketers have been told what to do. We've been given just enough rope to hang ourselves (or make things work despite the odds, the limited budgets and the nae-sayers who kill off great ideas). And we've buckled down and got on with the job.

Marketers have always buckled down and got on with the job.

It didn't help us win.

It made us weaker.

Accepting the status quo is no longer acceptable!

The best marketers in the world are rule breakers. There's a reason Seth Godin wrote The Purple Cow: marketers have to think differently and make people pay attention. There's a reason why UnMarketing by Scott Stratten and Alison Stratten has sold 50,000 copies, is used as a textbook and is on it's second edition: marketing has to do things differently. There's a reason why The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott has sold 400,000+ copies in over twenty-nine languages and is on its 7th edition: because the marketing rules change constantly.

If marketers want to survive, we have to learn, adapt, grow, change and develop.

But we're only allowed to do this to a point...

Sound contentious? Yes.

Let me take you back to that conference I mentioned, to explain.

Yes, marketers have learned, adapted and changed. But only as far as our corporate masters will let us!

For too long marketers have bowed our heads and picked our battles. We've had to. We accepted what was given to us and, if we challenged it, we did so knowing that our requests would probably fall on deaf ears as older, 'wiser' board members (usually men) asked us to jump through hoops before they gave (often ignorant or stupid) reasons for why the initiatives we knew would make a difference weren't worth the money we needed.

Want a seat on the board? Create one.

I'm a maverick marketer. I've never liked playing a game if the rules made no sense. I've worked at and with company after company where rules have trumped innovation and led to safe but incredibly boring marketing. And, all too often, B2B marketers have taken the, 'close your eyes and think of England' approach.

That's not good enough. Playing a game by the rules someone else makes may keep you safe, but it won't create great marketing. It's time to change the rules. Only then can marketers truly take the reigns and demand the often-discussed, but seldom realised, seat on the board.

Today I sit on two boards. Why? Because there's no reason to do things the way they've always been done. Because I asked for it. Because I found a way to make it happen. Because I'm a marketer, and proud of it. Because I can see the bigger picture. Because I'm not afraid to ask questions when it doesn't make sense.

Do you know what surprised me about being on boards? They're not that special.

A board, like any other group, has its mind games and petty squabbles. It makes decisions like any group. If it works well (like the boards I'm currently fortunate to sit on), the decisions are usually based on solid evidence, the relationships aren't about power or politics, and the group works in the best interest of the right stakeholders.

But marketers don't know this.

Maybe that's why I lost heart while attending the marketing event I had once loved? Suddenly I could see the bigger picture. And what I saw was that marketers who beg for table scraps like the orphan, Oliver, did will always be asking that question, 'Please, sir, may I have some more?' But it doesn't have to be this way.

There is hope!

Today I work with amazing clients who know that marketing, itself, is more than it ever has been - and can continue to be more and do more.

• Like the inspirational CEO of a startup solving complicated supply chain problems. We're working on sharing his vision for a brighter future based on collaboration, trust and partnership in his next keynote address.
• Then there's the software company CMO I'm coaching. His organisation encourages every single leader to think and reflect on their own behaviour and practices, and they pay outside coaches to help them develop personally.
• And there's the tech company whose user groups I moderate. They know that listening to their customers now, even if they can't always make the desire changes immediately, pays dividends.
• And there are a dozen more who know that when they get help to share their customers' pride and delight in case studies, blog posts, articles and campaigns, the poetry of their passion can be felt in these words.

What's the common theme, the red thread, between these companies?

They care. They listen to their people: their customers and their employees. And - more importantly - they know that marketers can do marketing better than they can, and they let them do it.

Marketers don't have to live in the past, surviving on table scraps. Our tools, technology, knowledge and intuition have given us everything we need to shake our masters by the shoulders and tell them to wake up because we actually do know better than they do, or think they do.

But not every marketer knows this yet.

If you're a marketer who needs help, here's my advice: stop accepting table scraps!

It's time to demand more. You deserve more. But you also have to be prepared to ask for more. Sometimes that means getting the right people in your Secret Army. Sometimes it means spending the valuable time you deserve on yourself. Sometimes it means putting forward an argument for more budget, new people, a different initiative, new working hours. When you expect more, you become more. When marketers demand more, we give ourselves permission to achieve more - for ourselves, our companies, our customers and the bottom line.

That's when we go beyond marketing: to become change-makers, intrapreneurs and the data-informed mavericks that our companies needs, and we owe it to ourselves to become.

Then we earn a seat at the table, instead of begging for table scraps.

If this article resonated with you, you might find The Secret Army: Leadership, Marketing and the Power of People worth reading.

And if you're ready to stop begging for table scraps, but need a bit of help, DM me, or get in touch.