J. Mark Carr, Partner at CMG Partners, will lead a webinar tomorrow (9/15) for Sales & Marketing Executives International (SMEI) at 4:00PM EST. 

The webinar introduces the concept of adding a “5th P” centered on the customer purchase process into the 4 P’s of go-to-market planning, outlines the key elements of the process view and then uses several case examples of how the use of this added dimension has improved the marketing and sales planning process. 

Participants will learn:

• What the Fifth P is and how it can help sales and marketing to develop more effective strategies
• The warning signs that point to the need for a company to re-visit the Fifth P
• How to apply the Fifth P in sales and marketing planning, including the key questions that Fifth P asks of the other 4 Ps
• Examples of how companies applied the Fifth P, and how it helped re-frame go-to-market strategies

Click here to register

For more information, please click here

My brother shared with me a recent NY Post article on how Zagat, the eponymous restaurant guide that once ruled food ratings is now struggling to fight off online competitors including Yelp.com and Chowhound.com.   Much like newspapers Zagat faces an endemic problem: people can now get comparable information for free elsewhere, which has Zagat sweating more than garlic.

The situation made me think of other successful brands such as AOL, Gap, Motorola, and Sears that didn’t anticipate key market trends which cost them leadership positions.  Jim Collins’ newest book, How the Mighty Fall, provides a great look into why companies fail.  He says that often times they don’t notice until it’s too late.

Unfortunately that may be the case for Zagat.  Take for example that over the past 12 months, Yelp and Chowhound have outpaced Zagat’s web traffic by more than 4 to 1.  On the surface you could say that this isn’t that bad given Zagat’s 15% annual growth rate.  It may be able to find its place as a niche brand, which may be suffice given it’s focus more on affluent segments and loyal “foodies” but the downward trend in the graphic below may be a tall-tell sign that there may be bigger underlying problems.

Unique Monthly Visitors (July 2008 - July 2009)

Data source: Compete.com

For many brands including Zagat, such a downturn could be simply a cyclical side effect or it could be the cusp of a steeper decline that is just beginning.  Collins would argue that leading companies never take success for granted; they have a healthy dose of insecurity and neuroticism that keep them in check.  We would add that leading companies always keep a close ear to the market.  They collect and apply customer insights on a regular basis, which is where marketing can play a much more prominent role in keeping companies moving down the right path.

Our firm decided to organize a team building exercise for our next full-team meeting.  We’ve been divided up into groups each tasked with developing a three course meal around a select ingredient, which it turns out is lemons.

The task at hand got me thinking about marketing; in particular how it’s frequently viewed as both an art and a science.  Cooking and baking are very much the same way.  Baking is about precision.  You have to measure ingredients with care and follow the recipe closely or else you may wind up eating goo or concrete instead of a moist cake.  Cooking on the other hand allows for more creativity.  You have much greater flexility to add or subtract ingredients and alter the amounts of each, but again it takes an experienced hand to know how to blend the right elements together.

As marketers we know this is very analogous to marketing.  It’s about knowing how to balance the art and science of marketing.  There are moments when a disciplined approach is more appropriate.  The current environment is one that has put the science of marketing at the forefront of Chief Marketing Officers’ agendas.  It’s become critical to prove that marketing can deliver value that drives business growth.  But you can’t overdo it and boil marketing down to a science.  Your marketing will become bland, stale, and downright unappealing.

We can’t forget that great marketing engages customers on an emotional level, and unforgettable campaigns draw upon creative ideas that are nothing short of genius.  As customers become more accustomed to the same marketing dishes, it’s our job as marketers to refresh our recipes in order to create demand.  This is even more important now as customers have greater access to the set of ingredients (the 4Ps) that marketers once had exclusively at their disposal.

As you begin to hone your marketing strategy and develop future campaigns think about if you’ve got the right balance of art and science.  I particularly like how Seth Godin thought about this issue in a blog posting from earlier this year.  You don’t want to end up with someone returning the plate but rather asking for seconds.  Bon Appetit.