I first wanted to work in HR, so I studied Management Studies with courses in Organizational Behaviour and Psychology. On graduating, I returned to T&T only to find out that the “Personnel Manager”, which is what they were called at the time, did some really strategic stuff like organising the company Sport’s Day and making sure that the NIS payments were in order.
So I shifted and landed in Marketing. Just at the time when marketing was the buzz word on everyone’s lips. It was the place to be, because marketing people were the saviours of the world. They could work magic and turn around the fortunes of companies with their slick moves and new product launches.
Now things have come full circle. The HR guys are the people with the voodoo. They are the ones seen as best placed to help companies get to the Promised Land because the biggest challenge now is not your competitor across the street or on the other side of the globe but the people sitting inside your company.
Well I don’t plan to switch to HR because I think there is a way for marketing to get back its mojo. As marketers we have to be maniacal about differentiation. And we have to deliver our point of difference in everything we do, not just the communications. Most importantly, we have to be more accountable for the dollars we expend in pursuit of brand building and sales. What did we get for what we invested?
Then people might take us marketing people seriously again.
