We all do it, whether unconsciously or by choice.
Do what, pray tell?
Categorize. And label.
Things.
And sometimes more unfortunately, one another.
Sadly the labeling sickness has spread to those of us in the Marketing Operations community.
Bob is a practitioner. He works in-house at eBay. or Google. or Charles Schwab.
Gail is a systems integrator. She has her own systems integration firm implementing Salesforce. Or Siebel.
Abe is a solution provider. He is in consulting services for Aprimo. Or business development for Eloqua.
Betty is an educator. She teaches Marketing at Stanford. Or Santa Clara.
Max is a consultant. He has his own consulting firm. Or works for a large consulting firm.
Al is a market researcher. He works for the IDC CMO Advisory Service, tracking Marketing. Or Forrester. Or Sirius Decisions.
The names have been changed to protect the innocent (or guilty). But we all have a pretty good idea which category we fit into (unless your a schizophrenic hybrid like me (<:}).
But in the case of Marketing Operations, I have to ask, is perception really a reality?
Are we really all that different from one another?
- We all are in the early stages of a young, evolving field.
- We all have a vision of more efficient, more effective marketing within our organizations and in business, in general.
- We all aren't entirely sure where our current role in Marketing Operations is going to take us next. It's not as if there's a clearly-laid out career path for us to follow.
- We don't have as much data and best practice insight as we'd like to do our jobs to our complete satisfaction.
- We're all trying to do what we think are the right things as much as possible, in the face of enormous constraints.
- We want to see Marketing Operations have a bigger impact in the enterprise and be universally recognized for it.
Yet, I still find myself surprised that I'm sometimes looked at with suspicion by people that ought to view me as their best friend but somehow think I'm going to impose my magical sales skills on them and make them buy something they don't want or can't afford.
Remember please, I am not a threat. Nor are people we tend to label as consultants. Or agencies. Or solution providers. Or . . .
We all have a common vision and if you're afraid to get to know me because I look like a consultant or a solution provider, we all lose. The opportunity to mobilize our passion and resources is lost. Or at least diminished.
Can we really afford to divide ourselves into fragmented groups at this nascent stage of our development? Don't we first need to mobilize as a united force to bring the vision and potential power of Marketing Operations to organizations that are dying or at least struggling without it?
Let's remember that we are on the same side.
And lose the labels.
Gary
