I seriously think Marketing professionals are the most taken for granted in any corporation by their bosses. For the same reason why I love this job so much, they seem to be the people to go to when it comes to addressing any form of ambiguious query which does not fall under anybody's jurisdiction because Marketing people are expected to know everything and anything that goes on in order to function well in our job.
Sometimes, this taking for granted also extends to running errands for Accounts/Admin/Whoever because we are also supposed to be out of the office walking in the trade (checking up on our own products, stealing ideas *heheh!*) instead of sitting in the office all day and pretending to act busy (but in actual fact playing Halo with the volume turned down).
Product cost? Ask Marketing! Trade margins? Ask Marketing! Consumer can't find your products in the trade? Ask Marketing! Import procedures and AVA clearance? Ask Marketing! Cross category promotion? Ask Marketing! Buy stamps? Ask Marketing! Computer can't work? Ask Marketing!
At the end of the day, people can't exactly fathom what Marketing people actually do. Some actually think Marketing people should actually fall under the Sales Dept. Others don't even see the need to hire Marketing people, their Ah Beng salesmen just double up as Marketing personnel, thus the designation of 'Sales & Marketing Executive' was created. Seriously, whoever started this trend doesn't have an inkling whatsoever what Marketing really entails.
'Eskew me, bluller, I want to do a TVC campaign for my new plo-luck. How much har? Buy more got liscount or not? Ask your meh-jeng-jer can?'
Just like the argument of Branding vs Advertising, many people are not actually aware of the difference between Sales and Marketing, which is really sad. Like many other customs and mindsets deeply entrenced into our consciousness, Marketing people will conitnue to be seen as a bane more than a boon to many.
*MORAL OF THE STORY: It's tough to be a Marketing guy. Sales people justify themselves by bringing in sales numbers, but Marketing's sole purpose of existence is to spend the company's money to build the brand. Like Marketing Magazine's article, these ROIs are not always measurable as there are other intagible things to be taken into consideration. Shit happens (shouting matches and vulgarities involving spiders fill the air) when your boss doesn't understand that.
Nevertheless, I still love my job. Nothing beats hearing satisfied consumers raving about your products and seeing your brand go from 0 to 12% market share within a year.*
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