Or are we really about to drop the ball…again
Profitable. Revenue. Growth. Business organizations exist to get and keep customers in their respective categories. The acquisition and retention of customers, assuming business model, market and product strategies are right, should support successful achievement of the primary mission. Looking at this from the outside in, all other imperatives and objectives would be secondary.

Ironically we find ourselves more often than not focused on other issues. Delivering media impressions. Securing specific media targets. Nailing key messages. Not that these things aren’t important. In terms of mission and strategy the company itself can also be ethical. You can be innovative. You can be environmentally conscious. You can offer a great place to work. You can have top-notch research and development capability. You can have precision-like processes and procedures. You can have technological prowess. You can have your fingers exactly on the pulse of consumer preferences. But in the end the sum of all these parts must lead to what? Profitable. Revenue. Growth.

Alignment…

Therefore it only makes sense that marketing and PR objectives are in sync with the organization’s business goals. In his book “The New Rules of Marketing and PR” author David Meerman Scott says: “Many marketers and PR people focus on the wrong measures of success like we want ten mentions in the trade press and three national magazine hits each month. What we need to do is align marketing and PR objectives with those of the organization. For most corporations that most important goal is profitable revenue growth.”

Scott’s example of the phenomenon at work is interesting. “This lack of clear goals and measurement reminds me of seven-year-olds playing soccer. If you’ve ever seen little children on the soccer field, you know that they operate as one huge organism packed together, chasing the ball around the field. On the sidelines are helpful coaches yelling, “Pass!” or “Go to the goal!” yet as the coaches and parents know, this effort is futile: No matter what the coach says or how many times the kids practice, they still focus on the wrong thing – the ball – instead of the goal.”

Start the strategic planning conversation about objectives on the business side first. This will help keep all minds and strategies focused on point. And will help drive investments in marketing and communications down the right pipe.

It’s amazing what can happen when the conversation about what you’re trying to accomplish centers on the business agenda first.