Memo to CMO "It's Over". Part Two - Walter Sabo - MediaBizBloggers

What39s confusing to many marketers is that these five obstacles used to be positive helpful and logical management tools In Part Three we outline an aggressive solution1 THE MEDIA PLANThis is not to be confused with the media planner The skills of a good media planner are remarkable and should be coveted The problem lies inamp160how you create and structureamp160the planLines on a spreadsheet act like an iron curtain preventing strategic actions They give birth to phrases likequotWe don39t have a budget for thatquotquotWe have spent all of our budget for that mediumquotquotIt39s a great idea it39s terrific but we don39t have the budgetquotIf it39s a great idea and you don39t have the budget you have a bad budgetThe result of spreadsheet based media plans is that BILLIONS of dollars are wasted in depreciating properties Every quarter viewership and readership is going down at predictable rates Current media planning enforces the waste of money on media that goes down in value every day because it reaches fewer potential customersMost TV and print budgets are not only locked in for 18 months they are actually locked into a type of thinking created during the 193039s Most plans still call for the purchase of quotmagazinesquot and quotshowsquot rather than audience I was shocked when I discovered this because my background is radio and we have been selling audience rather than shows since the dawn of top402 THE EXPERIMENTAL BUDGETIn science an experiment has controls goals and measures of success Experimental budgets spooned out to new magazines cable stations or Internet initiatives are rarely grounded in goals for success The size of the funds 25000150000 tests nothing and the spender never says quotIf you achieve 39x39 the prize is 39y39quot The money gets spent and it will be at least 18 months before the potential for the new medium is revisited Which brings us to the biggest obstacle between a product and its customer3 THE ANNUAL BUSINESS PLANThe business plan development you use is derived from an approach invented by MBA39s over 50 years ago for manufacturing firms If you39re rolling copper cables it makes sense to have a long term plan for the acquisition of trucks warehouses union crews storage facilities mileage costs equipment replacement etc amp8212 does any of that sound like it applies to your business Of course notYour business is about delivering a message to the customer who will most likely buy your or your client39s product If 18 months ago the hot medium for reaching your customer is no longer the hot medium you have a problem If you39ve spent all of your money on that passamp233 conduit to the customer your problem is significantIn the old days a business plan was prepared between Thanksgiving and Christmas Really Now the planning starts in June for the next year There are two very significant problems with thisFirst instead of doing their jobs for six weeks in the middle of the year key staff members are asked to plan the future They do off sites big PowerPoint39s integrate their thinking with biz dev and strategic planning All of that is great if you39re running a graduate course but notice how much trouble most businesses seem to have in the third quarter of any given year Always some bump Makes sense take your top guns off the job to visit an imaginary world and the problems you are paying them to prevent emerge Sounds simplistic but it39s trueSecond no media company can afford to lock in a business plan 18 months out It ALLOWS the staff to ignore key trendsquotHey it39s just not in our planquotIt gives quotcreativesquot permission to take it easy in the face of new marketplace information because they have learned over and over that when they propose course corrections the response from the business people will bequotSounds interesting let39s put it in next year39s planquotWhat39s the purpose of the plan Do you want to reach more customers or stick to your plan Too often the white knights who brought planning to your messy company are far more vested in protecting the planning cycle and process than in selling productsThere I said it for you You39ve thought that for years but were afraid to say it because you need your budgets approved Your job is to make a profit not write a plan4 THE LONG MEETINGWhen people don39t know what to do in a fast changing world they have a lot of meetings In these meetings they have very long ponderous conversations that make them feel very smart No actions result from these meetings An industry is in trouble when the number of meetings and length of meetings constantly increase Execs are in even more trouble when they stop leaving the office during the day for fear they might miss a meeting5 IT39S STILL LIKE IBM IN THE 5039SThe stereotype of the man in the grey flannel suit still exists Now he is wearing all black from Kenneth Cole and enjoying a free cafeteria gourmet lunch and nursery on premises Instead of aisles leading to coveted corner offices new media companies christen open space in warehouse districts across AmericaBut whether a company lays out traditional office space or claims their coolness with lofts and industrial columns each physical plant results in the same problem Only one or two types of people can thrive in any given environmentFlash There are very talented people who cannot focus and think on an open floor or in a shared office There are very talented people who cower at the site of a traditional office plan with one exec per office Neither is right or wrong Regardless of the physical plant each layout excludes a group of people who simply are not wired to work thereComing nextamp8230 we39ll lay out an aggressive solution that will put any company in synch with its customer baseWalter Sabo is the Founder and Creator of the business concept He is an experienced leader of new organizations and is currently CEO of Hitviews Walter can be reached at walterhitviewscom

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Memo to CMO "It's Over". Part Two - Walter Sabo - MediaBizBloggers

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