THE LEAD ISSUE NZ$14.95 AU$12.95 9771447245019 FEB/MAR 2016 A REVOLUTION 26 YEARS IN THE MAKING There is one university in Australia which has just changed its name The University of Western Sydney is now called Western Sydney University We have a new logo too These changes are indicative of the many transformations we are making at our University Why are we doing it? To remain current in a disruptive world To establish our reputation for innovation You may ask, what difference does a new name or logo really make? It’s a symbol of our emergence as one of Australia’s most important and innovative universities It’s part of our bold, new vision for the next stage of our strategic development We want our University to be known for its true value – as a dynamic institution for talented, ambitious people, with the opportunity to realise their full potential No matter who they are or where they’re from A place that pushes the boundaries of how knowledge is exchanged, a place that is student centred and research led A university that prepares graduates not just to get jobs, but to create them We’ve already made enormous strides in the 26 years since our foundation Worldwide, we now rank in the top 3% of universities As such, we are leaders in the most dynamic economic and cultural region in Australia – Western Sydney We’re adopting new teaching methods opening up the curriculum to technology-infused learning, all underpinned by a commitment to quality We ensure our curriculum remains relevant through partnerships with our students, industry, business and government Our research program is designed to deliver outcomes that contribute to the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of our communities We believe success is fuelled by strong desire and ambition With a global mindset we work closely with our community to unlock the potential of our students as future leaders and change makers Welcome to the new Western Sydney University UNLIMITED WESTERNSYDNEY.EDU.AU Brought to you by Marketing Advantage: a growing collection of premium resources for marketers by Australia’s premier marketing publication “It’s a genuine cornucopia of articles, links, research, videos and white papers on contemporary marketing issues and a valuable resource whether you’re looking for the three minute, 6000ft overview of an issue, or you want to dive deep Already, in its first year, it has the potential to become a key online destination for Australia’s marketers.” – David Redhill, Partner and CMO, Deloitte marketingmag.com.au/advantage CASE STUDIES 52 ASX Investment Heroes in Disguise 34 56 JUST FOR PETS Launch of Pet Health Centre FEATURES 14 FEATURE First in, best dressed? 14 60 WESTERN SYDNEY UNIVERSITY Rebrand and Unlimited campaign 74 22 INFOGRAPHIC Marketing careers 64 BETHANIE Geographical expansion 24 BRAND Tesla leading the charge 68 BROWN BROTHERS Colourful Conversations 32 BRAIN TRUST Advice for a first-time change maker 52 34 FEATURE Sales and marketing in 2020 24 42 FEATURE Meaningful connections with Millennials 64 74 MARKETER PROFILE Caroline Patrick February/March 2016 THE LEAD ISSUE COLUMNS 40 80 90 PHILLIPS ON LEADERSHIP No leader demands respect 92 VALOS & LEE The high-definition CMO 94 SAMMARTINO ON SHIFT Leading with price 72 86 96 BRODSKY ON R/EVOLUTION RIP expertise 98 WAY OUT by Con Stavros CONTENT PARTNERS 40 EFFECTIVE MEASURE A start-up view of the first-mover (dis)advantage 48 FORRESTER Trends that will lead 2016 90 96 72 UNLTD Leading through mindful purpose BEST OF THE WEB 80 MOST READ Don’t start with a wedding dress – by Rob Morrison 82 MOST SHARED 10 best music strategies of 2015 – by Con Raso 86 EDITOR’S CHOICE Taking the mystery out of managing sales teams – by Diego Lunardi and Cheryl Prats 88 EDITOR’S CHOICE How REA cracked China’s internet rule book – by Dave Anderson Contents Contributors NZ$14 95 AU$12.95 9771447245019 Editor PETER ROPER peter.roper@niche.com.au FEB/MAR 2016 Publisher PAUL LIDGERWOOD Sub editor MADELEINE SWAIN THE LEAD ISSUE Art director KEELY ATKINS Production manager JAMUNA RAJ jamuna.raj@niche.com.au Design & Digital pre-press MONIQUE BLAIR Advertising enquiries National advertising manager LUKE HATTY Tel: +613 9948 4978 luke.hatty@niche.com.au BY PEADER THOMAS Subscription enquiries Tel: 1800 804 160 subscriptions@niche.com.au www.marketingmag.com.au Marketing is a publication of Niche Media Pty Ltd ABN 13 064 613 529 Queens Road, Melbourne, VIC 3004 Tel +613 9948 4900 Fax +613 9948 4999 CHERYL PRATS Page 86 ALICIA MACK Page 32 ALVIN LEE Page 92 ANDY LARK Page 32 CON RASO Page 82 CON STAVROS Page 98 DAVE ANDERSON Page 88 DIEGO LUNARDI Page 86 DION APPEL Page 42 GRAHAM PLANT, EFFECTIVE MEASURE* Page 40 Chairman NICHOLAS DOWER Managing director PAUL LIDGERWOOD Commercial director JOANNE DAVIES Content director CHRIS RENNIE Financial controller SONIA JURISTA Printing GRAPHIC IMPRESSIONS Marketing ISSN 1441–7863 © 2016 Niche Media Pty Ltd All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, internet, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information in this publication, the publishers accept no responsibility or liability for any errors, omissions or resultant consequences including any loss or damage arising from reliance on information in this publication The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily endorsed by the editor, publisher or Niche Media Pty Ltd Niche Media Privacy Policy This issue of Marketing may contain offers, competitions, surveys, subscription offers and premiums that, if you choose to participate, require you to provide information about yourself If you provide information about yourself to NICHE MEDIA, NICHE MEDIA will use the information to provide you with the products or services you have requested (such as subscriptions) We may also provide this information to contractors who provide the products and services on our behalf (such as mail houses and suppliers of subscriber premiums and promotional prizes) We not sell your information to third parties under any circumstances, however the suppliers of some of these products and services may retain the information we provide for future activities of their own, including direct marketing NICHE MEDIA will also retain your information and use it to inform you of other NICHE MEDIA promotions and publications from time to time If you would like to know what information NICHE MEDIA holds about you please contact The Privacy Officer, NICHE MEDIA PTY LTD, Queens Road MELBOURNE VIC 3004 CONTENT PARTNER: a Marketing Content Partner is an organisation with which we’ve entered into a partnership to collaborate on content for the magazine (see page numbers listed for each) as well as exclusive content only available to Marketing Advantage Pro Members See marketingmag.com.au/advantage for more information Publisher’s Note JAC PHILLIPS Page 90 JENNY WILLIAMS Page 32 MICHAEL BARNES, FORRESTER RESEARCH* Page 48 MICHAEL VALOS Page 92 MICHELLE HERBISON Page 74 PETER STROHKORB Page 34 Bravery is a quality in all great leaders and a trait that in 2016 Marketing will identify, acknowledge, celebrate and reward Are you brave? Does the business you are in make brave decisions? What are you planning to this year that will set you apart – and most probably keep you up at night? Enjoy The Lead Issue of Marketing and I hope 2016 is a great year for you and your families Be brave, ROB GRANT Page 14 ROB MORRISON Page 80 SARA HINGLE, ILLUSTRATOR Page 74 SÉRGIO BRODSKY Page 96 STEVE SAMMARTINO Page 94 STEVE TAITOKO, UNLTD* Page 72 Marketing would like to recognise and thank the members of its Editorial Advisory Board for their invaluable guidance, including but not limited to Dr Michael Valos (chair), Caroline Ruddick, Erik Zimmerman, Mike Harley, Shannon Peachey, Trisca Scott-Branagan, Skev Ioannou, Cameron Woods, and Peter Little Paul Lidgerwood Niche Managing Director Marketing Publisher Editor's note Peter Roper his morning, as well as being the day Marketing goes to print, forcing me to get this written, is the morning during which we’ve received the news about Coca-Cola’s new global brand strategy This new ‘one brand’ approach, kicked off by the ‘Taste the Feeling’ campaign feels like big news… but I’m having trouble articulating why It’s hard to tell whether the move is brave, or incredibly risk-averse Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coke Zero and Coke Life will stop going their separate way, and the same creative is intended to roll out worldwide, from Japan to Mexico to Italy Bear with me as I process my initial thoughts in this public forum – which may be risky if I’m completely misreading some things at this very early stage – in the form of a list of questions, in no particular order T How does a ‘one brand’ approach not completely reject the notion that a product portfolio is developed for distinct segments? Are the pillars of Coca-Cola’s brand positioning universal enough for a non-localised approach? (Given it’s basically the most global brand the world has ever seen, that’s probably not even up for debate.) So does that unique achievement mean that others can’t follow its lead? Does the assumption that the marketing brains at The CocaCola Company can no wrong still hold? Even if the brand can be universal, does it follow that creative can work effectively in so many markets and cultures? (Some of the videos are so cheesy that the brand could authoritatively start exploring MARKETING FEBRUARY | MARCH 2016 brand extension opportunities in the dairy aisle.) Isn’t repurposing creative for multiple markets old-hat, even tacky, anyway? (I wonder if they’ll dub.) I like the use of Bowie and Queen’s ‘Under Pressure’ (Not a question.) Is it just me or is some of the imagery ‘steamier’ than we’ve seen from Coke before? On that note, what’s the chance that in the future the marketing of sugary drinks will be regulated as much as alcohol, which in Australia means it wouldn’t be possible to link consumption of the product with romantic success? 10 Do young people really pour Coca-Cola into each other’s mouths on the dance floor? Peter Roper Editor marketingmag.com.au Editor, Marketing 86 BEST OF THE WEB: EDITOR’S CHOICE Four steps to taking the mystery out of sales team management aving a sales team that gets results is integral to business success That seems an easy enough goal, but how you know who on the sales team is really driving success and who is actually holding the team back? It is critical that sales managers, along with senior company directors, are able to track and assess the performance of their staff Unfortunately, too many companies not have a quantifiable means of evaluating sales success, with recent research from data marketing firm JNR showing that 60% of businesses lack a reliable means of measuring sales performance Sales team performance need not be a mystery In order to know where your sales reps are falling in the spectrum of sales success – i.e whose performance is stellar and whose is suspect – your company needs to take a few key steps to unravel the mystery H GET ON THE CASE: WHAT IS THE MEASURE OF TEAM SUCCESS? Diego Lunardi is head of business development (EMEA) at Maximizer Cheryl Prats is head of sales (ANZ) at Maximizer MARKETING FEBRUARY | MARCH 2016 To get an overall big picture understanding of how successful your sales team is, it is imperative that a standard set of measurement metrics are implemented These metrics will allow you to first see whether the sales team, as a whole, is hitting its daily/weekly/monthly targets For the majority of businesses these metrics should include: = number of leads received, marketingmag.com.au Sales team performance need not be a mystery, write Diego Lunardi and Cheryl Prats = number of leads converted into = = = = opportunities, number of leads that progress through each stage of the sales cycle, average length of the sales cycle, number of sales won, and total revenue IDENTIFY THE KEY SUSPECTS: WHO IS KILLING YOUR RESULTS? @marketingmag Having relevant sales team metrics gives you the means to identify both your sales stars and the suspect performers While many sales managers have a gut instinct about who is carrying the team and who is dragging it down, sometimes intuition can turn out to be wrong It is always best to look at the hard evidence – especially if you are going to confront a team member about poor performance Therefore, it is important to look rather closely at the following: = Follow-up time: are they getting to the hot leads fast enough? If they aren’t, then these are almost certainly the reps that are holding the team back = Opportunity conversion rate: a weak result here can be a big indicator that the approach being taken by the individual salesperson is lacking and needs to be addressed = The time it takes to progress a lead: if they are getting stalled, then they are almost certainly failing to hit their own targets and hurting the performance of the whole team DETERMINE THE MOTIVE: WHY ARE THEY FAILING OR SUCCEEDING? Like a guilty suspect facing accusations, poor sales performers will argue the situation was beyond their control and they are merely a victim of circumstance Not likely, but how you prove it? If you have a standardised sales process and metrics in place, there is a clear evidence trail The process you are monitoring should take you from lead management to discovery, to the pitch, to demonstration, to financial commitment and, ultimately, to the close Looking at how an individual performs at each stage in the sales process will signal the reasons they are succeeding or failing and what action you can take to help those who are struggling For instance, poor results at the pitch or demonstration stage may indicate a need for training in these areas A standardised process ensures that not only can you identify areas of weak sales performance, but where a successful sales rep is getting top results – and, as a result, what may constitute best practice FIND THE WEAPON: ARE YOUR SALES REPS ARMED TO SUCCEED? To unlock the clues as to why an individual or even a whole team is succeeding or struggling with sales, it is essential to have a means of capturing and reviewing the necessary metrics: a customer relationship management (CRM) solution CRM allows sales managers THE LEAD ISSUE If you have a standardised sales process and metrics in place, there is a clear evidence trail to forensically analyse the data to determine precisely what actions need to be taken to improve certain performances and emulate others CRM not only aids sales managers, it also helps sales reps improve performance themselves Through CRM, they can take advantage of sales automation, formulate action plans and hotlist tasks, and so both in the office and on the road via a smartphone or tablet What’s more, continuous performance monitoring means that their progress, or lack thereof, is easy for them to track This can be a big motivation You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to understand that a well-configured CRM solution makes all the necessary metrics and customer intelligence easily accessible via the dashboard, thus arming sales managers and reps to more and get better results Indeed, all the evidence indicates that, for sales teams, CRM is the killer app @ Read more top marketing opinion at marketingmag.com.au 88 BEST OF THE WEB: EDITOR’S CHOICE hina’s internet regulations are always changing, highly complex and never well understood But it is possible to successfully navigate the difficult rules and develop a site that performs and resonates within a Chinese market REA Group did so recently with its new real estate site: www.myfun.com It launched smoothly and the team has since optimised it further and seen: = a reduction in full render time by five seconds, = increased customer time on-site, and = greatly improved position in Chinese search engines This is a standout example of a foreign company excelling digitally in China Unfortunately, though, it’s not like this for most companies Even multinationals with a mature presence in China make myriad mistakes For the last six months I’ve been measuring the website REA Group recently had success with a new website launch in China, but most companies don’t find the process so smooth, writes Dave Anderson How REA Group cracked China’s internet rulebook Dave Anderson is senior marketing director Asia Pacific and global director of social and community strategy at digital performance company Dynatrace MARKETING FEBRUARY | MARCH 2016 marketingmag.com.au C “Even multinationals with a mature presence in China make myriad mistakes.” @marketingmag performance of about 20 major foreign companies in China The group includes some of Australia’s peak tourism bodies, wine exporters and airlines, as well as some of the world’s largest airline companies flying in and out of China (i.e Qatar, Emirates, Japan Air, Cathay Pacific) I discovered that most of these companies are dishing up sites that take excessive time to load (i.e 15, 27 and 33-plus seconds) or fail altogether Digging below the surface, I’ve identified the most common mistakes foreign companies make when it comes to building a website for China Unsurprisingly, these mistakes are the opposite of REA Group’s approach to www.myfun com were building would perform locally In particular, we needed an understanding into the impact different content and third parties would have on our site.” Which brings us to the next point MISTAKE 2: NOT VETTING THIRD-PARTY PLUG-INS The average website has about 30 third-party plug-ins This means a big portion of a website is made up of external functions and features such as Google fonts, Adobe Typekit, product rating facilities, live chat, automation tools like Marketo, analytics and more The problem is that each time a website loads it typically makes ‘calls’ to collect these externally hosted features, before returning to serve up the content to the user via the website What most don’t realise is that a huge number of third party plug-ins are blocked by the Chinese Government This will cause major timing issues, disabled functionality and load errors for local users MISTAKE 1: FAILING TO TEST DURING DEVELOPMENT PHASE MISTAKE 3: TAKING THE WRONG PERSPECTIVE REA Group simulated web traffic to the proposed site during the development phase, so it could identify which content and components would perform best for local users Any other approach will leave you completely in the dark as to whether your site will actually work when you launch As REA’s infrastructure manager, Javier Turégano, explains: “There are so many backend elements that create the overall website structure… We wanted to ensure what we What’s the point of testing how a Chinese website looks, feels and performs from your office in Sydney or Brisbane? Just because your international sites appear to load quickly and completely from your desktop, this doesn’t mean that’s the case for your target market You need to keep tabs from a grassroots perspective, which is why REA Group uses remote nodes within China to see explicitly how its site performs for local users THE LEAD ISSUE MISTAKE 4: HOSTING EXTERNALLY Content delivery networks (CDNs) and domain name servers (DNS) are critical to site performance in China This is tech terminology with which marketers need to familiarise themselves, especially when branching into new regions The most successful, fast loading sites in China (like REA Group) are the ones that have very little reason to serve content from outside China’s restrictive firewall MISTAKE 5: EMBEDDING SOCIAL MEDIA The major Western social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are completely blocked by the Chinese firewall, which equates to slow website load times or gaping holes in web pages where social icons and links once stood For the best in the business, social media is best left alone when it comes to China MISTAKE 6: RESTING ON YOUR LAURELS Even once you’ve built your site to fit the current internet landscape in China, you must keep watching and investigating because the rules are evolving and growing more complicated by the day @ Read more top marketing opinion at marketingmag.com.au 90 PHILLIPS ON LEADERSHIP Nobody demands respect (and gets it) “ I demand respect!” he roared and slammed his clenched fist down hard on the table to stress how desperate he was We sat there staring Embarrassed for him Sad for him Amazed at how he could be so unaware of the irony in his words and behaviour You can’t demand respect You have to earn it And if you want others to something for you (and it well), then you need to be aware of this Being respected is probably one of the most powerful elements of being an effective leader What does being a leader really mean? There are as many definitions as there are leaders! Often what forms our view of a leader is based on experience Personally, I think my greatest learnings of leadership have come from those who were not good leaders and, thanks to their arrogance and general lack of awareness, were unlikely to ever become good leaders Sad really, as we need to support those who want the immense responsibility of taking others on a purposeful journey The dictionary describes the noun ‘leader’ as, “a person who rules, guides or inspires others” The academic definition goes something like this: “Leaders define or clarify goals for a group, which can be as small as a seminar or as large as a nation state, and mobilise the energies of members of the group to pursue those goals.” My humble explanation: a leader is confident in who they are and what they want, genuinely likes people, wants them to succeed and is prepared to take full accountability for all outcomes arising from their requests of others None of the above sounds too difficult, nor does it seem too unachievable, so why is it still quite rare to see many examples of consistently impressive leadership in public, business and community life? Maybe our fascination is in the human psyche and how differently we all behave when in positions of influence, power or essentially leadership? Does an expert automatically earn the right to be a leader? The majority of people who are professionals in their field, who have dedicated the ‘stated’ 10,000 hours of practice, who have demonstrated commitment and passion, the people deemed as ‘experts’, are often elevated to leadership status, often without any consideration as to if they possess the important attributes required to successfully lead and influence MARKETING FEBRUARY | MARCH 2016 Jac Phillips Head of brand and marketing, Bank of Melbourne There is a raft of information online and offline and everyone has an opinion about the skills needed, but for simplicity’s sake here are the five I think critical – often referred to as ‘soft skills’ and all of which can be developed if they aren’t possessed already: Confidence Self-confident people are inspiring and we generally like to be around individuals who believe in themselves and in what they’re doing Likewise, if you’re a positive and optimistic person who makes the best of any situation, you’ll find it much easier to motivate others to their best Positive people approach situations realistically, prepared to make the changes necessary to overcome a problem Negative marketingmag.com.au There’s nothing more satisfying or stimulating than work worth doing under a leader worth following, writes Jac Phillips, as she argues that there are no leadership traits that can’t be learned @marketingmag people on the other hand, often give in to the stress and pressure of the situation This can lead to fear, worry, distress, anger and failure Self-awareness If you aren’t conscious of how you make people feel when you speak and behave, you are at a disadvantage If they aren’t motivated, empowered or even clear on what it is you require, then they aren’t likely to respond effectively This is a wasted opportunity Example is not the main thing in influencing others; it is the only thing and good leaders lead by example They what they say, and say what they Empathy Being able to recognise emotions in others and being able to put yourself in another person’s shoes should never be underrated To be empathetic, you have to think beyond yourself and your own concerns People accused of being egotistical and selfish, or lacking perspective, have often missed the big picture How many times have you said ‘sorry’ to others – your team, suppliers, colleagues, the senior leaders in your organisation? I apologise regularly – sometimes it is for something I have had nothing to with (or knew anything about), but I took responsibility for it as my team were involved Saying ‘sorry’ says I own the issue and should also indicate to others that I will fix it Everyone can move on Humour Unless your job is to cure cancer, you need to keep things in perspective It is the only way you can efficiently solve issues and create an environment that supports broad thinking A leader who is generally relaxed and open to seeing the lighter side of life is one who will create an environment conducive to creativity I once worked for a leader whose emotions made a roller coaster route seem tame! Nobody ever knew how she would respond to their ideas or information – one day it could be with compliments and smiles, the next with insults and sarcasm Not surprisingly, her people became stressed before ever fronting her and this volatile behaviour created such a tense culture, killing any creative or bold thinking When I reflected on her leadership in later years, I realised she never made a joke, she never laughed at anything, least of all at herself Warmth There is a growing body of research that suggests the best way to lead is to start with warmth, as it is warmth that facilitates trust and communication A smile, a nod, an open gesture can demonstrate you are attentive, want to be in the company of others and are keen to understand other people Warmth helps you connect quite quickly with others around you Make a positive connection and you are then wellpositioned to influence How to become a leader worth following Aspire to a higher purpose Business experts say it is the route to exceptional performance and psychologists describe it as the path to greater well-being The key is to understand the greater role our people play in building and maintaining successful businesses It all starts with clarity and communication Being able to define your company’s purpose and ambition creates a focus based on why you the things you do, and not just what things you It was made very clear to me before I joined the bank what our business purpose was Singleminded and simple: create prosperity for Victoria – the people, the businesses, the communities I loved it The marketing team together with our creative agency made sure our next brand campaign ‘For The Makers’ was aligned to this business purpose Victorians wanting to ‘make it’ would ultimately create THE LEAD ISSUE prosperity for our state Everyone in our business (and those partners working alongside us) knows why we get out of bed every morning – the purpose we aspire to every day is to help our customers ‘make it’ If you can define your business purpose, followed by your brand purpose (important to everyone in the organisation, not just the marketers!) then you can find ways for your people to take part Seeing your brand as part of a wider ecosystem creates a stronger, more motivating context for staff to engage with their leaders and to support and advocate what the leadership needs to achieve Remembering the soft skills Miscommunication accounts for most errors in business, because leaders have assumed what they said was not only heard but fully understood If your team can’t approach you to confirm things or even question your decisions sometimes, then everyone starts playing the guessing game and this often ends in tears Honesty is always the best policy and is often linked to empathy Ask members of your team what, if they were you, they would in certain situations No leader has all the answers In fact, I have very few, but I am smart enough to hire really clever people who regularly create the questions! Have the courage of your convictions As their leader, back your team every time What is most critical is your team knows they are never alone The power comes from the group and a confident team will achieve far more than a group of people constantly looking over their shoulders in fear of being reprimanded Work worth doing, a leader worth following There’s nothing more satisfying or stimulating It’s really worth it 92 VALOS & LEE High definition Is the lack of clear definition for the CMO role a necessary evil? Michael Valos and Alvin Lee explore the issue business? The process of recruiting a CMO is not analogous to hiring a plumber We know a plumber’s skill set and we know they can fix a blocked drain Hiring a new CMO is much more complex and the skills needed will depend on the context, industry, company and country in which the candidate operates CMO roles are influenced by such issues as marketing performance measures, CEO background, the organisation’s degree of innovation and emphasis on differentiation, and other top management team members’ marketing expertise The variation in a CMO role characteristics and organisational contexts may lead to mismatches between the CMO and the marketing opportunity within companies – an incongruity that contributes to the long-term decline in a CMO’s influence within the top strategy team in a company The literature seems to imply that the blurriness of what a CMO is raises barriers in efforts to better the image and credibility of the marketing discipline and its practitioners While academic writing “ The CMO job description has been described as ambiguous Is this good or bad? ” MARKETING FEBRUARY | MARCH 2016 provides one view, we canvassed for contemporary insights into the role of a CMO from a diverse and influential group of Australian marketers Internal and external reasons for an inconsistent definition of CMO role Matthew Groskorth, senior director of global core brands marketing at Ansell, identifies internal and external influences on the CMO role “I believe the number one reason why the role of the CMO varies is down to the individual The CMO position in many organisations can be shaped by the personal style and the personal ambition of the individual,” he says Secondary reasons Groskorth mentions are industry factors such as pace of innovation and competitive pressures, organisational culture factors such as risk tolerance, role of marketing within the organisation and willingness to embrace ‘the new’, and the organisation’s objectives, such as geographic expansion or new category development These points suggest that it is healthy for marketing and the CMO to not be tightly defined, as variance in CMO roles allows CMOs to be effective in different organisational contexts and potentially different business or product units within the same organisation This suggests there should not be a cookie-cutter approach when producing chief marketers marketingmag.com.au T his year, the articles in this column seek to inspire a shift in the role of the CMO from one concerned with marketing execution and tactics (i.e in charge of marketing communications) to one that provides insight and influence in the boardroom To make this happen, CMOs need to hone their holistic and strategic skills The experts interviewed for this article highlight that highly valued CMOs guide their organisations through uncertain futures They also help shape organisational cultures and champion the customer’s viewpoint in strategic planning There are two viewpoints: academic and practitioner Many academic studies report that the CMO role varies between organisations, as the work carried out by CMOs seems to depend on the business context As such, the CMO job description has been described as ambiguous Is this good or bad? Does this mean organisations fill CMO roles based on the performance and/or characteristics of previous CMOs and ignore the potential for hiring a CMO who can contribute strategically to the Michael Valos Dr Michael Valos is senior lecturer at Deakin University and chair of Marketing’s industry advisory board Email: michael.valos@ deakin.edu.au @marketingmag Dr Alvin Lee is a lecturer at Deakin University and chair of the Master of Marketing program Contact him on a.lee@deakin.edu.au Every company’s context is different Dan Monheit, strategy director of Hardhat Digital, provides comments based on a range of companies In his experience, how a business defines the role and importance of its CMO has always been tied to how that business defines the role and importance of its marketing function “For some, it’s the driving force behind everything,” he says “For others, it’s an annoying cost line that needs to be minimised Budgets, expectations and responsibilities tend to flow accordingly.” These comments suggest some organisations never give marketing a chance to contribute to performance based on historic aversion to its use and potential However, there’s one force that may influence the role of marketing Monheit identifies: “Regardless of where they’ve been historically, the rise of digital presents a huge opportunity for every CMO to broaden their impact on both their consumers and their business.” What CEOs think of CMOs? “The CMO’s role is often dependent on the attitude of the CEO,” says Chris Khor, CEO of Chorus Executive “When a CEO views marketing as a strategic necessity, a CMO can create long-term value for the business When a CEO views marketing as an expense centre, CMOs can be relegated as a perfunctory role Good CMOs, however, will always approach their craft commercially to prove their worth in an organisation.” Khor was a senior marketing executive in a multinational organisation and later went on to develop a marketing recruitment and training organisation in which she places many executive candidates, so is well-placed to provide an insight on this issue She points out that there are generic competencies CMOs must provide in any organisation, yet aspects of the role are very dependent on the CEO’s requirements and beliefs about the potential and practice of marketing This may result in good candidates sensing a lack of scope in the position This can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy whereby underperforming CMOs are the only ones who will consider tightly defined and less influential positions High-quality CMOs may be attracted to organisations with a commitment to the role of marketing THE LEAD ISSUE Don’t forget the customer! Peter Zafiris, manager of sales and marketing at BlueScope, gives a B2B perspective “The role of the CMO is to continually create and disrupt the current,” he says “The CMO must fail fast, learn fast and fix fast – delivering innovation born from creativity “This role varies depending on the customer, not the organisation True understanding of the customer dictates the role and activity of the CMO Ultimately, if the CMO’s work is great, customers are engaged and profitable market share grows.” Zafiris believes customer dynamics and characteristics should be the real influence on the role of marketing and the type of CMO hired In this way he is letting forces outside the organisation define the requirements rather than allowing internal forces or historical attitudes toward marketing to make the hiring decision The influences of academics and industry associations in defining marketers’ roles Taylor Tran, a director of the Australian Marketing Institute, says that marketing has not done itself any favours by poorly defining what marketing is “If we reflect on definitions of marketing as outlined by Philip Kotler or the American Marketing Association, we see a collection of vague and broad concepts around processes and value creation,” Tran says “Ultimately, the true test of a marketer is his or her ability to create interest and demand for the organisation they’re hired to serve.” For marketers, this article sounds the alert that they need to match their skill set to the organisation and understand the differences between core and non-core marketing skills and perspectives Leading with price Price can be your strongest branding tool, writes Steve Sammartino T Steve Sammartino Steve has been involved in the marketing and communications arena for over 15 years His entrepreneurial ventures include Rentoid.com, an air-powered car made of Lego, and Aussie automotive start-up Tomcar His blog startupblog.wordpress com is one of Australia’s most followed business blogs His book The Great Fragmentation: And Why the Future of All Business is Small is out now through Wiley here are a lot of definitions of what a brand is, but I’m more interested in what a brand should In my mind it should the following: provide a set of cognitive shortcuts to its audience Contrary to what we may think, its audience doesn’t have to just be those who are in its potential market Strong brands send a message to everyone, both lovers and haters Often, a brand needs to also send a strong message to those who will never use, buy or consume it And this is most important when it comes to the extreme edges of pricing Yes, products and services that live in the deep ends of luxury and, let’s say, ‘value’ get an advantage brands that live in the middle ground never get They get to tell a story of what the brand means before any other interaction has even been had with it Brands with extreme pricing get the best cognitive shortcut of all: a free and immediate one People tell themselves a story of the brand immediately They tell themselves where it fits in the value chain They tell themselves the story of where it fits in their life They tell themselves the story of whether or not the brand is for them – if it MARKETING FEBRUARY | MARCH 2016 should be in their consideration set These simple facts tell us something very special about price as a tool Price and the brand perception have a stronger link than any other element in the marketing mix This is why, before we even start designing what we make, we should know where it fits in terms of price Price shouldn’t be, and simply can’t be, an afterthought Price can’t be the place you end up at after you’ve made something and added the appropriate profit margin to it In a market with near perfect information we ought to lead with price The term ‘price leadership’ is a favourite of the marketing strategist and has historically meant that a brand aims to be most pricecompetitive out there It’s about time we flipped that definition Today, leading with price ought to mean we are selling at a certain price on purpose It should mean we don’t want to get lost in a mire of offers with a similar value equation We want to stand out instead, and it as quickly as we can, in mere moments even It is only price that can get that job done Let’s consider brand perception by looking at some products at the high end of the market I have a clear perception of some brands I’ve never purchased or had a first hand experience with I’ve never owned a Mercedes, I’ve never flown first class or on a private jet, I’ve never stayed at the Mandarin Oriental, I’ve never had a sip of Dom Perignon, I’ve never owned Hermès luggage and I’ve never owned a Rolex watch And with zero personal consumption experience of these brands, I can tell you which part of the market they belong in The first time I heard of any of these brands, the price was the lead element in the discussion The marketingmag.com.au 94 SAMMARTINO ON THE SHIFT @marketingmag price tells the story of where these products belong and for whom they are intended The price may, in fact, just be the most important feature for those who are buying My personal favourite example is in real estate, where ‘POA’, or price on application, actually translates to, ‘If you have to ask, you can’t afford it’ Where it gets really interesting is that, often, brands like these have price points that are 10 times that of the substitutes They can even sell for 100 times that of other viable options What you can be sure of, though, is that exactly none of these cost 10 or 100 times to make And it is certainly a valid market to be in, as the wealth of the one percent seems to know no bounds Pricing at the other extreme end of the market has just as much perception impact For many, the cheapest is the most important feature It doesn’t matter so much that it may cost the end user more in the long run; their joy comes from knowing they got the best price – discount airlines come to mind They get even more joy when they boast to their friends about the bargain they got Yes, when every consumer is the CEO of their own media organisation, they tend to share stories at the extreme ends of the consumer experience And for those who are not bargain hunters, some people refuse to buy things, not because the product doesn’t serve the need, but simply because it is too cheap for them to consider, and in this segment we’ve all been guilty from one time or another Buying it may just devalue our personal brands! As soon as a brand decides to play at the widest end of price spectrum (in either direction) the audience and even pop culture does the promoting for you Bargains get shared with friends, and egos are stroked online by displaying how good one’s life is There are few things that people like more than showing friends and people they wish were their friends how clever, successful, well off, hard working or worthy they are We look for social validation more than most things in our modern world, and brands that provide that with their pricing alone can ride the free promotion train in perpetuity Our subconscious story goes something like this: Here is what I have bought or where I have been, you know what this costs, this is what it says “ Before we even start designing what we make, we should know where it fits in terms of price Price simply can’t be an afterthought ” about me, now you know where I fit in the social hierarchy… All cleverly disguised as sharing moments with others you care about to make their life more enjoyable When we lead with price, we know exactly where we need to be sold The price has a massive impact on where we’ll get ranged Discount retailers have a proposition to uphold just as much as high end department stores The price expectations are made before the customer walks through the door When our pricing strategy THE LEAD ISSUE is by choice and not chance, we know who we need in our supply chain When price is your most compelling feature, everything the organisation does that the end user doesn’t see needs to be about making that price promise come true While we may form quick and early perceptions about what the brand does, unless we deliver to the price expectation, we’re unlikely to generate any kind of loyalty If you want to compete as the cheapest available on the market, then the price tag itself is the least important part of the ‘low pricing strategy’ It’s the back end, and every single thought and action in your business needs to be about efficiency and reducing cost, all day, every day If we can manage to this, then we can make the brand perception of value an on going profitable reality The caveat we ought remember is that a price sensitive customer is always the least loyal If we play in the high end, then every single thing the organisation does needs to be about making the experience the most user friendly, memorable and desirable experience in the category Every single thought needs to be ‘how can we make this not just better, but an nth degree experience and well beyond expectations?’ It becomes a strategy about pre-empting needs before the end user knows they need it As consumers, we are trained to understand price as soon as we know what commerce is From the moment we get a little pocket money, we wonder what we can afford to buy and why We are reminded every day on TV and every time we walk past a price tag It’s time we started thinking more about price in the design phase RIP expertise To lead is less a matter of accumulating knowledge and more about enabling innovation in the face of challenges, writes Sergio Brodsky Sérgio Brodsky is an internationally experienced brand marketing professional who has worked for some of the world’s greatest strategic communications agencies Sérgio is a proven thought leader, speaking at industry events, lecturing and regularly being published worldwide He is passionate about cities and culture, and the role of brands and technology in society Sérgio is multilingual and holds a BA in IP law and an MBA in global brand strategy and innovation Follow him on Twitter: @brandKzar E xperience is a comb you earn after losing your hair’ – that was the answer I received from a former triathlon coach when asked if, after so many kilometres, he was able to find shortcuts in a race He then explained that it is extremely important to build your foundations, which takes time, but occasionally less experienced competitors have an edge because they have not been regimented in conventional ways of training and competing The same, I believe, is true for business and leadership in particular Just knowing your stuff is no longer a competitive advantage when it comes to leading projects, people and companies, put against the availability of algorithmic thinking and ubiquitous knowledge Know-how, expertise and the ruling of competencies are, like so many other things, also commoditising Even our once unique, individual journeys to mastery have been transformed into something as simple (yet not as easy) as a cake recipe That’s the central idea in Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers: The Story of Success, which proposes that practising anything for 10,000 hours can lead to outstanding technical skill and, eventually, success However, success factors are a lot more varied and even popular culture has proved the expertise advantage insufficient TV shows Redesign My Brain, Man V Expert and Faking It demonstrate that expertise doesn’t have to be the fruit of strenuous journeys In fact, non-experts are able to quickly acquire specific skills and perform to the same high standards as MARKETING FEBRUARY | MARCH 2016 their experienced counterparts when put to the test The highly informative and entertaining documentary The Trouble with Experts validates the idea that the more certain their pronouncements, the more likely experts are to be wrong It also shows how trust, another leadership quality, is often built on superficial signals of confidence, such as height, voice and adorning yourself with some bling If that’s not enough, Philip Tetlock, an American professor from the University of Pennsylvania and author of Superforecasting: the art and science of prediction, has been gathering evidence for the last 20 years proving that the average 'expert' is about as good at predicting what the future holds as a dart-throwing chimp is at hitting the bullseye! In the context of the knowledge-intense marketing and communications industry, we have traditionally sold our value through branded frameworks, patented tools and trademarked services, which over a pitch context may cause a positive impact, but in the everyday dealings of business and co-creation will just confuse and most likely detract value from the knowledge being imparted Advice is our currency and, instead of imposing or coming up with new and fancier frameworks, service-based businesses (agencies especially) could use their ‘experts’ as variables of a broader trust equation as described in The Trusted Advisor by David Master Based on the equation, expertise is the constant and the way it is applied its variables Therefore, openness to problem solving has replaced expertise as a competitive advantage But, to be ahead of the curve and assert leadership, courage to venture in the unknown and write the future as it happens is what will eventually separate managers from leaders Managers’ marketingmag.com.au 96 BRODSKY ON RE/INVENTION “ Trust, another leadership quality, is often built on superficial signals of confidence, such as height, a deeper voice and adorning yourself with some bling @marketingmag ” ‘trusted pair of hands’ are in parity with automation, while a leader's audacious pair of hands are able to make algorithms eat dust when doing the programmatically unexpected Perth-based content marketing agency Lush Digital hosts its own series of podcasts and the episode ‘Building Authority versus Being an Expert’ makes a really good point when saying that authority is about having a vision of the future, an area where specific expertise cannot be verified until after the fact The above is also the dominant thinking among venture capitalists backing the start-ups with the potential to lead new markets For example, Indian-American innovator and billionaire philanthropist, Manoj Bhargava frequently says, “Whenever someone claims being an expert I lose interest That is because experts are those who know about the past and my interest is in transforming the future.” Established expertise has little application in the large-scale commercialisation of radically innovative, patentable technologies When James Joyce coined the term ‘work in progress’ it was because he knew its purpose was not to complete it, but to learn from it Scholarship is, in this sense, most valuable insofar as it helps one build and evolve leadership skills For those in leadership positions, however, it is not enough to just create and sell a vision to people and expect they will then feel inspired to execute it Instead, fostering willingness to innovate is what lies in the crux of future-proofing your strategy And for that to happen, one needs to ASSERT THE INDIVIDUALS PROVIDE SUPPORT ALLOW EXPERIMENTATION SHOW PATIENCE ENCOURAGE INTRAPRENEURIALISM while in parallel to against in a context of without fear to THE LEAD ISSUE accept the paradoxes of managing an innovative culture, where structure and improvisation make up for constant tensions A good leadership journey can be like a sequence of bad hair days Using the tensions illustrated below in this metapaphor, there is no clear-cut answer as to whether it’s better to brush to the left or to the right Too many left strokes may limit opportunities to solve problems and reinvent the future, while excessive strokes to the right will blur the focus and open the way for conflict and chaos There’s not one ideal configuration of competencies able to predict one’s ability to lead Flexibility, however, can greatly contribute to harnessing solutions against the most pressing challenges and times Paraphrasing my triathlon coach, not over-rely on your experience and expertise; they are mirrors of what was and a foggy version of what is Replace your comb with your fingers and your mirror with the glass window; this will not only let you reinvent your style, but also replace a self-oriented perspective with one that is constantly considering what lies ahead ASSERTING THE GROUP THROWING CHALLENGES SET KPIS URGENCY INTERVENE FROM THE TOP-DOWN Way Out Dr Con Stavros Associate professor of marketing in the School of Economics, Finance and Marketing at RMIT University Shopping success Aldi was my marketer of the year in 2015 and it’s hard to imagine the brand will take a backward step in 2016 now that it has entrenched itself in the Australian retail landscape I must admit I was a little sceptical of its humble entry way back in 2001 Now fast approaching 400 stores and with plans to expand into Western Australia and South Australia, the brand has led the way in redefining the concept of value Where this was once all about being thrifty, a tag many stores have sought to claim, the Aldi focus is on being a clever consumer Essentially, the brand empowers shoppers to visit its stores by making it emblematic of social savviness and street smarts An apparent move to freshen up some stores, taking them just slightly more upscale, is well-timed Having enticed large numbers of curious first-time shoppers in recent years, including a decent share of higher-income earners, Aldi is well-placed in 2016 and beyond to turn them into habitual loyalists Terror Flying in to Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport just a day after the terrorist attacks of last November provided many moments of introspection Normally people head away from chaos, but a long committed-to trip won the head-versus-heart battle On the journey I began to ponder, not for the first time, about the rationale of the agents of terror and the role that marketing could play in this complex issue While military strategists, politicians, psychologists, influential leaders and diplomats invariably sit around tables pondering a pathway to peace, I wondered if marketers too deserve a seat? We have been told that marketing has played a part in creating this problem of extremism – increasingly assisting in the recruitment of young men and women through a sophistication in positioning and messaging that has been adroitly coupled with new media channels that provide immediacy and reach The elite marketing minds of our time, both in academia and industry, would face the greatest challenge of their lives, but it’s not beyond the realm of imagination to think that they could make some contribution to a solution Our MARKETING FEBRUARY | MARCH 2016 industry is fundamentally about affecting behaviour, so persuasive appeals that promoted alternative pathways of action to violence are needed I am not suggesting an emotional communications campaign that appeassed the heart strings of onlookers – such sentiment would be of little value for an issue of such depth This would need to be a heavy-duty plan targeting multiple interrelated segments, featuring a repositioning strategy that would impact fundamental beliefs and would be deployed with tactical precision over a decade or more There are no easy answers here To their advantage, the marketers would start with a good understanding of the brand ideology that they were seeking to reshape The dust had barely settled on the Parisian streets before commentators were clearly enunciating exactly what the terror tactics were seeking to through the creation of division and fear This doesn’t make the task much easier, but it provides a clear point to pivot away from Bon our Travels and shopping expeditions in recent months have reminded me that some Australian retailers are doing themselves a great disservice by missing fundamentals of customer service It’s readily apparent in Europe and North America that sales staff have two things of value that some local retailers appear to underrate The first is genuine product knowledge Some Australian retailers seem obsessed with hiring predominantly young, inexperienced staff and placing them at key customer contact points The second is the simple warm greeting of that European and North American retailers supply in ample quantities You’ll need staff that can adopt it character and recognise that a greeting is simply that, not a forced entrée into a sales pitch marketingmag.com.au 98 WAY OUT Subscribe Subscribe today and enjoy: year for just $59 RRP $64.75 years for just $109 RRP $129.50 PLUS receive a FREE copy of Customer Experience is the Brand by Alex Allwood RRP $28.00 shop.niche.com.au / free call 1800 804 160 Customer Experience is the Brand ($28.00) The experience economy is here Customers are now in the driver’s seat, they’re super-connected, very influential and today’s market place is more competitive than ever before Customer Experience is the Brand, has been written for brand leaders The book examines customer experience strategy, with ‘The Pillars of Customer Experience’ forming the foundation to bridge the gap between yesterday’s marketing and the next evolution of the brand: customer experience Digital editions also available Offer expires 31 March 2016 or when otherwise stipulated by Niche Media and is valid for print subscribers in Australia only An email address is mandatory for digital versions through Zinio Niche Media ABN 13 064 613 529 I understand my subscription will start with the next available issue or, for renewals, will be added to the amount of issues I have remaining, and will be mailed once payment has been received and processed Privacy: Your name and personal details are retained by Niche Media to fulfil your subscription, and send you renewal notices, offers and Marketing products and services No refunds provided Niche Media will not allow ‘cued’ issues on banked up subscriptions to extend longer than three years from time of purchase It takes an unusual agency to explain, in under 120 words, exactly why you need another agency HAVE YOU FOUND ~ perhaps to your cost ~ that there are important tasks too small, time-constrained or unglamorous for your main agency, and too complex, cross-disciplinary or conceptual for your specialists? 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That’s where we come in (via the back door, if you prefer) We’re a generalist creative boutique, and we can bring brand-sensitive perspectives, high level strategic thinking, prolific idea generation, guidelinealigned design, careful crafting, deliver-at-all-costs production, puppy-like enthusiasm and (as we hope you’ve noticed) precise and pedantically polished copywriting to all those projects to which your current agencies are unsuited or under-qualified Think you can squeeze us in? 1ST FLO O R, 127 BON D I R D, BON D I [ 02 ] 938 1 WW W V I TA M I NX CO M AU ... marketing in 2020 24 42 FEATURE Meaningful connections with Millennials 64 74 MARKETER PROFILE Caroline Patrick February/ March 2016 THE LEAD ISSUE COLUMNS 40 80 90 PHILLIPS ON LEADERSHIP No leader... companies the situation is a little MARKETING FEBRUARY | MARCH 2016 marketingmag.com.au for speed if you market products, as once you establish the new offer there is reasonable time thereafter... second The third is those who see the environmental benefit MARKETING FEBRUARY | MARCH 2016 marketingmag.com.au 26 BRAND STORY: TESLA @marketingmag I think those work in harmony with each other,