Marketing Studies

I recently started managing the internet department of the largest (and only) daily business newspaper in my country. Surprisingly, management still tops marketing when it comes to the basics of success ...

Anyway, I'm currently knee-deep in planning for 2004, while trying to maximize our income using the tools already available.

Things seem to be going pretty well --- we're currently 50% over our income plan (and it's only the 6th of the month) for this month and we just sold our first "Surround Session" to one of the largest advertisers in the country (a mobile operator). Oh, and beyond-the-banner ads are all the rave in the web advertising industry in the country right now ... even so much that the web site users are starting to complain because of the near saturation ... but nothing we couldn't solve.

But the one thing I'm noticing now is that the key obstacle to our long term growth are our people ... the producers. Yes, marketing is important, but management issues are still at the top of the list.

I'm a marketer by heart, so accepting this did take some strain on my part. But that's the way the world goes round ... and every day present a new opportunity to learn something new.

I did a web marketing workshop for the key e-logistics provider in the country a couple of weeks ago. And there again I saw that management problems are at the top of their list as well. Their people do have experience and are smart, but they just don't have the will to carry the project forward as it should be carried.

On the other hand, the company's management is superb, and yet they are still having problems with their employees. I guess we're all just human in the end.

Yes, management is the key to success of every company. It won't matter how good a marketer I am at my new job if I don't pull my management act together. It probably won't have you much at what you do either if you won't be able to motivate your people, make them perform and get the best out of them.

Can managers do a perfect job? In theory, yes. In practice, perhaps. It all comes down to your people and how you work with them.