Get your ABCDs right

Starting a company or continuing an established one needs a lot of thinking and brainstorming. But the basics will never change. These basics are the foundation on which continuous business pillars are built. No matter what developments technology make,its important to understand that no fad or trend can replace a basic. Yes you can always modify a basic but you still have it there right?

Marketing's four P's are the basics on which any company can look forward to do its marketing.
Getting these right should be the priority.

Product
Price
Place
Promotion

Adding to these are just 2 more aspects :
Customer
Budget

Designing your company's strategy around the above aspects are mostly enough.

Agency and In House Marketing - Too many cooks?

A brand is like a baby. You take responsibility of it as a parent would do. So who is this 'you'? Is it the marketing unit of the company or independent agency?

 Every company has a marketing department even if it doesn't have a wall. The team indirectly responsible for revenue generation (and also considerable spending!) ,directly responsible for sales team go -aheads is one which takes care of the marketing of not just the products today but also of the company tomorrow. With such futuristic goals, is it safe to have agency taking care of the brand?

Some very brief ideas on the above puzzle :

Why is it good to consult an agency/freelance

- Better and breather  ideas

- More freedom in terms of creativity

Why not?

- Lesser accountability

- Brand may get a 'stepmotherly' treatment

So what can be done to nurture a brand ?

- Involvement of the CEO or Company head instead of just holding the CMO accountable

- Constant skill development of marketing team (even CMO) where trends and market scenarios are dealt with

- Constant research

- Efforts to regularly reinvent the brand

- Can keep agency on project basis.

Overall a deeper relationship needs to be bridged between the brand and whoever...well..adopts the baby.