Luncheon Meeting

Friday, September 21, 2007

It’s Not Easy Being “C”:  Challenges – and Opportunities -  Faced by Chief Marketers & Their Effects on the Organization

The life of the C-level marketing executive has never been more challenging.  Gone are the days when marketing simply had to please the customer.  Now lining up behind the buyer are the CEO, the CFO, investors, industry analysts, media pundits and…. The list goes on and on.

The seriousness of the issue was underscored recently in a new report from the University of Texas, which interviewed more than 150 top companies with minimum annual revenues of $250 million.  The study’s conclusion—the presence of a CMO in a company’s senior management team has no effect on the firm’s financial performance.

A panel of local top marketing professionals including, Bharat Kakar from Cincinnati Bell, Jay McKeever from Cincom,and John Rudy from Total Quality Logistics discussed the issue and other topics which included:

• The increased pressures faced by Chief Marketing Officers
• The ripple effect on entire marketing departments and the practice in general
• Coping strategies developed to counteract these emerging trends
• Tools that all marketers can use to demonstrate return on investment in their own spheres of influence

Moderating the panel is international advertising executive Alan Gee.  Alan is the “G” of GJP Advertising, an integrated marketing communications agency with offices in Toronto, Cincinnati and San Francisco.  One of Canada’s 50 best managed companies the past three years, GJP offers compelling and creative business solutions to clients that deliver results.

Gee serves as GJP Partner and Chief Creative Officer.  He has worked in Canadian advertising for nearly 30 years with clients in the automobile, airline, food and telecommunications industries.  His work has garnered awards from almost every major show including the Cannes International Advertising Festival and the Clios.