Marketing goes on outside of the marketing department

Marketing is a role that the marketing department in many organizations guards ferociously. There is good reason for it, not the least of which is the fact that many others try and do marketing's job or act as a type of grandstand manager to tell marketing and communications how to get the job done. But there is some education that companies need to make regarding the fact that all external facing groups are in fact marketing ambassadors if not part of the marketing department.

No one needs to be told that times are tough now and that there are greater pressures on employees now than anytime in quite a long while. However many employees who face the public usually act in a fashion that is counterproductive to a companies long term success. This runs the gamut from sales representatives who only return phone calls when it is time to renew a license on a product, to technical support who insist on only electronic communication to an HR representative who makes a candidate feel like a leper.

In difficult times like this it is doubly important for a company to take advantage of market circumstances and avoid the bunker mentality. Rather, they should be using the downturn to reach out to clients and customers and reinforce not only how important they are to the organization, but how well the two of you work together. By teaching employees the value of marketing as a positive growth tool for the entire organization, you can ensure that you are uniquely positioned for growth once the recession finally ends. Also, you can ensure the long term and steady viability for organization with consistent talent development.

In the long term, marketing strategy and execution is the role of the marketing and communications department. However any public facing facet of the organization is part of the marketing organization de facto. Each group that deals with the public should be reminded of their role as brand ambassadors and what that means to the long term health, success and viability of the company.