Swiss Marketing (SMC)
As President of Swiss Marketing (SMC), I warmly welcome the readers of *Werbewoche*. I am convinced that our professional association has a lot to say on topics related to education and continuing education. Going forward, we will publish our own Swiss Marketing articles here every four weeks. After all, Swiss Marketing is the number one choice for marketing, networking, and education.
As President of Swiss Marketing (SMC), I would like to extend a warm welcome to the readers of Werbewoche. I am convinced that our professional association has a lot to say on topics relating to training and further education. In future, we will be publishing our own Swiss Marketing articles here every four weeks. Because Swiss Marketing is the number 1 in marketing, networking and training. Young people in particular are aware of the great importance of further training as an investment in an exciting professional future. Swiss Marketing is responsible for the organization of all important examinations in the field of marketing and sales: MarKom admission examinations, professional examinations for marketing and sales specialists with a federal certificate, higher professional examinations for marketing and sales managers with a federal diploma. If you have any questions, please visit our website www.swissmarketing.ch, link Higher Vocational Education and Training, or contact our secretariat directly ([email protected]). I look forward to many contacts and feedback on our articles.
Uwe Tännler, President Swiss Marketing
From financiers and marketers on the management board
Uwe Tännler, President Swiss Marketing
From financiers and marketers on the management board
Finance professionals and marketers have different tasks and also do not. They are all called upon to help achieve the company's goals and naturally do so within the framework of their different disciplines. The ultimate corporate goals are always related to a market; without a market, there is no company.
If a company cannot exist without a market, why can management exist without marketers? We all - including marketers - know what a CFO is today. But do we know what a CMO is? In the wake of the current mortgage crisis, we are perhaps more likely to think of collateralized mortgage obligations than the Chief Marketing Officer. Take a look at the executive job advertisements. How many CFOs are being sought and how many CMOs? Can you imagine a listed company without a CFO? No? But why do many of these companies not have a CMO? What is the ideal route to the position of CEO? Is it marketing or finance?
Marketers must seriously ask themselves why, in a market economy, it is not the market specialists who almost automatically become company managers. Is it because marketing is still too often seen as mumbo-jumbo, something that is practiced intuitively but partially defies rationality? Or is it because it is easier for financiers to monitor marketing than vice versa? I confess that I don't know the answer and merely have a few suspicions.
However, I would like to point out one difference between financiers and marketers: They have different continuing education behaviors. For financiers, it is almost a matter of course to attend a training event at least once a year. I hear different things from marketers. Do willingness to learn and self-image of learning play a role when it comes to filling the position of CEO? I apologize for concluding this column with another question rather than an answer.
Dr. Peter Petrin: Vice President Swiss Marketing (SMC) and Director of the SIB (Swiss Institute of Business Economics)
If a company cannot exist without a market, why can management exist without marketers? We all - including marketers - know what a CFO is today. But do we know what a CMO is? In the wake of the current mortgage crisis, we are perhaps more likely to think of collateralized mortgage obligations than the Chief Marketing Officer. Take a look at the executive job advertisements. How many CFOs are being sought and how many CMOs? Can you imagine a listed company without a CFO? No? But why do many of these companies not have a CMO? What is the ideal route to the position of CEO? Is it marketing or finance?
Marketers must seriously ask themselves why, in a market economy, it is not the market specialists who almost automatically become company managers. Is it because marketing is still too often seen as mumbo-jumbo, something that is practiced intuitively but partially defies rationality? Or is it because it is easier for financiers to monitor marketing than vice versa? I confess that I don't know the answer and merely have a few suspicions.
However, I would like to point out one difference between financiers and marketers: They have different continuing education behaviors. For financiers, it is almost a matter of course to attend a training event at least once a year. I hear different things from marketers. Do willingness to learn and self-image of learning play a role when it comes to filling the position of CEO? I apologize for concluding this column with another question rather than an answer.
Dr. Peter Petrin: Vice President Swiss Marketing (SMC) and Director of the SIB (Swiss Institute of Business Economics)
